Obama Issues National Day of Prayer Proclamation

President Barack Obama on Friday proclaimed May 5 as the National Day of Prayer, continuing a long tradition in the face of protest.

With ongoing opposition from atheists and other nonbelievers, Obama made sure this year’s proclamation did not exclude any group.

“Let us be thankful for the liberty that allows people of all faiths to worship or not worship according to the dictates of their conscience, and let us be thankful for the many other freedoms and blessings that we often take for granted,” he stated.

The proclamation comes just weeks after a federal appeals court overturned a 2010 ruling that found the annual prayer day unconstitutional.

In a 3-0 decision, the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals determined that the presidential proclamation imposes no requirement on a person and therefore no one is hurt by a request that can be declined.

“Those who do not agree with a president’s statement may speak in opposition to it, they are not entitled to silence the speech of which they disapprove,” chief judge Frank Easterbrook, a Reagan appointee, wrote in the court opinion.

The court ruled that Wisconsin-based atheist and agnostic group Freedom from Religion Foundation lacked the legal standing to challenge the National Day of Prayer, saying that a “feeling of alienation” was not sufficient legal grounds for a lawsuit.

“Hurt feelings differ from legal injury,” the court concluded.

Each year, since 1952, presidents have designated the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer.

Just before last year’s prayer day, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb struck down the federal statute creating the “National Day of Prayer,” concluding that it connotes endorsement and encouragement of a particular religious exercise.

The Obama administration appealed the decision and Obama went ahead with the annual presidential proclamation, where he noted that prayer has long been an important part of U.S. history.

In this year’s proclamation, Obama pointed to President Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as examples of leaders who turned to the Lord in prayer when they had nowhere else to go.

“On this National Day of Prayer, let us follow the example of President Lincoln and Dr. King,” he stated.

He called for prayers for the Armed Forces, those affected by natural disasters in recent months and those abroad who are seeking peace and rights in the midst of uncertainty and unrest.

“I invite all citizens of our Nation, as their own faith or conscience directs them, to join me in giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, and I ask all people of faith to join me in asking God for guidance, mercy, and protection for our Nation.”

This year marks the 60th National Day of Prayer. On Thursday, Christians across the country will observe the day under the theme “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

Courtesy of http://www.christianpost.com/news/obama-issues-national-day-of-prayer-proclamation-50050/

7th Circuit rejects lawsuit against National Day of Prayer

CHICAGO — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit rejected a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that sought to strike down the National Day of Prayer. The court determined that “a feeling of alienation” was not sufficient legal grounds for the atheist group to file suit.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys represented the private, non-profit National Day of Prayer Task Force in a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the 7th Circuit after prevailing in having then-chairperson Shirley Dobson dismissed from the lawsuit at the district court level.

“Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “The 7th Circuit has clearly understood that the Freedom From Religion Foundation simply had no legal standing to attack the federal statute setting a day for the National Day of Prayer simply because the group is offended by religion.”

The 7th Circuit vacated a federal judge’s ruling against the National Day of Prayer and sent the case back to district court with instructions to dismiss the lawsuit, originally filed against Dobson, President George W. Bush, and others.

In its opinion, the 7th Circuit found that “the ‘psychological consequence presumably produced by observation of conduct with which one disagrees’ is not an ‘injury’ for the purpose of standing…. Plaintiffs have not altered their conduct one whit or incurred any cost in time or money. All they have is disagreement with the President’s action. But unless all limits on standing are to be abandoned, a feeling of alienation cannot suffice as injury in fact.”

Last month, ADF attorneys authored a letter delivered to governors across the country, encouraging them to observe and participate in the 60th annual National Day of Prayer and explaining that they are on firm legal footing to do so.

On April 15, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb issued an opinion striking down the National Day of Prayer statute as violating the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Crabb put a hold on her ruling until all appeals in the lawsuit, Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Obama, are exhausted. The Obama administration appealed the judge’s decision to the 7th Circuit the week after it was issued.

In 1952, President Harry Truman signed into law a joint resolution by Congress to set aside an annual National Day of Prayer. Congress amended the law in 1988, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan, specifying that the annual event would be observed on “the first Thursday in May each year.” Historically, including 2010, all 50 governors, along with U.S. presidents, have issued proclamations in honor of the National Day of Prayer.

