text: Rajan Zed delivers a Hindu prayer in the Idaho Senate on Tuesday morning, as the opening invocation (Betsy Russell) 
   
   Seven senators remained outside the Senate chamber this morning as guest chaplain Rajan Zed delivered today’s opening invocation, a Hindu prayer, then took their seats immediately after it was done. The seven: Sens. Vick, Nonini, Nuxoll, Den Hartog; and Rice, Patrick and Siddoway (who all three later said they weren't boycotting the prayer and were just running late). Vick had previously announced his plans to walk out, saying he objected to the Hindu prayer being delivered. Nonini said, "I was just late getting up there - I didn't want to walk in in the middle of it." But, he said, "I was disappointed that we didn't also have a Christian prayer." 
   
   Clad in a flowing orange robe, Zed said afterward, “We don’t mind. Hinduism is more embracing,” he said. “We are very inclusive in Hinduism. … I think that is fine.” He said, “Most of them welcomed me. They came out and shook my hand – some of them hugged me. It was good. There are multiple viewpoints. … That is what makes the country great, you know? Different viewpoints.” 
   
   In his prayer, Zed told the Senate, first in Sanskrit and then in English, “Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless one attains the supreme goal of life. Do your work with the welfare of other always in mind.” He said afterward, “It’s all from Hindu scriptures, very ancient. I didn’t write it.” ||||| Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, delivers a prayer from Sanskrit scriptures before the Idaho Senate on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 in Boise. The Idaho Senate convened Tuesday with a... (Associated Press) 
   
   BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Three lawmakers refused to attend the Idaho Senate's daily invocation after objecting to the offering of a Hindu prayer. 
   
   Rajan Zed, guest chaplain, gave a lengthy prayer in both English and Sanskrit on Tuesday that focused on selflessness and peace. Senators from both sides of the aisle shook his hand and thanked him for coming. 
   
   "Fulfill all your duties, action is better than inaction," Zed said. "Even to maintain your body, you are obligated to act. Selfish action imprisons the world. Act selflessly, without any throughout of personal profit." 
   
   However three lawmakers, all Republican, only came back onto the floor once the prayer was over: Sens. Steve Vick of Dalton Garden, Sheryl Nuxoll of Cottonwood and Lori Den Hartog of Meridian. 
   
   Prayer is a common event in Idaho's Republican-controlled Statehouse. The Idaho Senate and House convene each day with a prayer by the chamber's chaplains from Christian denominations followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. And most lawmakers cite their religion in the heir bios for the state's legislative directory. 
   
   Nuxoll says she declined to attend because she believes the United States is a Christian nation. 
   
   "Hindu is a false faith with false gods," she said. "I think it's great that Hindu people can practice their religion but since we're the Senate, we're setting an example of what we, Idaho, believe." 
   
   Nuxoll added that she wished the Senate had conducted a Christian prayer along with the Hindu invocation. 
   
   Vick had announced his objections the day before, saying that he would ask his colleagues to join him. 
   
   Den Hartog said it would've been disingenuous to her Christian faith to attend. 
   
   "It was a personal decision, I didn't want to announce it prior to the event," Den Hartog said. 
   
   While nine lawmakers were absent in total for the prayer, five were caught up in meetings —not protesting the event — and one was excused. 
   
   Zed said he reached out to Senate Pro Tem Brent Hill to offer the invocation. Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, has delivered traditional Hindu prayers to both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate and in nearly a dozen state legislatures. 
   
   Guest chaplains often visit the Statehouse, Hill said, often when the sitting chaplain is taking time off. Last year, the Idaho Senate received an invocation from a Jewish rabbi, he said.
target: – Three Republican state senators in Idaho skipped the chamber's daily invocation yesterday because they objected to the guest chaplain's religion. The three didn't take their seats until after Hindu cleric Rajan Zed had finished his prayer, which focused on selflessness, the AP reports. "Hindu is a false faith with false gods," said Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll. "I think it's great that Hindu people can practice their religion, but since we're the Senate, we're setting an example of what we, Idaho, believe." Another of the three, Sen. Steve Vick, had tried to have the prayer stopped, warning that a non-Christian prayer could "send a message we're not happy with the way America is," reports the Spokesman-Review. "They have a caste system. They worship cows," Vick complained, saying he had plenty of support from constituents who wanted the prayer stopped. Several other lawmakers missed the prayer, but they said it was because they were running late. After the prayer, Zed—who has delivered Hindu prayers for the US House, US Senate, and other state legislatures—said Hinduism is very inclusive and he didn't mind that some lawmakers had boycotted the prayer. "Most of them welcomed me," he told the Spokesman-Review. "They came out and shook my hand—some of them hugged me. It was good. There are multiple viewpoints. ... That is what makes the country great, you know? Different viewpoints."