News and Notes: National Day of [Christian] Prayer

By George Francis Kane

January 6, 2021, when an angry mob intent on overturning the result of the presidential election laid siege to the U.S. Capitol, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the nation’s history. There was, however, one candle in that darkness. In the months since then, the Capitol has been closed to the public. It is surrounded by fence, and heavily guarded. The result was that for the first time since the National Day of Prayer Resolution was signed by President Harry Truman 70 years ago, there was no Christian celebration at the Capitol on the first Thursday in May.

Christian Nationalists were enraged. Rallies in many state capitols were also canceled because the public was kept out due to Covid-related restrictions on gatherings. The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, tweeted “free speech is in danger today in America.”

Not that the organizers of the National Day of Prayer have ever been particularly concerned about freedom of speech, nor freedom of religion, for that matter. Activities for the annual celebration are not planned by any governmental agency, but by the private National Day of Prayer Task Force, which is entirely composed of conservative evangelical Christians. They have made it clear that the “official” Day of Prayer events that they put on are only for conservative Christians like themselves. If other religions wish to celebrate the day, the NDP Task Force tells them to stage their own events — they are not welcome at authorized activities.

There has been one legal challenge to end the annual Declaration of the National Day of Prayer for violation of the Establishment Clause. In 2010 the Freedom from Religion Foundation tried suing President Obama and won in District Court. In her decision, Judge Barbara Crabbe wrote: “… recognizing the importance of prayer to many people does not mean that the government may enact a statute in support of it, any more than the government may encourage citizens to fast during the month of Ramadan, attend a synagogue, purify themselves in a sweat lodge or practice rune magic. In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.”

President Obama appealed the case, and the Seventh Circuit Court threw the case out, vacating the decision of an Establishment Clause violation, because the plaintiffs lacked standing. The suit could not be heard because the FFRF sustained no injury. In this line of reasoning, even if the proclamation of the National Day of Prayer constitutes a clear violation of the Establishment Clause, the only person with the right to sue is the president, who may sue Congress because their resolution instructs him to issue the proclamation annually.

No president so far has done so or refused to issue the proclamation. It would still be political suicide, as it would be viewed as a gratuitous insult to Christians. Even though, for the first time, the majority of Americans are not members any of church, the nation would reject him. This year, President Biden’s proclamation contained all the overly honeyed sentimentality needed to please his Christian audience, glorifying prayer and faith for unifying the nation with “purpose and resolve,” delivering “the determination to overcome adversity, rise above our differences, and come together as one Nation to meet this moment in history.” Nevertheless, he was widely chastised because nowhere in the proclamation did he mention God! I’m sure Biden upbraided his writer for that oversight.

The American Humanist Association in 2003 originated the idea of a National Day of Reason as a response to the National Day of Prayer. They schedule it on the same day, the first Thursday
in May, and often celebrate it with gatherings at state capitols. Minnesota Atheists first celebrated it with speeches in the Rotunda in 2006, while Christians were doing the same on the steps outside.

The Congressional Secular Caucus, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), has introduced a resolution to officially recognize the National Day of Reason.