September 25 is the first National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims, sponsored by the National Center for Victims of Crime and the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children. (Kansas City Star Crime Scene blog.) Ceremonies are being planned around the country. In Wisconsin, the program planned by the state's Department of Justice was modified to eliminate a hymn and a closing prayer, after objections from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Of concern to FFRF were the lyrics to This Too Shall Pass which arguably suggest that the murders being commemorated were "part of a deity's plan". FFRF argued that: "Grieving and vulnerable families should not be proselytized by state government or be told how or what they are expected to believe," nor should the state "be selecting which minister, which denomination or which religion should confer blessings...." The Capital Times reported yesterday that Department of Justice spokesman Kevin St. John said: "Rather than create the unintentional appearance that the state was endorsing religion or a particular creed, the department amended the program to exclude those parts."
