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Nothing fails like the National Day of Prayer
Q: Did the Pentagon do the right thing by disinviting evangelist Franklin Graham from a National Day of Prayer event next week? Should government officials decide who can or cannot speak at such an event? Should the government proclaim a National Day of Prayer? Was a federal judge right to rule it unconstitutional?
Following the 1930 U.S. Census, the Census Bureau decided to stop collecting data about Americans' religions. The logic back then was that for the Census to collect information about religious identification would improperly entangle church and state. Ah, well those were the days! I mention this because when I read that U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb had ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional, I felt like someone had turned the clock back to the days when most Americans understood that separation of church and state meant, well, the separation of church and state.
Granted, the Golden Age of official secularism, if we may speak of such a thing, didn't begin in the 1930s. The folks at the Census Bureau must have been ahead of their time. It probably began with Supreme Court decisions like Everson in the late 1940s, peaked with the landmark school prayer and Bible reading decisions of the early 1960s, and came to a twitching halt sometime during the Clinton administration. (Unlike a lot of commentators, I do view that period as a "golden" time when our society was genuinely trying to do the right thing by Americans who hold minority or unpopular beliefs. And I worry that our more recent tendency to privilege Christianity unfairly once again may be paving the way for social unrest -- after all, last time I looked America wasn't becoming any less religiously diverse!)
But I digress. To me it's thumpingly obvious that the National Day of Prayer ought to be unconstitutional. Judge Crabb's courageous decision may not survive the appeal process, but it was the right decision -- and a moment of judicial fresh air that this secularist will long cherish, no matter its ultimate fate.
But I still digress. On to the National Day of Prayer.
Did the Pentagon do the right thing by disinviting evangelist Franklin Graham from a National Day of Prayer event next week? Absolutely. Now it should keep the momentum going and disinvite everyone else.
Should government officials decide who can or cannot speak at such an event? That's precisely the problem. As defined by law, the National Day of Prayer is something the government is supposed to do. So of course government officials have to decide who can or cannot speak. But that puts government officials in the position of telling Americans to pray and how to pray. And that's ... well, enter Judge Crabb.
Should the government proclaim a National Day of Prayer? In my opinion, no -- no more than the Census ought to ask Americans what church they go to. This is not an original observation, but any God that depends on elected officials for support probably isn't worth anybody's worship.
By
Tom Flynn
|
April 26, 2010; 2:00 PM ET
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Posted by: anoraclesworld | May 7, 2010 5:11 PM
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Tom Flynn: You answered all of the questions correctly, and as a bonus, you wrote and interesting, informative, and thought provoking essay. Hope to read more from you on this web site from time to time.
Posted by: cecilg | May 2, 2010 11:27 PM
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The National Day of Prayer has apparently causing more controversy. The Reverend Franklin Graham, son of legendary televangelist, Billy Graham was apparently invited and then uninvited to the Pentagon to celebrate this unconstitutional event.
While many atheists are opposed to the National Day of Prayer, I think it is actually a good idea. We do have to be clear about one thing, which god we as a nation ought to be called to pray too.
You can read the rest of my response to this topic:
http://tinyurl.com/2wmhrdf
I will be responding to every issue posted in the 'On Faith' section. If you would like to be notified when my new response is up, please subscribe.
Posted by: dangeroustalk | April 27, 2010 7:43 PM
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Religion is organized crime!
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If you doubt this read the Newspapers and you will note Religious Muslim parents and Imams (Islam Church leaders)forcing their children to 'explode' their bodies while killing themselves and "infidels" to please their "God" "Allah"!
Then, also note that "Christians" corrupt the minds of innocent children with lies about a mythical "Ghostly Apparition" used to enslave them via Mind-Control for the rest of their lives!