Prayer in America

Bowing to pressure from the atheist/agnostic Freedom From Religion Foundation, US District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled on April 15, 2010, that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. She based her ruling on the worn out liberal, anti-Christian argument that the establishment clause of the First Amendment demands separation of church and state. She defended the decision saying it does not prohibit the President from talking about prayer, but "the federal government may not endorse prayer in a statute."

According to an Associated Press article by Todd Richmond the FFRF plans to post billboards in Colorado Springs, CO with the message, "God and government: A dangerous mix." The National Day of Prayer Task Force has its offices in Colorado Springs.

Atheists are jumping for joy and all over the internet are comments praising the judge for upholding the Constitution. The problem is, the judge, a Jimmy Carter appointment, is not upholding the Constitution, but ignoring its basic intent and the history that gave it to us.

We often hear the argument that conservatives and the religious right are trying to turn us into a theocracy, or force our religion on everyone else. That is an ignorant misstatement of our purpose. In America everyone is free to believe whatever they want. No one can force anyone to be a Christian, but it is the Christian religion that influenced our Founders to give America that freedom. Those who say our founders were deists, and who turn the meaning of "separation of church and state" around to mean the opposite of what Jefferson intended, either have no concept of America's actual history, or are intentionally trying to rewrite it to conform to their minority beliefs.

The last Democrat president spent a lot of time talking about our "values." The current president does the same. Yet, there aren't two people in America more distant from America's real values than these two, unless it's Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Our values, the Christian ones our Founders stood for, have served the country well for over 200 years. Those values include prayer, and those are the values conservatives want to get back to.

The National Day of Prayer was established in 1952 by the Congress. In 1988 a specific date, the first Thursday in May, was established for the observation. It has been a tradition now for 58 years. But prayer in America didn't suddenly start in 1952.

Even though he didn't publicly participate in the National Day of Prayer last year, the President still issued a proclamation in which he reminded us that the Continental Congress in 1775 called on colonists to "observe a day of quiet humiliation and prayer."

At the Constitutional Convention in 1787 after weeks of argument over a frame of government that had made no progress, Benjamin Franklin, by most accounts one of the few delegates who was not a Christian, admonished those assembled to pray. "We have been assured, Sir," he addressed the convention president, George Washington, "in the sacred writings, that 'except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.'" After several references to Scripture, he concluded, "I therefore beg leave to move - that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service."

There were no Muslims represented in that body, no native Americans, no Hindus or Buddhists, and with the possible exception of Franklin, no deists. There were two men who may have been agnostics or atheists, but 98% of the delegation were Christian of one denomination or another.

On May 1, 1789, the first Congress elected William Linn to be the first congressional chaplain. Every morning since a chaplain has opened sessions in the House and Senate with prayer, and until recently when a Muslim cleric was called, those prayers have always been Christian.

In October of 1789, President George Washington called for a "Day of Publick (sic) Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God. . . ."

At the height of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln set aside April 30, 1863, "as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the people to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion." He didn't force anyone to join in, but he did encourage everyone to participate.

Upon America's entry into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson issued a Day of Prayer Proclamation on October 19, 1917, in which he set apart "a day upon which our people should ... offer concerted prayer to Almighty God for His divine aid in the success of our arms."

On the evening of D-Day, June 6, 1944, as American and allied troops fought their way inland from the beaches of Normandy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt went on the radio airwaves, not only to call the nation to prayer, but to lead the nation in the prayer. "Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. . . . And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. . . . With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy."

Roosevelt described the enemies of his day as "unholy," and was considered an heroic president. Last week Rev. Franklin Graham was canceled as a participant in the National Day of Prayer at the Pentagon because after 9/11 he dared speak the truth and call Islam what it is, wicked and evil. We have descended from reality into political insanity when public policy dictates that we can't speak the truth about the enemies of our day. We've lost our perspective and our compass when we refuse to acknowledge the obvious because it is not politically correct. We've also lost our history and our greatness if we allow atheists through liberal judges to dictate to America what our values are.

Obviously prayer has been a vital part of America's entire existence, whether it be in church, at home, in public schools, or in the halls of government. The Constitution protects such practice because the "separation of church and state," according to Jefferson, was not to keep the church out of the state, but to keep the state out of the church. Christians and Christian beliefs have always influenced our government and if the day comes that those values are no longer allowed America will cease to be a free nation.

Judge Crabb is wrong and due to her ignorance of the Constitution and our history ought to be replaced. Prayer is the right thing to do in every avenue of American life, whether it be spiritual, secular or governmental, and it is protected by the Constitution in all of those venues, whether private or public.