Bush wants you to pray today
It’s not a widely recognized “holiday,” but today is the official National Day of Prayer. The name is rather self-explanatory: It’s a day, set aside by law, in which the federal government encourages the nation to pray. And if you’re thinking it’s none of the government’s business whether you pray or not, we’re on the same page.
To be sure, of all the recent concerns about separation of church and state, this is probably not the most pressing. The president is using his so-called “faith-based” initiative as a slush fund to reward his conservative allies and Republicans are still intent on diverting more federal tax dollars to private schools run by religious ministries. They are direct assaults on the church-state “wall.”
But on principle alone, the idea that there’s an official “holiday” in which government promotes and encourages prayer is just odd in a country in which the state is supposed to be neutral when it comes to religion.
It’s not a new phenomenon — but it doesn’t go back to the Founding Fathers. In the early 1950s, when lawmakers were adding “under God” to the Pledge and changing all American money to include the phrase “In God We Trust,” Congress created an official annual Prayer Day for the nation. Congress, under pressure from the religious right, changed the law in 1988 to set the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May, which brings us to today.
If small-government conservatives were ideologically consistent, you might expect them to reject a political effort like this. Americans are more than capable of deciding on their own whether or not to pray; it’s just not the government’s job to interfere. But consistency has never been the religious right’s strongpoint — they seem to believe that we need Congress and the White House to set aside a special day to promote praying, rather than leaving the matter to individuals, families, pastors, and religious institutions.
Indeed, just yesterday, Bush issued his latest prayer proclamation, explaining his belief that Americans “thank God for His many blessings and His care of our country.” the president added, “Through prayer, our faith is strengthened, our hearts are humbled, and our lives are transformed. May our Nation always have the humility to trust in the goodness of God’s plans.”
Part of the problem is the state endorsing prayer like this. The other part of the problem is that Bush does this more than any other president in American history.
In just the last year, Bush has issued proclamations calling on Americans to pray on Memorial Day, for Katrina victims, and for three days on the anniversary of 9/11.
I can appreciate the fact that Bush is a religious person who values the importance of prayer in his life. It’s harder to understand, however, why the president finds it necessary to keep telling the rest of us to worship on such a regular basis.
As of today, Bush has issued proclamations marking 25 days as official days of prayer in the United States. The president has been in office about 63 months, which means he’s issuing an official prayer declaration from the White House about once every 10 weeks. No president in U.S. history has ever issued so many official prayer edicts in office.
In fact, in the “good old days,” this didn’t occur. Presidents such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison opposed official government prayer days.
For the truly devout, every day is a day of prayer and government proclamations are irrelevant and unnecessary. It’s a shame Bush doesn’t understand that. Then again, considering the way the president governs, more Americans are probably praying now than ever before.
“…It’s harder to understand, however, why the president finds it necessary to keep telling the rest of us to worship on such a regular basis….”
CB, I’d personally like to ask God to pick up something really, really big and heavy—the USS Ronald Reagan would do nicely, I think—and drop it on Kid George. Maybe while he’s in the same room as Cheney, Hastert, Rumsfeld, and Frist. A real, old-timey smiting. Would that be okay? Please?
I pray every day that we will get a Democratic Congress and they will start impeachment proceedings. And I don’t want or need the Government to tell me when to pray.
Read the entire proclamation. It’s an outrage.
It clearly violates the establishment clause. It’s
far worse than the simple mottoes and phrases
adorning our currency, coins and Pledge.
This is a call for all Americans to worship
a particular deity. Bush’s God, whatever that
is. It’s offensive beyond words.
And if Clinton did it - which seems to be
a favorite refrain of the trolls who despoil
our liberal blogs - it was equally wrong and
offensive. And for any other president as
well.
There’s nothing those of us who feel this
way can do. The tyranny of the majority
comes into play. Our objections are simply
dismissed as the rantings of dirty atheist
commies who hate America.
God help us, irony intended.
Considering what so many of us are praying for, Bush better beware of encouraging us.
“The other part of the problem is that Bush does this more than any other president in American history.”
Well, maybe that’s because he has f***ed up so much more, in so many ways, than any other president in American history.
My prayer today for America!
God, please do the Rapture. Really, take Boy George II, Robertson, Fawell, Swaggert, Dobson and all the rest up to you.
