National Day of Prayer 2010 Could Be Our Last
And thank God.
Today is the National Day of Prayer, a tradition that dates back to 1952 when President Truman created the measure in response to evangelist Billy Graham, well, being Billy Graham. The statute used to leave it up to presidents to choose a non-Sunday Day of Prayer, but DoP was set in 1988 to be the first Thursday in May. So: today.
There are basically three perspectives on this issue, The Houston Chronicle reports:
- Our country is “in crisis” and we need a National Day of Prayer. Because, you know, it’s impossible to pray unless encouraged to do so by the government.
- The Day of Prayer is good in theory, but is currently insufferably Judeo-Christian, and primarily evangelical. Or, we can just change the name to National Day of Prayer for a Select Portion of the Nation.
- DoP is downright unconstitutional. Something about the First Amendment. And the separation of church and state.
A federal district judge in Wisconsin is in favor of door number three, and she’s taken matters into her own hands. Judge Barbara Crabb recently ruled that the Day of Prayer is constitutionally unsound. Pending appeals, her decision is currently on hold.
Even when they have a good point, people trying to take religion out of our government, our schools, etc. often sound a little fanatical in their own right, thus undermining the cause at hand. But Crabb’s decision is incredibly sound, relying heavily on the Supreme Court’s past decisions. To quote her ruling:
…recognizing the importance of prayer to many people does not mean that the government may enact a statute in support of it, any more than the government may encourage citizens to fast during the month of Ramadan, attend a synagogue, purify themselves in a sweat lodge or practice rune magic.
