National Day of Reason

Today is The National Day of Prayer -- a day designated by the United States Congress as a day when all Christians are asked to come together and pray, especially for their country. President Bush gave his comments today:

On this day, Americans come together to thank our Creator for our nation's many blessings. We are a blessed nation. And on this day, we celebrate our freedoms, particularly the freedom to pray in public and the great diversity of faith found in America. I love being the President of a country where people feel free to worship as they see fit. And I remind our fellow citizens, if you choose to worship or not worship, and no matter how you worship, we're all equally American.

Hold on a minute there, Mr. President. Seems the NDP is not quite as inclusive as you'd like to believe:

In working directly with the National Day of Prayer (NDP) Task Force and agreeing to work as event coordinators, these military officials not only violated constitutional provisions governing the separation of church and state but they also signed an oath that states they "believe that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of The Living God" and that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only One by which I can obtain salvation and have an ongoing relationship with God," according to materials posted on NDP Task Force's website.

Read the online application form yourself. There are many funny statements there that applicants are asked to agree to, but here is a gem: "I commit that NDP activities I serve with will be conducted solely by Christians while those with differing beliefs are welcome to attend."

Many who value the separation of religion and government have responded by endorsing A National Day of Reason. From their web site:

This observance is held in parallel with the National Day of Prayer, on the first Thursday in May (1 May 2008). The goal of this effort is to celebrate reason - a concept all Americans can support - and to raise public awareness about the persistent threat to religious liberty posed by government intrusion into the private sphere of worship.

I think now more than ever we need a Day of Reason, but if I'm going to say a prayer for our country today, I will pray that the crooks and liars fall out of power in the U.S. government.