While your at it, Sadr wants to go. The president of Iran wants to go (who can spell that name). They all want to go to heaven without having to die. But that’s okay with me. Go ahead and take them. Really. It’s okay with most of America.
While you’re at it, could you take Cheney too? I’m not sure if he is evangelical, but I’m sure Boy George II needs him. And Rummy?
But you know that tribulation thing? Don’t put yourself out. We’ve been doing fine here on Earth since the last of Jesus’ disciples died (He said that before his generation was over, the end times would come!) and I’m sure we can keep on going. I mean, as long as you are bodily assuming people up, why don’t you send the Anti-Christ down?
So how about it? A ten percent solution? If you take ten percent of the population of the world, we won’t even have an oil crisis anymore.
Because I know (well, everyone says) you think of America as your ’special’ country, please, do it for us!
Thank you
Amen
“Bush’s God, whatever that is.” - - - hark.
A barrel of oil, methinks….
I heard a suggestion from a listener to Stephanie Miller’s show this morning. I plan to follow it. Take out all the bills in your wallet (assuming you have any) and scratch out the word “God” wherever you find it.
I’m serious. This works whether you’re a believer or not. The Old Testament says that “God” should never be spoken/written; the New Testment says to render money unto Caesar while keeping religious things separate. Agnostics like me or Deists like our Founding Fathers would gladly “edit out” such religious references from our paper money. Today’s a nice day to do it.
I’m debating between sacrificing a lamb before my altar of Ba’al, or a bull in my Mithran temple
When I hear Bush get religious, I hear him really saying
“Let us prey”
upon a trusting nation under God
prey upon the American quality of life
prey upon retirement funds
prey upon childlike believers to vote for the promise of a church state
prey upon the Bill of Rights
Our real god who art special interest privileges , Hollowed by thy name
oops.. I meant to say ” hollow be thy name”.
But Bush isn’t really religious, and he doesn’t really care about the importance of prayer. He is simply a poser for the religious right. He famously never goes to church, and he only found religion when it was clear that he was going to be taking a political career path. I bet Rove was standing beside him while he accepted Jesus into his heart, just the way they practiced in the limo on the way to the church.
C’mon folks cut the snark.
Get down on your knees,
And let’s all pray to the
Big Santa in the Sky…
[Aside: Scratch out “God” on the bills and write in “Santa.”]
I’m glad to see that so many are joining into the spirit of the day. So, okay, here’s mine:
Almighty and eternal God,
Who is faster than a speeding bullet,
more powerful than a locomotive,
Thou who art able to leap tall buildings with a single bound,
Thou strange visitor from another planet,
Who hast come to earth with powers and abilities
far beyond those of mortal men,
Thou who art able to change the course of mighty rivers,
bend steel in Thy bare hands,
Yea, Thou Who sees all things and canst make straight the most crooked way:
Grant, we beseech Thee, this petition from Thy humble and left-leaning servant, that Thou mayst bless the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with sufficient funds to get their sorry asses elected, and sufficient cojones to strike down the powers of darkness. Bless them with the strength of a veto-proof majority, and vouchsafe that they may smite the enemy and banish him and the other fallen angels to the darkness of Crawford, Texas, forever…
Per Christum Dominum Nostrum.
Amen.
Violation of the establishment clause notwithstanding, the coopting of religion by the government is an extraordinarily clever (and extraordinarily ancient) idea for exerting ideological control over the population.
So here’s the basic rule: any politician who attempts to legislate to “encourage” any religious/spiritual activity is not in favor of freedom of thought or conscience. And, without that, there is no freedom worth having.
ALL RIGHT, A DAY OF PRAYER!
I’m going directly to the Leaning Tower Restaurant to pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, who, as we Pastafarians know, created us all and “touched us with His noodly appendage.”
Maybe the Chimp should pray for his depraved soul…
noodly appendage?
LOL
I agree with Ed.
I am giving up on Santa.
I’m a Pastafarian now too.
Pass the Mozzarella please.
Would somebody from the press PLEASE start asking him why he never goes to church?
PLEASE?
If he’s so goddam religious, can’t he find even ONE church he would like to attend occasionally?
His idiot followers need to know what a poser he is. They also need repetition, because they’re STUPID.
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” –”It Can’t Happen Here”, Sinclair Lewis, 1935