22 April 2010 We accept prayer but prefer money.

22 April 2010 We accept prayer but prefer money.


Or: Really bad choice Harry

http://nationaldayofprayer.org/about

“Mission

The National Day of Prayer Task Force’s mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.

Our Vision and Values

In accordance with Biblical truth, the National Day of Prayer Task Force seeks to:

Foster unity within the Christian Church

Protect America’s Constitutional Freedoms to gather, worship, pray and speak freely.

Publicize and preserve America’s Christian heritage

Encourage and emphasize prayer, regardless of current issues and positions

Respect all people, regardless of denomination or creed

Be wise stewards of God’s resources and provision

Glorify the Lord in word and deed

Who We Are and What We Do

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. Our Task Force is a privately funded organization whose purpose is to encourage participation on the National Day of Prayer. It exists to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, to create appropriate materials, and to mobilize the Christian community to intercede for America’s leaders and its families. The Task Force represents a Judeo Christian expression of the national observance, based on our understanding that this country was birthed in prayer and in reverence for the God of the Bible.”



What we really do.

http://www.warnerpress.org/category.aspx?categoryID=351&affid=5

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/04/22/doj-to-appeal-national-day-of-prayer-ruling/?test=latestnews

DOJ To Appeal National Day Of Prayer Ruling

April 22, 2010 - 12:16 PM
by: Mike Levine

The Justice Department says it will appeal a federal judge's ruling that deemed the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional.

In a "Notice of Appeal" filed in the Western District of Wisconsin on Thursday, Justice Department lawyers said that, on behalf of President Barack Obama and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, they were asking the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to overturn the judge's ruling.

In a 66-page opinion issued April 15, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb said the holiday violates the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment, which creates a separation of church and state.

"I understand that many may disagree with that conclusion and some may even view it as a criticism of prayer or those who pray," Crabb said in her opinion. "That is unfortunate. A determination that the government may not endorse a religious message is not a determination that the message itself is harmful, unimportant or undeserving of dissemination."

The opinion came in a case filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group of self-described "atheists" and "agnostics."

Crabb said her ruling was based on "relevant case law," and it did not prevent religious groups from organizing prayer services or prevent the President from discussing his views on prayer.

"The only issue decided in this case is that the federal government may not endorse prayer in a statute," Crabb said.

Within hours of the ruling, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee urged the Justice Department to "immediately" file an appeal.

"The decision undermines the values of religious freedom that America was founded upon," Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Tex., said in a statement. "What's next? Declaring the federal holiday for Christmas unconstitutional?"

Crabb said the ruling would not have any effect until any appeals are exhausted.

She insisted her ruling was not a judgment on the value of prayer.

"No one can doubt the important role that prayer plays in the spiritual life of a believer," Crabb said in her opinion. "In the best of times, people may pray as a way of expressing joy and thanks; during times of grief, many find that prayer provides comfort. Others may pray to give praise, seek forgiveness, ask for guidance or find the truth. ... However, 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."

The National Day of Prayer was first established by Congress in 1952, with a more specific date for the holiday set in 1988. It is now observed on the first Thursday in May.”

The National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional and was rightly found to be so by the judge who made this determination.

Despite the protestation otherwise this is an event held by and for evangelicals. I know of instances when synagogues attempted to take part in the proceedings and were refused participation because they were not Christian. Somehow this does not seem to me to be respectful or inclusive of all citizens.

The concept of repentance and intercession for a nation is frankly repellant. To accept such as valid would mean that there is direct intercession in the affairs of state by deities. No amount of prayer, personal, institutional, or nationwide has causative effect on other nations bent upon doing violence, upon natural disasters, epidemics, adverse weather, climate change, geological threats, or football games at Texas high school stadiums.

As with far too many things, this “prayer event” is about gaining and focusing political power by playing to an evangelical and fundamentalist voter base composed of people who are all too willing to suspend belief and proclaim miracles instead of looking for actual causes. We finished with the idea of “Divine Right Monarchs” in Europe but a large portion of our population seems willing to accept “Divine Right Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, and local officials who use religion to ride into office.

Do take a look at the third link above, the one for the store. They have a lot of really unnecessary things to sell you. The National Day of Prayer foundation wants your money. After all, they have a C Street apartment house to maintain, Senators and Congressmen to house, bribes to pay out to settle disputes about marital affairs and infidelity.

This renews the dispute about whether or not this is a Christian nation. Nations that behave in a truly Christian manner provide housing, food, education, and healthcare for their citizens. They are socialist to communist in nature. They practice no arts of war, so they don’t exist very long. If our founders had wanted another divine right ruler they would have prayed for one rather than elected one. Or, perhaps they grew tired of praying to be free of one or more and realized that religion and statecraft no longer go hand-in-hand. We currently have Sarah Palin proclaiming that God chose her instead of John McCain. She’s using religion as a wedge to fragment the nation while Mike Huckabee makes repeated attempts to convince us that we should replace the Constitution with the King James bible. We may need a reservation for people like them and the owners of the National Day of Prayer Foundation; some place where they can pray to their heart’s content without harming or annoying anyone else. But they’d better be given a large reserve of food. I doubt they will be dining on largesse from above in these times.

I generally appreciate Harry Truman’s presidential actions. But signing off on this was a national blunder. Take time to drop a note to the White House suggesting that they not support the national Day of Prayer, because it is really a national day of exclusion.