Atheist Group Urges Obama to Replace National Day of Prayer with National Day of Reason
The National Day of Prayer has been recognized and observed by every U.S. President since 1775.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) is at it again. The group recently embarked on a mission to replace the word “God” in the national motto “In God We Trust” with “Good” (see The Underground’s article Humanist Group Unveils “In Good We Trust” Billboards). Now they have set their sights on the National Day of Prayer, arguing instead for a “National Day of Reason,” according to CNS News.
The group’s movement started on the heels of last week’s federal court ruling that the National Day of Prayer was indeed unconstitutional because it violates the separation of church and state. U.S. District Court Judge Barbara B. Crabb wrote of the 1952 statute creating the National Day of Prayer that its “sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function,” according to the official AHA web site.
White House spokespersons have reported that President Obama will still recognize the traditional observance of the National Day of Prayer on May 6, as the court’s appeals process will not yet be exhausted by that time.
AHA Director Roy Speckhardt disagrees with the president’s decision.
“The government should not be directing citizens to pray,” he said. “In addition to being unconstitutional, it’s also specifically offensive to people who don’t believe in a god and are made to feel excluded by the observance.”
Historically, there have been several recorded National Days of Prayer, even before the 1952 ruling establishing the observance we now recognize as a nation. In 1775, the Continental Congress marked a day to designate “a time of prayer in forming a new nation.”
Former U.S. President John Adams would later declare May 9, 1798 “a day of solemn humiliation, fasting and prayer.” He asked Americans to pray “that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it.”
The National Day of Prayer became a requirement of U.S. presidents’ recognition when, on April 17, 1952, former President Harry S. Truman signed a bill declaring that all subsequent presidents observe the day.
In recent years, the National Day of Prayer was reintroduced to the nation due, in part, to the efforts of the Reverend Billy Graham and certain members of both the House and the Senate. Together, these men implemented a joint resolution to mark an annual 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.”
Peter Spriggs, senior fellow for policy studies at Family Research Council told CNSNews.com, “The American Humanist Association and their allied groups have every right to promote a new celebration if they want to – and if they can persuade people to participate voluntarily, that’s fine, but I don’t think they have a right to do away with a long-standing tradition that is deeply rooted in our nation’s history – which is calling the people to prayer.”
Spriggs also added, “[The National Day of Prayer] is inclusive of the vast majority of Americans who believe in a Supreme Being and who do pray, and it is inclusive of the vast majority of Americans throughout the history of our country –and the vast majority of the leaders of our country through our history.”
Of Judge Barabra Crabb, Spriggs concluded, “Judge Crabb was inferring that she found something in the Constitution that every president and Congress since 1775 has not.”
The case is expected to have its day in the U.S. Supreme Court.
All the more reason, we should be dedicating a day to pray for our nation.
RELIGIOUS MYTHOLOGY PROPERLY BELONGS IN THE PRIVATE REALM OF CHURCH AND HOME… RELIGION IS NOT THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT AND THE USA CONSTITUTION EXPLICITLY STATES THAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS PROHIBITED FROM ESTABLISHING OR PROMOTING RELIGION… THE CREATION OF A “NATIONAL DAY OF REASON” IS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR – AND WHO COULD POSSIBLY OBJECT TO HONOURING BELIEF BASED ON REASON…
PEACE.
There is no god, or goddess, listening to anyone’s pray. The lie that an invisible god can answer prayers is responsible for a lot of harm. Innocent children die every year from turning to prayer, and “faith-healing,” instead of real medical healing. The Day of Prayer is a criminal event that is an accompliss to medical neglect. I wish the president could be arrested for recognizing it. I day of reason is much better. Faith (belief that something exists, without having physical evidence) is a disease. Reason demands that we believe in nothing without strong evidence. Believe in having strong evidence!
More people have been murdered in the name of God(s) then any other reason on earth. The madman Hitler spoke often about his christian values to his majority catholic nation. And he leveraged the catholic church’s hatred of Jews over a millenia, to gain power, and 55 million people died.
BTW, Hitler was born and baptised catholic in Austria in 1888. In Mein Kampf, he wrote much about how he came to hate Jews, as he grew up in very catholic Austria.
There is good that comes out of religion. I’m not christian, but there was this rabbi guy from long ago, who summarized the only valuable thing about religion IMHO. “love thy neighbor as thyself”
Some of whose following churches do exactly that good deed. EG they support gay people being treated as equals in our society – UU, UCC, MCC, Quaker, Evangelical Lutehrans, presbyterian USA, Jewish reform and some conservative, American Baptist etc.
And some, like the Southern Baptist, and some of the independent chrisitan churches. The southern Baptists were the bullwark of slavery and gave us the KKK, and segregation.
They terrorize people with the “only if you are a born again christian” will you be saved from the end of the world
Which if it comes, will most likely be due to a clash of the christian fundamentalists and the Muslim fundamentalist.
The Europeans understand this. That is why religion in W. Euorpe is dying, only 15% of people go to church, and I’m told by European friends most are widows looking for husbands.
Same thing is happening in Latin America.
I have no quarrel with good religions who follow Jesus commandment listed above.
But we have a right to a completely secular life, as long as we do not go to the religious peoples churches, or their homes etc.
And if you wonder what happens when fundamentalist religions tale over, well it doesn’t depend on their brand name. Think 9/11 and the muslims extremists (most of the muslims are good good people despite their very different culture).
And also remember what created the hatred of the west by extremist islamics.
From 900 AD to 1500, there were 14 crusades by the catholic church combined with corrupt kings. An estimated 40 – 50 million muslims were murdered.
Hate begets hatred. Religion begets hate. Religions history and base is tribalism combined with ignorance, superstition, the hypnotic effects of prayer – everyone else is doing it , why aren’t you.
My greatest day was at age 12 – getting kicked out of religious school. I’m also proud of my son and daughter – perfectly nice, decent, hard working people. Who, like me are somewhere between aethist and agnostic.
I’m still working on my wife, though through religion he is involved with helping feed the poor, and selling stained glass objects to raise money for cancer research.