A Christian lawmaker in Pennsylvania has been accused of “weaponizing” her Christian faith after she delivered the invocation on the floor of the state capitol the same day the commonwealth’s first Muslim woman was sworn into the legislature.
State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R) spoke for roughly two minutes, pontificating about Jesus, Gov. Tom Wolf (R), President Donald Trump, and Israel, before she was interrupted by another lawmaker who yelled from the audience.
The Monday morning prayer was certainly intense — and maybe a bit over-the-top for the setting — but to suggest Borowicz was “weaponizing” prayer to attack state Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell (D), who is Muslim, seems a bit of a stretch.
According to WCAU-TV, State Rep. Jordan Harris (D) accused Borowicz of delivering “a rambling, at times incoherent prayer that consisted of weaponizing the name of Jesus while dipping into partisan rhetoric on President Donald Trump.”
“Let me be clear,” Harris continued. “I am a Christian. I spend my Sunday mornings in church worshiping and being thankful for all that I have. But in no way does that mean I would flaunt my religion to those who worship differently than I do. There is no room in our capitol building for actions such as this, and it’s incredibly disappointing that today’s opening prayer was so divisive.”
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Johnson-Harrell told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star that her Republican colleague’s remarks during prayer “blatantly represented the Islamophobia that exists among some leaders — leaders that are supposed to represent the people.”
As for Borowicz, whose husband serves as a pastor for a local church, she insists she did nothing wrong. The freshman lawmaker told reporters, according to the Associated Press, she “absolutely” did nothing wrong, noting she prays “every day.”
Borowicz stood her ground, revealing she has no plans to apologize for her remarks.
“Oh no,” she explained. “I don’t apologize ever for praying.”