There were countless articles during the Republican National Convention that shamed the party's lack of diversity. But in order to come to that conclusion, the mainstream media had to completely ignore the major world religions that were represented on stage.
The assumption, no doubt, was that only Christianity would be represented. While there were several invocations made by Catholics, Methodists, and other Christian denominations, there were some surprising representations as well.
Harmeet Dhillon (above video) delivered -- sang, actually -- a Sikh prayer in Punjabi, donning a traditional head scarf on the second day of the convention. Dhillon runs her own law firm and serves as vice chairwoman of the California GOP.
Not only did the MSM ignore this very diverse member of the party, Dhillon's alma mater, Dartmouth College, failed to recognize this moment of "diversity in action" in its Dartmouth News outlet, presumably because she's Republican.
On opening day of the RNC, Orthodox Rabbi Ari Wolf kicked off the convention with a Jewish prayer. Days later, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nathan Johnson, began the day with a prayer, followed later by the benediction, given by an archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Republican nominee Donald Trump is railroaded in the media for being anti-Muslim, so it must've surprised them when a Muslim led an invocation -- that is, if they bothered to mention that at all.
Founder of American Muslims for Trump, Sajid Tarar, came onstage and prayed to "get our country back" and keep it safe from terrorism. It is noted in the Cape Cod Times that Tarar's speech was interrupted by one attendee who shouted, "No Islam." However, everyone else welcomed him warmly.
See his invocation below:
So how is it that Trump, a supposed Muslim-hater, allowed such a prayer? Probably because the media has pegged him completely wrong.
As the Democratic National Convention is underway, it would behoove us to check in and see how well the so-called champions of diversity and tolerance are doing so far.
Oops! The Democrats erupted in boos during the DNC's opening invocation. Also, according to one journalist who is there, the "interfaith prayer rooms" that are provided to attendees are apparently only set up for Muslim prayers, complete with washing stations and rugs already pointing to Mecca. What isn't provided are bibles, prayer books, crucifixes, or any other items for use.
So much for that tolerance and diversity thing.
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