Sholeh Patrick's March 10 article, "The Om heard round the world," appears to be bent upon defending Idaho's reputation on the world stage instead of defending the truth. She assumes that certain Senators (Vick and Nuxoll) acted rudely by not participating in false worship, which we are all obliged to do, and proceeds to apologize for them by claiming they are not the substance of what true Idahoans are made up of. Furthermore, she expects them to apologize. Preponderous request to say the least. Perhaps before embarking on such a mission, she should ponder her own errors in representing the Hindu religion in only one or two sentences.

The volume of space necessary to refute her mistakes restricts me from presenting a full expose of my research, so in the interest of brevity I will address her main errors only. That said, the word Hindu and Hinduism, within the context of my article, will be used only to describe a highly dynamic religion which is and has evolved, diversified, and progressed throughout the centuries in a most complicated manner.

Error number one; Sholeh writes that Hindus do not worship cows and that "they are respectfully protected as a limited food source, but not divine." In Hinduism, many animals, plants, and natural objects, are sacred in varying degrees, particularly the cow. According to Hinduism, the cow is divine in its own right, and is generally revered as the representative of Mother Earth. For this reason they (cows) are never violated. This is a far stretch from a lack of respect and protection for the cow, as she puts it, and it sounds as though she is making similarities to America's protection of the bald eagle, which is a quite different thing altogether.

Error number two; she (Sholeh) continues; "Hindus are not polytheists, they believe in one God, who has many aspects or roles." Not quite. The starting point for Hinduism was Vedism, which possesses a collection of texts known as the Vedas and is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India for which there exists written materials (about 1500 BC). The oldest of the collection of texts or verses of the Veda, is known as the Rigveda, which reflects a polytheistic religion, however different from that of later India. It involved the worship of numerous divinities mostly connected to the sky and nature in general. Later through evolving, classical Hinduism came to be centered on three different divinities or gods; Shiva, Vishnu, and the Mother Goddess. Though many other deities are worshipped, nearly all Hindus center on either one or the other of these gods. I wonder which one god she (Sholeh) was referring to in her article, she doesn't specify.

That said, she (Sholeh) is correct in one assumption, Idahoans are diverse in thought and opinion but that does not give them the right to accept error and accept false worship in our lawmaking forums. The Senators, Vick and Nuxoll, rightfully walked out of the meeting, however probably not quite for the correct reasons. Idaho is not a Christian state, as America is not a Christian country. If it were, laws would be in place to not allow abortion nor same sex union sanctions. The foundation of our country was born on the back of Masonic principles, which ironically, encourages Protestantism and the diversity and pluralism she (Sholeh) believes Idaho should be representing.

The only way for realization of a Christian State and Country is through the re-establishing the Reign of Christ the King as leader of all states and all countries. This, of course, implies the merging of Church and State, as was done in Medieval Europe. This would start in present times with the recognition of the Roman Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ once again, as the sole teacher of all the truths Christ taught and the propagator of the One True God, the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost. Not three gods, but Three Persons in One True God.

Esequiel Vasquez is a resident of Post Falls.