For more information on ADF efforts to defend the National Day of Prayer, visit www.savethendop.org.

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

ADF encourages governors to ignore activist groups, observe 2011 National Day of Prayer

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Alliance Defense Fund issued letters to be received by governors across the U.S. Monday urging them to observe and participate in the 60th Annual National Day of Prayer on May 5. The letter also encourages the governors to resist the demands of activist groups that claim the tradition is unlawful. Millions of Americans and thousands of local leaders participate in this constitutional event every year.

“America’s founders participated in public prayer activities; public officials today should be able to do the same,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “Local observances of the National Day of Prayer are constitutional and appropriate, particularly since the event simply provides all Americans an opportunity to pray voluntarily according to their own faith–and does not promote any particular religion or form of religious observance.” 

“In 1952, President Harry Truman signed into law a joint resolution by Congress to ‘set aside an appropriate day as a National Day of Prayer,’” the ADF letter to governors states. “In 1988, the law was amended by Congress and signed by President Ronald Reagan to specify that the annual event should be observed on ‘the first Thursday in May in each year.’”  Yet atheists and activist groups have challenged the constitutionality of government entities to recognize the event, claiming their acknowledgement violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. 

“You can be confident that your participation in and acknowledgement of the National Day of Prayer are constitutionally protected activities,” ADF attorneys explain in the letter. “You are free to proclaim your support for this event, and you are under no obligation to satisfy the demands of any disgruntled individual or civil libertarian group that may oppose such action.”

From the time of this nation’s founding, public prayer has been an essential part of America’s culture and tradition. The tradition of designating an official day of prayer actually began with the Continental Congress in 1775, and on October 3, 1789, President George Washington issued a National Day of Thanksgiving Proclamation. Ever since, American presidents have made similar proclamations and “appeals to the Almighty.” ADF attorneys contend that proclamations and appeals of state and local officials are no different. Historically, all 50 governors, along with U.S. presidents, have issued proclamations in honor of the National Day of Prayer.

ADF attorneys note that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly acknowledged that presidential proclamations of thanksgiving and prayer, including the NDOP, are part of our heritage, and in no way violate the Constitution.

“A decision last year [in the lawsuit Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Obama by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin] does nothing to change this law,” ADF attorneys assured in the letter. “The judge determined that the President of the United States is not prohibited from issuing a proclamation declaring a National Day of Prayer. She did hold that a federal law instructing the President to do so on a particular day is unconstitutional, but she stayed enforcement of her ruling till the matter could be appealed. That case is currently pending before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.”

• Pronunciation guide: Theriot (TARE’-ee-oh)

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

 

www.adfmedia.org | twitter.com/adfmedia

National Day of Prayer Proclamation Upheld in Colorado

A Denver federal court on Thursday upheld a Colorado proclamation recognizing the National Day of Prayer as a lawful expression of an individual’s right to practice religion.

Judge R. Michael Mullins dismissed a lawsuit asserting that Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, violated the state constitution by issuing a state proclamation recognizing the National Day of Prayer, which is observed every year on the first Thursday of May.

Colorado Attorney General John Sutters praised the judge’s ruling in a statement saying, “I was pleased to see the judge’s well reasoned and persuasive order upholding this commonplace practice.”

Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the lawsuit in support of the separation of church and state. “I think this judge is very, very wrong,” said FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor. In the lawsuit, the Wisconsin-based skeptic group claimed that Ritter’s proclamation violated the Religious Freedom clause of the Colorado Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

The clause reads, “No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship, religious sect or denomination against his consent. Nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship.”

Judge Mullins concluded that the proclamation does not carry the force of law and therefore is not mandating prayer.

The clause also reads, “The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination, shall forever hereafter be guaranteed; and no person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his opinions concerning religion.”

Mullins said that the proclamation simply asserts an individual’s right to practice religion.

The FFRF may appeal the ruling, Gaylor said. She cited a court decision earlier this year where U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb denounced the National Day of Prayer as an unconstitutional call to religious action. The lawsuit in that case was also filed by FFRF.

The National Day of Prayer’s heritage extends back to the formation of United States. In the 1775, the Continental Congress called on the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming the new nation. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln called for a day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer.” In 1952 president Harry Truman declared an annual national day of prayer. The law was amended in the 1988 by President Ronald Reagan to permanently establish the National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday of May.

