Curse the National Day of Prayer

Here on the West Coast there's still a few hours left to take part in the National Day of Prayer (May 1). My recommendation: swear at it.

That's the tack one of my favorite web sites, Pharyngula, took. In the midst of a post on this ridiculous religious observance I found a well-spoken pithy piece of advice. "Fuck the National Day of Prayer."

Now, that might seem a bit harsh. What's wrong with warm fuzzy prayer?

Well, nothing. So long as you're into having one-sided conversations with imaginary people. But a few minutes of browsing the official web site of the National Day of Prayer revealed its dark side – just as I expected.

For one thing, this "national" prayer effort leaves out much of the nation. Namely, anyone who doesn't believe in the Judeo-Christian God.

The web site explains why Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and other heathens aren't welcome under the not-so-inclusive National Day of Prayer tent:

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… The Task Force represents a Judeo Christian expression of the national observance, based on our understanding that this country was birthed in prayer and in reverence for the God of the Bible.

Right at the top of the home page you can see in some Flash video what the National Day of Prayer really is all about: politics.

I'm told that prayer is America's strength and shield. Gosh, who knew? I thought it was the Constitution, which calls for the separation of church and state.

But, no, it's prayer. And what should we pray for? What a silly question. Election Day. This gets the primo position on the National Day of Prayer web site.

Not world peace, reducing poverty, alleviating disease, helping the hungry, bringing people together. Election Day.

Again, silly me. I didn't realize that Election Day needed praying for. I didn't even know that it had problems requiring God's intervention. Won't Election Day take care of itself this November?

Apparently not.

I dutifully watched the video on the election page. It was mercifully short. I learned that red is the color of America. Funny. The flag is red, white, and blue. But the video only mentions red as representing American values.

Oh, I get it!

Red states and blue states. Republican and Democrat. Vote red/Republican. So the National Day of Prayer not only is limited to Jews and Christians, it looks like Independents and Democrats also aren't part of God's prayer family.

Who clearly are focused on just on a few political issues.

I clicked on a National Day of Prayer link that led me to a helpful Voter's Guide. This will tell me what I should ask God to make happen on Election Day.

Wow, what a non-surprise! Neither Clinton nor Obama gets a "yes" on any of the issues I'm supposed to care about. but a guy in red, John McCain, scores five out of seven (Huckabee, bless his soul, was all "yes").

Human Life Amendment
Traditional Marriage
Gun Rights
Business Freedom
Limit Taxes
Opposes Gay Pride
Iraq War
Moral Education

These are the things to pray for, the Judeo-Christian values that make our country great. Killing. Hatred. Discrimination. Ignorance.

So it's a no-brainer for me to decide what to do on the National Day of Prayer: tell it to go to hell.

Comments

[poohbear]

"National Prayer Committee!!!" - George Orwell put the wind up us by floating the idea of a "Ministry of Truth", but a National Prayer Committee is getting closer to a country with its right wing Christian contingent bent on having their own breed of president presiding over a country run on "God's Law"
Tell me none of it will happen, and that soon the US will take a turn in the road and remember its sane secular Constitution.
I live a long distance from the US, but its influence is pretty pervasive.

[tucson]

It is unfortunate that right wing religious zealotry becomes associated with conservatism which are very different things.

Conservatism, to me, means belief and adherence to the principles of the original Constitution which has nothing to do with religion and only a few of this list Brian presented:

Human Life Amendment
Traditional Marriage
Gun Rights
Business Freedom
Limit Taxes
Opposes Gay Pride
Iraq War
Moral Education

That is: Gun rights, business freedom, limit taxes.

Associating religious zealotry with conservatism is like associating believers in a socialist welfare state with liberalism. In fact, when you remove the extreme factions of "liberalism" and "conservatism", they end up sounding pretty much alike. Look up the meaning of liberalism in Wikipedia and you'll see what I mean.

Brian sarcastically said: "These are the things to pray for, the Judeo-Christian values that make our country great. Killing. Hatred. Discrimination. Ignorance."

--That statement sounds like hatred, discrimination and ignorance to me. Yeah sure, republicans and conservatives, some of whom embrace judeo-christian values, are thus enamored with killing, hatred, discrimination and ignorance. Come on.

[Brian]

tucson, my mother was deeply conservative/ Republican, and so was I until my college years. So I understand what genuine conservatism is (the William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater kind is what I grew up with).

What I was cursing in this post was the National Day of Prayer organizers, not conservatism in general.

It's more than passing strange that Christians, who supposedly believe in a religion of love and forgiveness, would hate gays so much, would support the Iraq war so much, would conflate gun ownership and spirituality so much.

I don't get it. And an increasing number of Christians don't either. Politics should be distinct from religion. And ideally, politics should be largely distinct from labels of "conservative" and "progressive."

In the old days, conservatives actually conserved. My mother was exceedingly thrifty. She was an environmentalist. She believed in balanced budgets and not living beyond your means, whether as an individual or a country.

This is far different from current conservatism. So labels have ceased to mean a whole lot. We'd be a lot better off focusing on issues/problems.

[tucson]

Brian wrote: "What I was cursing in this post was the National Day of Prayer organizers, not conservatism in general."

--I understood that.

"It's more than passing strange that Christians, who supposedly believe in a religion of love and forgiveness, would hate gays so much, would support the Iraq war so much, would conflate gun ownership and spirituality so much...I don't get it. And an increasing number of Christians don't either."

--My sister is a Christian (Episcopal) and her congregation welcomes gays, is not universally supportive of the Iraq war (although they might see that the situation has no simple solution such as just leaving on the spot), and she abhors guns. I think you are talking more about a stereotype than the typical christian mindstet.

"Politics should be distinct from religion."

--Yes, that's what the Founding Fathers intended.

"And ideally, politics should be largely distinct from labels of "conservative" and "progressive.""

--Yes, ideally the one should be tempered by the other in a harmonious unit that moves forward in the best interest of all. Dream on, tucson.

"In the old days, conservatives actually conserved. My mother was exceedingly thrifty. She was an environmentalist. She believed in balanced budgets and not living beyond your means, whether as an individual or a country."

--Yes, and isn't it ironic that those who espose some of those views are now called liberals and that many gun-toting hunters are environmental activists.

"This is far different from current conservatism. So labels have ceased to mean a whole lot. We'd be a lot better off focusing on issues/problems."

--Yes, especially since there will always be problems.

[tAo]

Let us all now pray...

That National Prayer Day will vanish into oblivion along with all the shit-brained idiots that think they are better than peacxe loving Buddhists, Hindus, and Moslems.

That the angry God of all the hateful bigoted Judeo-Christians who work for or support The National Prayer Committee and Task Force, kicks their fat fucking ass's all the way to KINGdom come.

That the REAL Red people - the Native Americans - kick the crap out of the phony red people and make them start singin the Blues.

[Phil Hanson]

Having sacrificed my religious beliefs for rationality many years ago, I've been amused--or should I say bemused?--to find that I've been praying (read "muttering to myself") a lot, lately, for religious zealots to self-destruct. Granted, self-destruction can often be a lengthy process, but so far my "prayers" seem to be working. National Prayer Day? It's just another opportunity for zealots to call public attention to their morally deficient beliefs.

[Robert Paul Howard]

To all,

The following might be of interest: http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_9154638?source=email

Robert Paul Howard