An American Prayer Extravaganza: Make a Big Spectacle of Yourself or Have Your Computer Do It for You

One of my big pet peeves is when people wear their religion on their sleeves, making a public showing of how righteous they are.

In my experience, the folks who have to make sure that everyone around them knows how "spiritual" they are tend to be the least spiritual. Their religion and public piety is merely for show.

In just a few short weeks we'll get to observe yet another public display of religion in America. The fireworks are already starting.

What I'm talking about is the "National Day of Prayer," an event set aside by Congress fifty-some years ago. This year, the event falls on May 7.

I have no problem with people praying or having a moment of silence within their homes or in their churches. If they all want to do it at the same hour and on the same day, so be it and more power to them. But I am very much against this type of thing in the public forum, where government officials are making a show of prayer and people are congregated in the streets and parks, participating in government-endorsed prayer. I'm against prayer in public schools because this is something that can be done at home and not forced upon non-believers or non-Christians. I think prayer before public meetings is ridiculous. And prayer before sports events — which is usually "Jesus, help us win" — is particularly absurd. Aside from the insincerity of it all, my objections are because of separation of church and state issues.

Establishment of a National Religion — Mormons, Muslims and Others Not Allowed.

There's a practical reason we have the establishment clause in the Constitution: Exclusivity.

Exclusivity leads to the establishment of a "national religion." It's just a matter of common sense.

Last year, USA Today reported on a Jewish group's reaction to the National Day of Prayer, which it claimed was hijacked by the religious right .

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has filed a federal lawsuit saying the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional and creates a "hostile environment for nonbelievers." I believe that the hostile environment extends to Mormons, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists and many other non-fundamentalist Christian denominations.

Representing the National Day of Prayer Task Force is the Alliance Defense Fund, which is urging people to ask President Obama to issue a presidential proclamation supporting the event. The Fund has put a video out on YouTube to drum up support. The video portrays FFRF as a radical group of atheists that is attempting to silence religion. This is not the case. FFRF is simply attempting to preserve the separation of church and state.

The National Day of Prayer Task Force coordinates prayer events throughout the country. Barry Lynn, a United Church of Christ minister, says that the task force has become a fundamentalist Christian group affiliated with religious broadcaster James Dobson and other religious right leaders, which is using inflammatory rhetoric and falsifying American history with respect to the separation of church and state.

The task force is currently led by Shirley Dobson, who has chaired it since 1991. Prior to Mrs. Dobson's involvement, the Task Force was led by Mrs. Vonette Bright, wife of former Campus Crusade for Christ president and founder Bill Bright.

You can volunteer as a coordinator on the task force's website. The application to volunteer with the task force states:

National Day of Prayer:
The National Day of Prayer Task Force was a creation of the National Prayer Committee for the expressed purpose of organizing and promoting prayer observances conforming to a Judeo-Christian system of values. People with other theological and philosophical views are, of course, free to organize and participate in activities that are consistent with their own beliefs. This diversity is what Congress intended when it designated the Day of Prayer, not that every faith and creed would be homogenized, but that all who sought to pray for this nation would be encouraged to do so in any way deemed appropriate. It is that broad invitation to the American people that led, in our case, to the creation of the Task Force and the Judeo-Christian principles on which it is based.

Applicants must sign off on the following statement of belief if they wish to serve as a volunteer coordinator for the task force:

Statement of Belief:
I believe that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of The Living God. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only One by which I can obtain salvation and have an ongoing relationship with God. I believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his sinless life, his miracles, the atoning work of his shed blood, his resurrection and ascension, his intercession and his coming return to power and glory. I believe that those who follow Jesus are family and there should be unity among all who claim his name.

The above came from the 2009 application that you can access through the site's coordinator form, which only goes to show that despite previous protests, the National Day of Prayer Task Force materials routinely exclude Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other "minority" faiths who have not bought into the Lausanne Covenant.

The Lausanne Covenant is a 1974 declaration of beliefs accepted by 2300 or so evangelicals at an international meeting in Switzerland. Among the tenets are a belief that the New and Old Testaments are the only written word of God. The Covenant advocates a worldwide evangelical movement so that every person on earth has an opportunity to hear the "good news." Chapter 12 of this Covenant takes an "us vs. them" stance against all non-evangelicals: "We believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with the principalities and powers of evil, who are seeking to overthrow the Church and frustrate its task of world evangelization. We know our need to equip ourselves with God's armour and to fight this battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer. For we detect the activity of our enemy, not only in false ideologies outside the Church, but also inside it in false gospels which twist Scripture and put people in the place of God. We need both watchfulness and discernment to safeguard the biblical gospel."