In May, the Colorado National Day of Prayer committee encouraged prayers for reduced state crime, decreased state divorce rate, a zero suicide rate, decreased abortions and healing from physical, spiritual and emotional oppression.

Shirley Dobson is the chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer task force. Dobson encourages visitors of its website to support the day of prayer. “We have lost many of our freedoms in America because we have been asleep. I feel if we do not become involved and support the annual National Day of Prayer, we could end up forfeiting this freedom too.”

Courtesy of http://www.christianpost.com/article/20101029/natl-day-of-prayer-proclamation-upheld-in-colorado/

Defending Christianity’s Place in U.S. Against ‘Anti-Faith’ Attacks

With America seeing huge attacks against the Christian faith, one congressman is not sitting idly by and allowing Christianity to be pushed out of the public square.

“Over the last several decades we have seen this constant erosion of just an access to the marketplace of ideas,” Virginia Congressman Randy Forbes said on Friday’s Family Talk radio broadcast.

“We don’t want to dominate the marketplace,” he noted. “We don’t want to control it. We just want to have faith and religion having a seat at the table.”

Forbes is the founder and chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus and active in defending the place of faith in American society.

Recently in May, Forbes and some 30 other congressmen defended a National Day of Prayer event held at the Cannon House building when protesters tried to block it from taking place.

Last month, he also introduced a bipartisan resolution reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States.

“I think overwhelmingly people across America would say ‘in God we still trust,’” he told Dr. James Dobson on the conservative radio show. “I think it’s the time for us to have that kind of legislation.”

Before Forbes was featured on Friday’s broadcast, Dobson noted to listeners that the newly launched Family Talk is not being turned into a ministry that has “a political or public policy bent.” But he stressed the significance of still addressing such issues and was unapologetic about doing so with passion.

“That’s who we are and might as well state that up front,” said Dobson, who started Family Talk with his son after leaving the prominent Focus on the Family ministry in February.

“This is the one reason that I didn’t want to retire when I left Focus on the Family,” the 74-year-old conservative evangelical leader stated. “The country is in a great deal of trouble and I just felt like we needed to do something about it.”

Like many like-minded Christians, Dobson feels there is a growing attack against Christianity and efforts to eliminate all references to the Christian faith.

Expressing the same level of concern, Forbes said “anti-faith” groups around the country are amassing huge sums of money and focusing their resources on one particular situation or lawsuit so that they can get a precedent.

But through the Congressional Prayer Caucus, Forbes and his fellow congressmen have had some success in dealing with the attacks.

After some 60 congressmen wrote a letter last year to a judge who initiated criminal contempt proceedings against two high school officials in Florida’s Santa Rosa County School District for praying during a luncheon, the case was dismissed.

“We have to make sure that these individuals who are making these decisions know that it’s not just the anti-faith groups that are looking at what they’re doing, but it’s people of faith as well,” Forbes said.

A number of states have begun to form prayer caucuses, including Mississippi and Virginia. Part of the purpose of prayer caucuses is to monitor legislation, agency rulings and court opinions that deny religious freedoms and access to the marketplace of ideas for people of faith, he said.

Forbes hopes to see prayer caucuses in every state “because it would be the first time that we have been able to integrate all of these policymakers across the country so that they can know what’s going on and we can have policies that effectively deal with some of these attacks before it’s too late.”

While “anti-faith” groups are becoming increasingly vocal, Forbes encouraged Christians to be courageous and let decision makers and others know that “there is not just a single voice – that being the anti-faith voice – but there are people of faith that are standing up as well.”

Courtesy of http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100612/defending-christianitys-place-in-us-against-anti-faith-attacks/index.html

Best National Prayer Day Ever Say Local Virginia Leaders

By Bill Bray
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA  – Virginia went to its knees this week in a revival of prayer and intercession unseen since the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center. Although the National Day of Prayer (NDP) events were often small and private, they were widespread and unified in purpose or prayer themes.

“In over 20 years leading this movement at the grassroots, I have never seen such deep penetration into the community as we experienced this year,” said one prominent leader privately. “It seemed like everyone was praying – and those who were not praying were aware of the spiritual power being generated!”

