President Declares May 5 National Day of Prayer

Last week President Obama issued a Proclamation (full text) declaring Thursday, May 5 as a National Day of Prayer. The Proclamation was issued just two weeks after the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed for lack of standing a constitutional challenge to both 36 USC Sec. 119 which directs the President to issue a National Day of Prayer proclamation each year, and to Presidential proclamations issued under it. (See prior posting.) This year's Proclamation calls for citizens to join the President "in giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy. " It asks "all people of faith" to join the president "in asking God for guidance, mercy, and protection for our Nation."  It also asks for prayers on behalf of members of the armed forces, first responders, victims of natural disasters and "men and women everywhere who seek peace, human dignity, and the same rights we treasure here in America."

The non-governmental National Day of Prayer Task Force has declared its theme for this year to be "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God". Its 3-hour Washington, D.C. ceremony will be webcast live on Thursday beginning at 9:00 a.m. Shirley Dobson continues to chair the Task Force. This year's honorary chairman is Joni Eareckson Tada, an international advocate for people with disabilities. The only current elected federal official among the numerous speakers scheduled at the Washington, D.C. ceremony is Florida Congressman Allen West.  

With the increasing religious diversity of the nation, the Task Force has posted on its website the following "Official Policy Statement on Participation of “Non-Judeo-Christian” groups in the National Day of Prayer":

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. People with other theological and philosophical views are, of course, free to organize and participate in activities that are consistent with their own beliefs. This diversity is what Congress intended when it designated the Day of Prayer, not that every faith and creed would be homogenized, but that all who sought to pray for this nation would be encouraged to do so in any way deemed appropriate. It is that broad invitation to the American people that led, in our case, to the creation of the Task Force and the Judeo-Christian principles on which it is based.