April 28, 2010
Column #1,496
No More National Days of Prayer?
By Mike
McManus
U.S. Judge Barbara Crabb has ruled
unconstitutional a Congressional law asking the President to declare “the
first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the
United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in
groups and as individuals.”
She said the law violated the First
Amendment which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting the
establishment of religion…” She agreed with the Freedom From Religion
Foundation which argued that the statute is unconstitutional because it
“endorses prayer and encourages citizens to engage in that particular
religious exercise.”
Her decision has been “stayed” pending
an appeal, so the National Day of Prayer will be held May 6. President Obama
will issue a call for prayer. But it may be the last time he does so.
“The judge has, in effect, declared 250
years of American Christian heritage is unconstitutional,” declared Alan
Sears, President of the Alliance Defense Fund.
Shirley Dobson, chairman of
National Day of Prayer Task Force which has helped organize 30,000 prayer
events, asserted, “National days of prayer have occurred since 1775, when
the Continental Congress asked the nation to join in a petition for divine
guidance. Since then, 34 of 44 U.S. Presidents have called for days of
prayer during times of crisis, including George Washington during the
Revolutionary War, Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, Woodrow Wilson
during World War I, Franklin Roosevelt during World War II, George H.W. Bush
during Desert Storm, and George W. Bush during Iraqi Freedom.”
Interestingly, four of the presidents
who did not call for National Days of Prayer died in office! In 1952 during
the Korean War Billy Graham led a six-week crusade in Washington which
culminated with his call for a national day of prayer: “Ladies and
gentlemen, our Nation was founded upon God, religion and the church…
“What a thrilling, glorious thing it
would be to see the leaders of our country today kneeling before Almighty
God in prayer…We have dropped our pilot, the Lord Jesus Christ, and are
sailing blindly on without divine chart or compass, hoping somehow to find
our desired haven.”
Congress responded with a law
establishing a National Day of Prayer which President Truman signed. In 1988
Congress amended the law unanimously to designate the first Thursday of May
as the annual National Day of Prayer.
Judge Crabb argued, “Religious
expression by the government that is inspirational and comforting to a
believer may seem exclusionary or even threatening to someone who does not
share those beliefs.”
In fact, the Council on
American-Islamic Relations asked the Pentagon to disinvite Franklin Graham,
son of Billy, from speaking at the Pentagon’s observance of the National Day
of Prayer, and was elated when the invitation was withdrawn. After the 9/11
attack, Franklin called Islam “a very evil and wicked religion.”
In a recent interview Graham refused to
back down. “If you look at what the religion does just to women, women
alone, it is horrid. And so yes, I speak out for women. I speak out for
people that live under Islam that are enslaved by Islam and I want them to
know they can be free.”
“It’s unfortunate that the military
felt they needed to bow to the complaints of just a couple of people, when
about 89 percent of American people are Christians.”
An Amicus brief of the American
Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), on behalf of 31 Members of Congress noted
that the National Motto, “In God We Trust” is inscribed on a wall in the
House Chamber. The Supreme Court declared that America’s First Congress “did
not consider opening prayers as proselytizing activity or as symbolically
placing the government’s official seal of approval on one religious view.”
Therefore, it upheld Nebraska’s practice of opening its sessions with prayer
by a paid chaplain, in Marsh v. Chambers.
“To invoke Divine guidance on a public
body entrusted with making the laws is not, in these circumstances, an
`establishment’ of religion…it is simply a tolerable acknowledgement of
beliefs widely shared among the people of this country,” said the Court.
Exactly. There’s a similar history for
a National Day of Prayer. The Continental Congress in 1777, 1781 and 1782
urged states to set apart a day for prayer and thanksgiving. Even James
Madison, the drafter of the First Amendment, issued four proclamations
calling America to a day of prayer.
Tony Perkins, President of the Family
Research Council, tartly denounced Crabb’s ruling: “Contrary to her opinion,
this ruling does not promote freedom, it crushes it.”
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