President Obama’s vigorous defense of prayer and his Declaration of Thursday, May 6, as the National Day of Prayer were widely celebrated as “an answer to prayer” in a year when the NDP had been broadly attacked by small atheistic organizations, Islamic pressure groups, secularists and a Federal judge in Wisconsin.

On Monday, May 10, a special meeting will be held here for local leaders to review the 2010 NDP and plan for the next major event on the prayer movement’s calendar – the Global Day of Prayer, Sunday, May 23. The Pentecost Sunday event begins with 10 nights of prayer starting next Thursday on Assumption Day, May 13.

During this next push, millions of Christians worldwide will join in the prayer countdown to Pentecost – especially in the “global south” where indigenous church growth movements are exploding the size of the worldwide Christian community.

National Day of Prayer meetings across central and northern Virginia were dispersed at thousands of prayer points, often impromptu and informally organized. Although bigger meetings were held in Washington (DC), Richmond, Lynchburg, Charlottesville and all large towns, there was much use of prayer chains, prayer websites, and 24-hour prayer watches. Nearly every county seat held some kind of public prayer event.

Public prayer for those in authority, when it was conducted onsite at church and government locations, was done mostly in small groups with little fanfare. The meetings were characterized by humility, repentance and a reliance on the Holy Spirit to restore and revive His people in every city and community.

Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia, was typical. Many joined for the first time in hundreds of churches and local prayer groups in the five counties surrounding the city. The actual public events were held in the Downtown Prayer Center opposite Charlottesville City Hall and police headquarters on East Market Street.

Prayer went on all day starting at 5 AM, but three public events were held for government workers and downtown office workers at 7:30 AM, Noon and 5 PM so that group prayer could be carried on using the “For Such a Time as This” prayer guide from the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

Banners and balloons floated outside the Downtown Prayer Center and noon hour services were held at the leading Baptist, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic churches. Nearly all local churches included the NDP announcements in bulletins and included some kind of prayer event in their parish plans.

Inside the prayer hall, circles of chairs were formed into groups of seven where participants prayed according to I Timothy 2:1-3 for leaders in the church, family, government, education, media, military and business.

The NDP events were well covered in all news media through news stories as well as in the religious media. The Christian media coverage included a three-hour special God TV, Bible Broadcasting Network (BBN), CBN, SRN, Salem Web and Victory Radio.

The U.S. Army’s decision to bow to Islamic pressure groups and disallow Franklin Graham to pray at the Pentagon National Day of Prayer event, as well as a judicial attack on the legality of the National Day of Prayer by a Wisconsin judge, contributed to a strong public awareness of the event in the media.

Logistical support for the prayer movement was provided for the NDP by (www.NationalDayofPrayer.org), WayMakers (www.waymakers.org) and the International House of Prayer movement which has a growing Virginia State organization based in Richmond.

Provided by our friends at Assist News Service

Courtesy of http://www.christiannewstoday.com/Christian_News_Report_67.html

CAIR celebrates Pentagon’s disinvite of Franklin Graham

A Muslim-rights group designated by the Justice Department as a terrorist co-conspirator celebrated its role in the cancellation of evangelist Franklin Graham’s appearance at a National Day of Prayer event at the Pentagon.

Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, said his invitation to be honorary chairman at the May 6 Pentagon service was revoked after Muslim members of the military complained about his description of Islam after the 2001 terrorist attacks as “a very evil and wicked religion.”

Graham explained his 2001 remarks in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, saying he didn’t believe Muslims were evil because of their faith but, as a minister, he thought it was his “responsibility to speak out against the terrible deeds that are committed as a result of Islamic teaching.”

Get the book that exposed CAIR from the inside out, autographed, from WND’s Superstore!

Army Col. Tom Collins said the invitation to Graham was from the Colorado-based National Day of Prayer Task Force, not the Pentagon. The Pentagon chaplain’s office, he said, coordinates the event with the private group. The Army said the event will go forward without the participation of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

Council on American-Islamic Relations National Executive Director Nihad Awad said his organization – an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror-finance case in U.S. history – hailed the decision “as a victory for common sense and good judgment.”

“Promoting one’s own religious beliefs is something to be defended and encouraged, but other faiths should not be attacked or misrepresented in the process,” Awad said.

CAIR had called on its supporters to petition the Pentagon to rescind the invitation to Graham.

