BIGOTRY
‘God Forgive Us’: Lawmaker Uses Jesus’ Name 13 Times in House Prayer Before First Elected Muslim Woman Sworn In
“Jesus”: 13 times. “Lord”: 6 times. “God”: 6 times. And “Donald Trump”: 1 time.
Republican State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz delivered the Pennsylvania House’s opening prayer on Monday, saying “Jesus” thirteen times and asking God to “forgive us,” just before the swearing-in of the state’s first elected Muslim woman lawmaker.
“God forgive us — Jesus — we’ve lost sight of you, we’ve forgotten you, God, in our country, and we’re asking you to forgive us,” Borowicz said, as The Washington Post reports.
“I claim all these things in the powerful, mighty name of Jesus, the one who, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, Jesus, that you are Lord, in Jesus’ name,” Rep. Borowicz said.
“By the time she said ‘Amen,’ Borowicz had invoked Jesus 13 times, deploying the name between prayerful clauses as though it were a comma. She mentioned ‘Lord’ and ‘God’ another six times each and referenced ‘The Great I Am’ and ‘the one who’s coming back again, the one who came, died and rose again on the third day,'” The Post adds.
State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz prayed for Trump and insisted everyone bow to Jesus just before Pennsylvania’s first Black Muslim woman Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell was sworn in pic.twitter.com/50xpsu0dJU
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 26, 2019
The lawmaker whose swearing-in elicited the Islamophobic “prayer” is Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Democrat and a Muslim. She posted this to Twitter:
I came to the @PaHouse to make friends on both sides of the aisle because we need to work together for EVERYONE across the commonwealth. After hearing the prayer given the day I took the oath of office, it’s clear that my presence is needed now more than ever #PeopleFirst pic.twitter.com/dK4I7gO9aY
— Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell (@RepMovita) March 27, 2019
Rep. Borowicz is refusing to apologize.
“That’s how I pray every day. … I don’t apologize ever for praying,” she said, according to this local Pennsylvania reporter:
Rep. Borowicz on her controversial prayer: “That’s how I pray everyday.” When asked to respond to Dems calling for an apology she says “Oh no, I don’t apologize ever for praying”
— Andrew Bahl (@AndrewBahl) March 25, 2019
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