AP Photo/Martinez Monsivais
An order issued by a federal judge on Tuesday dismissed claims against Shirley Dobson in a lawsuit filed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF). The suit alleges government-issued proclamations encouraging citizens to pray are unconstitutional.
Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Chairperson of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, was represented by Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys.
The court granted a motion filed by ADF attorneys for a summary judgment in the suit resulting in the dismissal, but it also granted FFRF’s motion allowing it to challenge the statute permitting a national day of prayer.
The suit filed by the FFRF included then President George W. Bush and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle among other government officials and also named Shirley Dobson, see ADF attorneys seek to dismiss lawsuit against National Day of Prayer. To reflect the current administration, the lawsuit, which is before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, is now named Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Obama. The case remains ongoing against President Barack Obama; however, the court has stated it cannot stop future presidential proclamations from being issued.
“Prayer proclamations are a long-established and cherished American tradition going back to the Founding Fathers,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster. “This is simply a ridiculous lawsuit and an example of one radical organization’s allergic reaction to anything involving God.”
Now in existence over five decades, President Harry S. Truman established the annual National Day of Prayer in 1952 in a joint resolution of Congress. Americans are given the opportunity to unite in prayer during events held nationwide on this day. In 1988, the law was amended to set the date as the first Thursday in May. The 2010 National Day of Prayer occurs on May 6th.
Comments
The federal government should either respect the Constitutional separation of church and state and abolish the National Day of Prayer, or should establish an equivalent National Day of Reason for the tens of millions of Americans whose beliefs are based on Reason, Science and Common Sense (not on Blind Faith, Mythology and Supersition)... I am sure religionists would not object to the celebration of Reason (if they do then perhaps they could follow their own advice and simply ignore the National bDay of Reason)...
Peace.
The first amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
No where is a separation of church and state explicitly or implicitly referenced. What the founding fathers did want to prevent is national church, ie, a Church of the United States.
A national day of prayer does not establish a religion in any way. Presidents going back to Truman have participated and there is nothing unconstitutional about it.
TWJ, I like your idea of a National Day of Reason. We could celebrate the "enlightenment" and the way it encouraged all people to examine the differences between superstition and the supernatural. The enlightenment offered a great benefit to the world by freeing people from the oppressive manipulative tactics of those in power at the time. At the same time the National Day of Prayer would encourage people to consider that maybe there is more to this world than meets the eye. Jesus was not a myth but a flesh and blood person who walked the earth and whose death was documented by the secular historians of his day. Why would they document the death of an obscure Jew? Because he posed a severe threat to the status quo for both the secular and religious establishments of his day.
The Constitution does not give Congress the authority to declare a Nation Day or Anything. Article 1, Section 8
Sorry.. a National Day OF anything
"established the annual National Day of Prayer in 1952"...
ahhh, yes, another nasty remnant from the McCarthyism scare days.
If our country thrived for ~180 years without a national day of prayer, why would we need one now, when we know that it is divisive (which/whose gods are we praying to, etc) and exclusionary (since millions of Americans report having beliefs in no gods) and a waste of time/effort (just as it would be a waste to have a national day of praying to Humpty Dumpty).
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