CAIR – newly confirmed by the Justice Department as a terrorist co-conspirator – is trying to keep its lawsuit alive against two investigators behind the expose “Muslim Mafia”, which documents the D.C.-based group’s founding and current activity as a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood and its spinoff Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization.

Army spokesman Gary Tallman told Fox News Graham’s “presence at the event may be taken by some as inappropriate for a government agency.”

But critics of CAIR accused the Army of succumbing to political correctness and ignoring the Muslim organization’s radical affiliations.

“No matter what the circumstances, the Army has no business bowing to the will of a group that has been named an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas funding case, and has had several of its officials convicted of jihad terror-related charges,” Robert Spencer commented on his Jihad Watch blog.

Graham said in a statement he regretted the Army’s decision but expressed “strong support” for the U.S. military. He refused to revise his past comments.

Graham is president and CEO of the evangelical relief group Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

He told Fox News yesterday he loves Muslim people and wants them to know God loves them and they can be saved through Jesus Christ.

“I want them to know that they don’t have to die in a car bomb, don’t have to die in some kind of holy war to be accepted by God. But it’s through faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone,” Graham said.

Graham called Islam’s restrictions on women “horrid.”

“I love the people of Islam but their religion, I do not agree with their religion at all,” he told Fox News. “And if you look at what the religion does just to women, women alone, it is just 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 that they can be free.”

Commenting on Graham’s remarks to Fox News, Spencer accused the Army of “abetting the whitewashing and coverup of the institutionalized mistreatment of women in Islamic law.”

“This could have been, as Obama might say, a ‘teaching moment,’ and an opportunity to stand up for the human rights of those women and other groups oppressed by Shariah. Instead, it is just an occasion for more dhimmitude,” he said, referring to the subordination of non-Muslims under Islamic law.

‘Islam has attacked us’

Graham’s 2001 remarks were made at the dedication of a chapel in North Carolina.

“We’re not attacking Islam but Islam has attacked us. The God of Islam is not the same God,” he said at the event. “He’s not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It’s a different God, and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said the decision to revoke Graham’s invitation was “further evidence that the leadership of our nation’s military has been impaired by the politically correct culture being advanced by this administration.”

“Under this administration’s watch we are seeing the First Amendment, designed to protect the religious exercise of Americans, retooled into a sword to sever America’s ties with orthodox Christianity,” Perkins said.

Perkins himself was disinvited to speak at a prayer luncheon at Andrews Air Force Base earlier this year because of his opposition to President Obama’s call to allow homosexuals to serve in the military.

“For those Christian leaders who have avoided the controversy of political issues, saying they just wanted to preach the gospel – this should be a wake-up call,” he said.

Perkins called Graham “a man of courage and integrity whose deeply held biblical convictions should not be a pretext for denying him the opportunity to share the Gospel.”

“His ministry, Samaritan’s Purse, has fed literally millions of men, women and children in Muslim countries. The fact that he has theological differences with Islam, differences wholly in keeping with the teachings of the New Testament, and that he has expressed them publicly, is now being used by anti-Christian zealots in a manner offensive to the freedom of religion guaranteed by the very Constitution military leaders are sworn to uphold.”

Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, said the “attack on Franklin Graham and Christians was engineered by CAIR and it has the fingerprints of Barack Obama’s White House all over it.”

She said Awad and CAIR “offer us a preview of what America will be like if they are ever successful.”

“Playing by their rules – Shariah law – there is no separation of church and state,” Lafferty said. “There is one state religion, and Islam is it. There is zero tolerance for anything at variance with Islam, particularly if it’s Christian or Jewish.”

Lafferty pointed out that FBI wiretaps introduced at the federal Holy Land Foundation trials in 2008 showed Awad participated in a secret meeting of Hamas leaders and activists in Philadelphia in 1993.

At that time Awad was director of the Islamic Association for Palestine (a Hamas front group according to the FBI), which founded CAIR.

A 1993 Muslim Brotherhood document listed Awad’s name among “important phone numbers” for the Palestine section of the Muslim Brotherhood in America. The Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, founded after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, is the parent of Hamas, al-Qaida and most of the major Islamic terrorist organizations.

‘At war’ with evangelicals

The nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation also put pressure on the Army to disinvite Graham, outlining its objections in a letter Monday to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The group’s president, Mikey Weinstein, said the invitation offended Muslim employees at the Pentagon, because Graham never retracted or apologized for his description of Islam as evil.

