Patrick: Imam's prayer an 'extraordinary moment'

State Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) caused a bit of a stir at the Capitol yesterday when he walked out of the Senate chamber so he wouldn't have to be present as an Islamic spiritual leader delivered the opening prayer. Patrick said he didn't have a problem with Imam Yusuf Kavakci of Dallas giving the invocation, but that didn't mean that he had to stay in the room while it was going on: "It is important that we are tolerant of all faiths as a people, but that does not mean we have to endorse all faiths — and that was my decision," Patrick told The Dallas Morning News.

Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), who invited Kavakci to give the invocation as part of the third Texas Muslim Legislative Day, said Patrick told her that he had gotten e-mails suggesting that Kavacki "was not who I thought he was." According to the Morning News, Patrick had shown fellow senators an editorial that ran in the paper in 2005 criticizing Kavakci for allowing the distribution of extremist literature at his mosque, though Kavacki said he rejected the views expressed in it. And, as the Austin American-Statesman notes, conservative groups have accused Kavakci of being a member of a radical Muslim sect, a claim he denies (though it seems people still have some questions about that). Later on Wednesday, Patrick spoke to the Senate, calling Kavakci's prayer an "extraordinary moment" that showed America is "so tolerant of others we bend over backwards to allow others to pray as they wish." In some other countries, he noted, the same freedom wouldn't have been granted to Jews and Christians.

The decision to have Kavakci lead the prayer brought more open criticism from some other Texas conservatives, including including Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, and Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill. "I'm shocked that the day before the Easter recess that a Muslim is leading the prayer," Woodfill told the Chronicle earlier this week. "They should be having a celebration about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ." Shapiro said the reactions surprised her, but she noted that no senators — other than Patrick — indicated that they had any problem with Kavakci's prayer. As for Patrick, Shapiro said he and she exchanged brief words outside the Senate chamber yesterday afternoon: "All he said was, 'I'm not mad at you,'" Shapiro told the Statesman. "I said, 'I'm not mad at you, either.'"