Saturday, April 17, 2010



Exactly HOW does a national day of prayer constitute the establishment of a religion?

Even Muslims pray, I gather -- and they are certainly not America's established church. Not yet, anyway.
"The National Day of Prayer, honored in the United States for more than a half-century, is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Wisconsin has ruled.

In a 66-page opinion issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb said the holiday violates the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment, which creates a separation of church and state.

The opinion comes in a case filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group of self-described "atheists" and "agnostics."

"The only issue decided in this case is that the federal government may not endorse prayer in a statute," Crabb said....

Within hours of the ruling, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee urged the Justice Department to "immediately" file an appeal. "The decision undermines the values of religious freedom that America was founded upon," Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Tex., said in a statement. "What’s next? Declaring the federal holiday for Christmas unconstitutional?"...

The National Day of Prayer was first established by Congress in 1952, with a more specific date for the holiday set in 1988. It is now observed on the first Thursday in May.

Source

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is yet another perfect example of why "any and all" judges should be elected, not appointed. It would eliminate the wide-spread "i'm God" mentality that far too many of them have. They should also be held legally accountable for decisions they make, most of which are politically motivated, that go against not only the will of the people, as in this case, but also defy common sense.

Anonymous said...

Why does the government need to be involved in this non-productive activity anyway? What a complete waste of time.

Anonymous said...

Americans don't even know what their own Constitution, Bill of Rights, etc. actually say. As a result these are interpreted as freely and loosely as they do the Bible (ie. to suit their own personal opinions)!

Anonymous said...

anom 1:48, the 1st amendment says freedom "of" religion not freedom from religion!

Use the Name, Luke said...

A mere 16 days after settling on the final wording of the First Amendment, The U. S. Congress passed this resolution:

"Friday, September 25, [1789]. Day of Thanksgiving. Resolved. That a joint committee of both Houses be direct to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a constitution of government for their safety and happiness."

Waitaminit! Isn't this exactly the type of thing this judge claims is "unconstitutional"? I suppose this judge thinks she understands the First Amendment better than the guys who had just spent the previous month arguing about its precise wording!

Or maybe Crabb is just full of it. (This is my vote.)

Anonymous said...

anom 1:48, the 1st amendment says freedom "of" religion not freedom from religion!

I did not say ANYTHING about the first amendment, moron. Put on your reading spectacles.

Anonymous said...

This should get overtuned, like the "Can't say the pledge" ruling from CA.

Of course, the Judge just secured a position on the short list for Supreme Court Justice.

Anonymous said...

The point of all this is that SUPPOSEDLY, things have changed--changed enough that the very values and activities that our Founding Fathers had and engaged in when establishing the framework for this country are, for some reason, no longer needed or considered.

I guess we've simply evolved as a society to the point where morality, ethics, and reverence are no longer needed.

Um, hello? I'm talking to you! Hello? Will you please take off you iPod and put down your WII for a moment and just try to at least understand the state we're in!

Hmmm. We're doomed.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 3:46 AM said...

"Why does the government need to be involved in this non-productive activity anyway? What a complete waste of time."

Can you please clarify? Are you referring to the activity of prayer or the activity of the ridiculous and frivolous lawsuits being waged to prevent our freedom of expression?

Anonymous said...

prevent our freedom of expression?

YOU can pray to whatever imaginary man in the sky YOU want to. The government does not need to get involved with your personal delusions. Remember, we are for less government. Let's start right here.

Anonymous said...

I do not share the values of our founding fathers. I do not own a slave.

Anonymous said...

No, instead you voted for Obummer and became a slave. (and a dupe)

Anonymous said...

No, instead you voted for Obummer and became a slave. (and a dupe)

What does our President have to do with this?

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:15 AM, just because you do not believe in G-d does not make Him imaginary. Anyways I do not see this establishing a a religion since you can pray to whomever you want.

Bobby said...

"The government does not need to get involved with your personal delusions."

---You mean like global warming, cap and trade, and Obamacare? You mean like indoctrinating school children with movies like "The story of stuff?" I'd rather have a National Day of Prayer instead of all the stupid crap progressives like you support.

Anonymous said...

Bobby, why the hell do you feel that is it necessary to always extrapolate a single into off topic tangents. Get a life you unemployed racist. Of course you will deflect and probably bring up some Hitler reference or quote.

Don Carl said...

What is shockingly stupid about this, is a federal judge does not know the words:"Separation of church and state" appear no where in the constitution.

Anon 5:28 said...

Anonymous said...
"What does our President have to do with this?"

I was refering to you, not your president.

Has anyone bothered to notice that it's only (and always) Christianity that's under attack? Hmmm...., smell a rat?

Bobby said...

"Bobby, why the hell do you feel that is it necessary to always extrapolate a single into off topic tangents."

---Because progressives are hypocrites who tell you that God is a delusion yet demand you have faith in global warming and cap and trade as the truth.

"Get a life you unemployed racist. Of course you will deflect and probably bring up some Hitler reference or quote."

---There was nothing racist about my 2:25 PM post. Like a progressive, you're seeing race everywhere. Besides, I'm too smart to be a racist, for you see, racists blame a color, I blame ideology.

Anonymous said...

Because progressives are hypocrites who tell you that God is a delusion yet demand you have faith in global warming and cap and trade as the truth.

Bzzzt. WRONG. You brought up the tangental issues. Not me. Like I said, you deflect. You never address the issue at hand. You prefer delusion over reality. PERIOD.

BTW, have a nice day.

Anonymous said...

it's only (and always) Christianity that's under attack?

Bzzzzt. WRONG. I attack all religion with the utmost vigor. Not to mention holier than thou repugs. So shove your generalizations up your cornhole.

BTW, Have a nice day!

Anonymous said...

The courts shouldn't be hearing cases like this in the first place because the government has no business establishing national days of prayer or other such nonsense.

If all the religions want to get together and announce a day of prayer, that is their business. The government should be neither pro or con on the subject. If the president or congressmen or judges want to observe it, they should be free to do it like any other American - but privately.

Anything the government does ANYTHING, there is about a 99% chance that it is a bad idea. Establishing a national day of prayer, or adding the words under god to the pledge, are minor things, but they never should have been done to begin with.

We need MORE judges like this to strike down the other 98% of the crap the government is doing (including many of their own rulings).

Bobby said...

"Bzzzt. WRONG. You brought up the tangental issues. Not me. Like I said, you deflect. You never address the issue at hand. You prefer delusion over reality. PERIOD."

---Whatever dude, you're just looking for an argument. I deflected nothing, I simply pointed out the connection between people who think having faith in God is stupid yet they have faith in government. Instead of attacking me you should be fighting 8:22 AM.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Atheists, but you just don't get it, do you? The United States was founded as a God-believing country. God is stated plainly in the Declaration Of Independence, and referred to in the United States Constitution--look it up.

So please stop trying to remove God from a country whose social, political, and legal roots were founded upon God. If you don't like it, please move to another country who doesn't believe in God. You have many to choose from.

Anonymous said...

The United States was founded as a God-believing country.

BFD.

Anonymous said...

So the United States of America is a theocracy? (As if the world doesn't have enough of those, especially in the Middle East).

However, in the 18th century when the US was founded, most or all countries in Europe or their colonies were Christian-based as that was the prevailing culture.

Anonymous said...

to hell with the brownshirt antichrist odamna regime. liberals tend to appoint liberal moronis judges.