Weinstein, whose group has filed numerous unsuccessful suits against military personnel who openly declare their faith, claimed the invitation would endanger American troops by stirring up Muslim extremists.

The Pray In Jesus Name Project, led by former Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, said Weinstein “duped” Pentagon officials into disinviting Graham.

Klingenschmitt cited Weinstein’s declaration, “We are at war with a subset of evangelical Christianity. How many? Roughly 12.6 percent of the American public or 38 million people. It’s still a lot of people.”

Klingenschmitt’s group has posted a petition to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urging Pentagon officials to reinvite Graham.

“Never did Franklin Graham threaten profanity-laced violence or declare war against 38 million Americans because of their faith, like Mr. Weinstein has,” said Klingenschmitt.

Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, Shirley Dobson, issued a statement calling on Americans to defend the right to pray at the Pentagon.

“Enough is enough,” said Dobson, the wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson.

Noting national days of prayer have occurred since 1775, “when the Continental Congress asked the nation to join in a petition for divine guidance,” she urged President Obama to appeal a ruling by a federal judge in Wisconsin last week that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.

Judge Barbara Crabb wrote in her opinion that the law, which gives the president the authority to designate the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer, violates the First Amendment.

“It goes beyond mere ‘acknowledgment’ of religion,” Crabb wrote, “because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context. In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.”

The National Day of Prayer will continue while the case is under appeal.

Courtesy of http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=144905

Atheists, religious groups lobby on Day of Prayer

MADISON, Wis.—To pray or not to pray? That’s the issue government leaders across the country are facing after a federal judge ruled that the National Day of Prayer set for May 6 was unconstitutional.

The ruling can’t take effect until all appeals are exhausted, but that’s not stopping atheists and prayer advocates from firing off letters, e-mails and even planning to put up billboards to convince state and local leaders across the country to see things their way.

Nothing’s changing in Topeka, Kan., says Mayor Bill Bunten.

“Some of these judges have lost their way,” Bunten said. “Every day is a day of prayer in most Kansas lives, whether they are Christian or Muslim or Jewish or whatever, and to say that a prayer day is illegal is just ridiculous. That judge better go back and read some history about how this country was formed. Next thing you know we won’t be able to sing ‘God Bless America.’”

The ruling raised a furor among religious advocacy groups, who say the day has become an American tradition. And the announcement this week by President Barack Obama’s administration that it would appeal galvanized atheists, who are trying to persuade officials not to attend local events. Their campaigns illustrate the persistent tensions over any combination of religion and government.

Congress established a national prayer day in 1952 and in 1988 set the first Thursday in May as the official day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray. Many state and local officials follow suit on that day.

Two years ago, the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation sued the federal government, alleging the day violated the separation of church and state. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled April 15 that the day amounts to a call to religious action. She included a caveat, though, that said her ruling would have no effect until all appeals are exhausted.

A day after Crabb’s ruling, the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based group of Christian lawyers, fired off letters to mayors telling them it has no bearing on prayer day activities.

“Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did, and a recent federal judge’s ruling does not prevent America’s cities from lawfully observing the National Day of Prayer,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Mike Johnson said in a statement.

On Friday, the Madison offices of the Freedom From Religion Foundation—a converted rectory now dubbed “The Freethought Hall”—were bustling.

Employees prepared letters to governors and the mayors of more than 1,000 cities urging them not to participate in prayer day. They worked under signs that quoted Richard Dawkins (“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction”) and Mark Twain (“Faith is believing what you know ain’t so”).

They were drafting an online petition where people could urge Obama to honor Crabb’s ruling and “leave days of prayer to individuals, private groups and churches, synagogues, mosques and temples.” Annie Laurie Gaylor, one of the foundation’s leaders, was putting the finishing touches on a full-page ad for the New York Times.

The foundation also plans to take out billboards promoting the separation of church and state in Colorado Springs, Co., home of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. The signs will read “God and government: A dangerous mix.”

“Whether or not we win in court, I want to win in the court of public opinion,” said Gaylor. “This law is based on lies and bad history.”

John Bornschein, executive director of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, said atheists try to sway government leaders from participating in the prayer day every year, but are being more aggressive. He called such efforts a waste of money that could go toward the poor.

