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New congresswoman says Hinduism motivates her public service
Posted: Jan 3, 2013 5:47 PM by Alyse Rzemek
WASHINGTON (AP) - The first Hindu elected to Congress says her faith motivates her public service.
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat, was sworn in Thursday with the rest of the 113th Congress and took her oath on the Hindu Scripture, Bhagavad Gita (bah-gah-VAHD' GEE'-tah), instead of a Bible.
In an interview last Friday at Hawaii's Big Island News Center, Gabbard said her Hinduism involves the practice of karma yoga, which she says is "about striving in everything you do every day to be of service to others."
The 31-year-old Gabbard said that also motivated her military service, which included tours in Iraq and Kuwait.
But Gabbard said she doesn't believe government should impose some people's "so-called morality" on others' private lives.
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