The Georgia Stealth Buddhist!

Whoah, my new congressman, Hank Johnson, is a Buddhist (Nichiren).

I didn't bother following his election returns last night, since I knew he would win. District 5 is quite solidly Democratic. The real battle was in the primary, where he defeated Cynthia McKinney. In the general election the same wingnut lady always runs and loses... the Republicans never bother to give her any money.

Today is the very first I heard about him being a Buddhist. I did notice that on his campaign site he had not put the usual "My family are proud members of ___ Church".

Now he is supposed to be the first ever Buddhist congressman. In a parallel story, Keith Ellison of Minnesota has become the first Muslim (Sunni) member of Congress.

The more religious minorities in Congress, the better, in my opinion. Religious minorities have more of a personal stake in preserving the separation of church and state.