“We’re an office full of patriots,” Bornschein said. “To see bickering over these sorts of things, it’s not a positive environment for people who need encouragement now more than ever.”

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt said he issues a proclamation every year recognizing the prayer day and attends a prayer breakfast with his name on the invitation. Nothing will change this year, he said.

Carl Brewer, mayor of Wichita, Kan., said the city recognizes prayer day every year. Officials often take prayer breaks and read Bible passages at events. He said this year will be no different.

“Prayer, he said, “is the foundation of the Midwest.”

———

Associated Press writers Ryan J. Foley in Madison and Briana Bierschbach in St. Paul, Minn., contributed to this report.

Courtesy of http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14946447?source=searchles

Day of Prayer observed in Denver, but lawsuit looms

The faithful gathered around the Colorado Capitol on Thursday morning for the National Day of Prayer, despite a recent federal court ruling that the observance violates the constitutional ban on government-backed religion.

A similar lawsuit is pending against Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. The plaintiff in both cases, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, alleges Ritter has violated the state constitution by declaring a local Day of Prayer to mirror the national event.

At the center of both cases is the Colorado Springs-based National Day of Prayer Task Force, an evangelical Christian group led since 1991 by Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. The group helps organize Day of Prayer events across the country.

In deciding the federal lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb of Wisconsin wrote that the prayer day is unconstitutional because its sole purpose is to encourage citizens to pray, “an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function.”

However, she postponed the injunction until all appeals are exhausted. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is appealing the April 15 ruling.

Last Friday, President Barack Obama again proclaimed the first Thursday in May a National Day of Prayer. Ritter made a similar decree for Colorado, back on March 25.

“The capitols of every state will be covered in prayer,” said John Bornschein, executive director of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation claims the NDP Task Force inappropriately collaborates with the government in marking the day of prayer.

“The evangelical mission of the NDP Task Force is ‘to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer,’ ” the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote in its complaint against Ritter.

Dan Bonifazi, Denver counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said the national and state prayer days blur the line between church and state.

“The NDP Task Force is a conservative Christian organization that e-mails proclamations and scripture to governors, who then cut and paste what they’re sent into their programs,” Bonifazi said.

Judge Crabb also acknowledged in her decision that much of the controversy has been generated by events planned by private organizations, such as the NDP Task Force.

“Government officials, including former presidents, have sometimes aligned themselves so closely with those exclusionary groups that it becomes difficult to tell the difference between the government’s message and that of the private group,” she wrote.

Bornschein denies that the task force is running the show.

“We don’t use bully tactics with officials. We remind them of the day,” Bornschein said. “They are free to participate or sign a proclamation. We’re simply organized.”

The case against the state will be decided by District Judge Robert S. Hyatt. Bonifazi expects a summary judgment by the end of summer.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has argued in court filings that the nonbinding proclamation of a Colorado Day of Prayer merely declares a special day to celebrate “the right of free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

NDP Task Force officials said it could be some time before the courts finally settle the issue.

“Regardless of the decision, with or without the participation of elected officials, we will continue to call Americans to prayer,” Bornschein said. “We need prayer.”

Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com

Courtesy of http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15035864

Hanging a bull’s-eye on Christian prayer

There’s a bull’s-eye being hung on Christian prayer right now, and one of the attorneys who wages war for the right of Americans to express their faith publicly says on this 2010 National Day of Prayer it’s because of a national atmosphere that encourages atheists to make their demands.

“The radical secular, militant atheists are feeling empowered right now,” Mike Johnson, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund told WND.

The ADF is one of the premiere organizations that fights for civil and religious rights in the United States and is made up of thousands of lawyers who take on cases as they develop.

Johnson cited two recent developments that reveal a growing antagonism toward Christian prayer – even though the Continental Congress recognized the value of prayer even before the U.S. became a nation.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, was disinvited to serve as the honorary chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force event at the Pentagon because some Muslims were offended by past remarks. And last month, a federal judge in Wisconsin  ruled that the National Day of Prayer as recognized for hundreds of years and especially as formalized in recent decades is unconstitutional. The decision is being appealed.

“Leftists are feeling empowered,” Johnson said, describing the “barrage” of requests for help in the defense of traditional Christian prayer events, such as invocations at meetings.

