First Hindu Elected To Congress Says Faith Motivates Her Service

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii (Campaign photo)

WASHINGTON (January 4, 2013)—U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who was sworn in Thursday with the rest of the 113th Congress, took her oath on the Hindu Scripture, Bhagavad Gita, 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."

Gabbard, 31, said that also motivated her military service, which included tours in Iraq and Kuwait, but she said she doesn't believe government should impose some people's "so-called morality" on others' private lives.

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