So presidents going all the way back to George Washington have been unconstitutional for all these years. Who knew?
A federal judge in Wisconsin declared Thursday that the US law authorizing a National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
US District Judge Barbara Crabb said the federal statute violates the First Amendment’s prohibition on government endorsement of religion.
She issued a 66-page decision and enjoined President Obama from issuing an executive order calling for the celebration of a National Day of Prayer.
The National Day of Prayer was first authorized by Congress in 1952. Since 1988, the date has been set as the first Thursday in May.
The judge stayed her own injunction pending the resolution of any appeals.
“I understand that many may disagree with [my] conclusion and some may even view it as critical of prayer or those who pray. That is unfortunate,” Judge Crabb wrote.
“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,” she said. “Rather it is part of the effort to carry out the Founders’ plan of preserving religious liberty to the fullest extent possible in a pluralistic society.”
The action came as a result of a lawsuit filed by members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison, Wisconsin group founded in 1976. The group is pledged to promote the concept of separation of church and state. It also seeks to educate the public on matters of “nontheism.”
via Federal judge: National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com.
This seems exceedingly weak. No particular religion is favored in these proclamations. They just ask people from their various religions to pray. I do have problems with unionistic, ecumenical, and interfaith syncretistic services that often happen on these days. But they are not necessary to the proclamation. Christians are told in Scripture to pray for the governing authorities, and they can do that in their own churches and in their own ways. So can other religions if they want to. No one is coerced by these proclamations.
I can’t imagine that this ruling could stand. If it does, more overt actions–such as the invocations in Congress, “In God We Trust” on our coins, and military chaplains–would surely have to go also.
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