The National Day of Prayer's Task Force created quite a stir in Utah back in 2004, when national and community leaders refused to allow an LDS church to lead the prayer in Orem, Utah. "The National Day of Prayer has become yet another platform for the Religious Right to advance its 'Christian nation' agenda and make minority religions feel like second-class citizens," said Barry Lynn.

Implied Government Endorsement of a "Judeo-Christian" National Religion.

There is something very wrong about excluding church groups from community prayer events. Any church or religion that has not endorsed the Lausanne Covenant but wants to participate in the national display of prayer must coordinate its own events. These faiths are not considered part of "our national Judeo-Christian heritage."

While the National Day of Prayer Task Force is a private non-profit group that does not receive government funds, it is the first place people go to if they want to learn about their community's events for the national day of prayer. It gets an unofficial government seal of approval with an annual presidential proclamation and prayer ceremonies held at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

The task force's express exclusion of Muslims, Jews, Mormons and other faiths sends a clear message: The American religious community does not want you. You're not worthy to participate in national prayer.

Many speculated that the Mormon church thought it would be accepted into "mainstream religion" in its efforts to defeat Proposition 8. Given the 2009 application form, it's quite apparent that this has not worked.

Separation of Church and State.

As Barry Lynn wrote back in 1999, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison — two key framers of the Constitution– opposed the government issuing religious proclamations.

"Although Madison issued a 'prayer day' proclamation while President under political pressure from Congress, he later said such proclamations are inappropriate," writes Lynn. ""They seem to imply and certainly nourish the erroneous idea of a national religion,' Madison wrote in a document referred to as the 'Detached Memoranda.'"

"Jefferson made a similar argument, writing to the Rev. Samuel Miller in 1808, 'Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the times for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and this right can never be safer than in their own hands, where the Constitution has deposited it.'"

And Speaking of a Judeo-Christian "National Heritage," What Does the Bible Say?

If we as a nation are to accept the Bible as the only word of God and the inerrant word of God, then it should be consulted when it comes to national prayer day. Mrs. Dobson quotes Mathew 18:20 on the Task Force website, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." This could relate to anything — church gatherings, family gatherings, you name it, but it does not specifically address prayer.

The scripture that does specifically talk about prayer is ignored on the Task Force's site. It comes from the same Biblical book, Mathew, in Chapter 6, Versus 5-6:

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Personal Prayer in the Technological Age.

Some religions demand that you pray every single day, regardless of whether it is the National Day of Prayer. If you're in a hurry and forget to say your prayers, there's a new service just for you: Information Age Prayer.

For a subscription fee starting at around $3.95 a month, you can select your religion and then the service will use a text-to-speech program that will enable your PC to recite your recommended prayers each day. You can go out partying and if you're too hung over to get up in time for daily worship, your ticket to heaven is ensured because your computer is doing your prayers for you.

The sales page says, "It gives you the satisfaction of knowing that your prayers will always be said even if you wake up late, or forget."

The service is available for the following religions:

• Protestant;
• Catholic;
• Jewish;
• Muslim;
• Non-denominational/other religions.

There's a variety of different topics that your computer can pray about. You can get financial prayers, good luck prayers, world peace prayers and, for Catholics, the Hail Mary prayer.

Those poor Mormons — they're left out of the information age prayer service, too.

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Related posts:

1. PRESS RELEASE: Court: FFRF suit against National Day of Prayer can proceed
2. Why Do We Need a National Day of Prayer?
3. National Day of Prayer Lawsuit Moves Forward
4. The National Day of Prayer: Jesus vs. Shirley Dobson; Rev. Lynn Speaks Out
5. National Day of Prayer News Release: ADF Sponges Off FFRF’S Lawsuit
6. National Prayer Day Review: Dobson, Forbes Criticize Obama
7. Muslim Prayer Day and the Christian Right's Prayer Crusade
8. 40 Days of Prayer at the Western Wall
9. National Day of Prayer Scaled Back at the White House
10. PRESS RELEASE: Federal Court To Hear Arguments In Case Challenging City-Sponsored Prayer In Greece, N.Y.

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