“Beginning about three or four years ago, we noted a trend. There was an increase in the overt attacks on public invocations, traditional public prayer,” Johnson said.

The attacks came from groups such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, he said.

“It was almost as if they got together in a room somewhere and decided on a strategy to go after prayer,” he said.

One case came up that was decided against Christian prayer, a small town procedure that required prayer in Jesus name at public meetings.

And while Johnson said the decision was correct, leftist groups took it and ran with it, citing it in warnings to other towns, counties and other bodies that all of their prayer procedures also were unconstitutional, whether they were or not.

He said lawyers immediately noticed the trend and started mapping it, watching it move from the Carolinas up and down the eastern seaboard, then westward across the country.

Their response was to create a model invocation policy that met constitutional muster and distribute it to 22,000 cities and other governments across the country.

“We said if you haven’t been threatened yet, you will be,” Johnson said.

He said the model policy has helped, but even so, the “militant secularists” continue filing lawsuits at will.

“They are pulling out all the stops,” he said.

Graham said there are alarming trends in the U.S., a nation that recognized the importance of prayer even as leaders assembled as the Continental Congress.

In a report in USA Today, he said the Pentagon’s disinvitation amounts to a “slap in the face of all Christians.”

Meanwhile, he said on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “Brody File,” under President Obama, Islam is getting a “pass.” 

Officials report that in 2009, there were some 40,000 individual events held to mark the Christian prayer of the nation.

Graham said his belief is in Christianity, and for that he was targeted.

“Muslims do not worship the same ‘God the Father’ I worship,” he said. “No elephant with 100 arms (from Hinduism) can do anything for me. None of their 9,000 gods is going to lead me to salvation.”

The White House also recently dropped the phrase “In the year of our Lord” from a proclamation about Jewish Heritage Month, even though the year indicated was 2010, not the 5,000-plus it would be under the Jewish calendar.

During the webcast of a Family Research Council prayer event today, Graham said preaching is allowed now in America, but there may come a time when it is permitted only inside certain walls, because of the growing attacks on Christianity and expressions of faith..

“Maybe in my lifetime,” he warned.

The National Day of Prayer Task Force said the observance was established in 1952 by a joint resolution of Congress and signed into law by President Harry Truman. It is founded on the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and religion.

The Task Force concentrates on prayer for the well-being of America and for leaders at all levels. The 2010 theme is “Prayer, For Such a Time as This,” based on the verse from Nahum 1:7, which states: “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.”

But prayer – on a governmental level – has been going on since 1775, when the Continental Congress designated a time of prayer for forming a new nation. It was in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln called for such a day.

It is not designated as a “Christian” event and encourages Americans regardless of religion to celebrate their faith. The Task Force, however, focuses on the Judeo-Christian beliefs held by many of the Founders.

The most visible events are held in Congress and in other Washington locales. But local volunteers and coordinators set up events across the nation including prayer breakfasts, Bible reading marathons, prayer concernts, rallies and prayer vigils.

Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and the national chairmwoman for the Task Force, said the nation’s “heritage of prayer has come under unrelenting assault.”

“On April 15, 2010, federal judge Barbara Crabb issued a ruling striking down the National Day of Prayer as unconstitutional. And now, a small group of naysayers in Albuquerque has demanded that the Pentagon cancel its planned National Day of Prayer. … It is time to say, ‘enough is enough.’”

According to historical documentation assembled by Wallbuilders, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story wrote in 1847, “The right of a society or government to [participate] in matters of religion will hardly be contested by any persons who believe that piety, religion, and morality are intimately connected with the well being of the state and indispensable to the administrations of civil justice. The promulgation of the great doctrines of religion – the being, and attributes, and providence of one Almighty God; the responsibility to Him for all our actions, founded upon moral accountability; a future state of rewards and punishments; the cultivation of all the personal, social, and benevolent virtues – these never can be a matter of indifference in any well-ordered community. It is, indeed, difficult to conceive how any civilized society can well exist without them.”

Former U.S. House Speaker Robert Winthrop wrote in 1852, “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet.”

And among the multitude of other references to faith, John Adams, second president, said in 1854, “[I]t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue.”

There is a Congressional Prayer Caucus to acknowledge Christian beliefs and interests in Congress and a Presidential Prayer Team to pray for the president and other national leaders.

Courtesy of http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=150365