Splinters in the Rear
Thursday, May 7th, was the annual National Day of Prayer for 2009. Millions of people of all faiths and backgrounds came out to courthouses, city halls, state capitols, and even within the halls of Congress to be a part of this national event. From the birth of our nation to this very day, men and women of this great land have relied on the simple act of prayer to sustain them through the tribulations and sorrows of life and to sing the praises and thanks for the blessings God has poured out on our country.
Since the days of George Washington and the Continental Congress in 1775, America has recognized the power and importance of prayer. President Lincoln called for a day of "humiliation, fasting, and prayer" in 1863. President Truman, backed by a joint resolution from Congress, declared a national day of prayer in 1952 and every sitting American President since then has signed a proclamation recognizing this day. Along with such Presidential Proclamations, it has become a tradition for the White House to host a National Day of Prayer event, highlighting the importance of the day that much more. But not this year and not this President.
Yes, President Obama issued the Presidential Proclamation (which is required by law), but no other recognition of this national day of prayer was practiced by his administration. I wonder if he had not been legally bound to sign the proclamation, would President Obama have done so. When asked about the President's obvious absence of ceremony, his press secretary chose to offer only that the President prays in private. OK, that is great to know and I truly do hope that is in fact the case. However, like other issues to date, he missed the boat on this one. The national day of prayer isn't about the President or any one person; at its core, the national day of prayer is paying homage to the freedom of all people in this great land to have and express their faith without fear of persecution and even in public when appropriate. Instead of understanding this ideal, President Obama turned what was a positive, non-partisan, non-denominational day of historical significance into a political hot potato thrown directly at the conservative minded demographic within our country.
As an elected official myself, all be it on a much smaller scale than the President, I have to ask this question - why choose this fight? Is the President that partisan, that liberal-minded to shoot such a shot across the bow over such a historically all-inclusive day? In politics and in life, making unneccesary waves is fruitless and can cause much trouble. The President has said on many, many (and may I add many) occasions that he wants the country to come together under a common bond to forge a new way forward for the betterment of all Americans. At a recent National Prayer Breakfast back in February, President Obama stated that that event was "one of the rare occasions that still brings much of the world together in a moment of peace and goodwill." Later in his remarks he quoted St. Augustine by saying, "Pray as though everything depended on God, then work as though everything depended on you." He then added, "So let us pray together...but then let us also work together in all the days and months ahead, for it is only through common struggles and common effort as brothers and sisters that we fulfill our highest purpose as beloved children of God." The President then asked for those in attendance to pray for he and his family and for the nation.
Obviously, the act of prayer isn't offensive or derided by President Obama otherwise why would he ask others to pray for him. It would seem obvious to me that a national call to pray for this country when we are facing such dire straits would be more than appropriate, no matter one's beliefs, backgrounds, or opinions. In fact, there has been 134 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting, and thanksgiving by a sitting United States President. Prayer in itself is a healthy expression of what is felt deep within one's soul. Offering a prayer among others shows a unity in purpose and a reliance on something other than oneself. So again, why pick this battle?
To be fair to the President and his administration, while he didn't participate in a National Day of Prayer event, his legal team is engaged in a fight to protect the very existence of the annual observance. The administration, Republican lawmakers, and the American Center for Law and Justice recently asked a Wisconsin federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that argues that "mandated prayer proclamations by the president exhorting each citizen to pray constitutes an unabashed endorsement of religion" which violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. The President's administration legal team contends that the national day of prayer proclamation does not promote religion. They also state that the practice is a tradition dating back to the founding of our country.
While I am certainly glad to see some common sense being used by the White House on this matter in this lawsuit, I have to wonder why President Obama is straddling the proverbial fence on this issue. If he sits there much longer he's sure to gain a few splinters in his rearend. The media darling he is cannot always make everyone happy, so he needs to stop trying now. If he is a praying President, then he needs to be who he is and not be ashamed of it. He should stand on his foundations and not be shaken to the core. Listening to the liberal left wing agents too long can make anyone's head ache. I know the President is under alot of pressure to carry the liberal torch. I pray for President Obama every day. I only hope and pray he can climb off that fence, pick out the splitters, and be his own man instead of catering to the pressures within his party.
I want to conclude this thought with a couple of quotes from noteworthy figures in America's history:
"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." - Martin Luther King Jr.
"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." - George Washington
"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams
"[Americans] must seek Divine guidance in the policies of their government and the promulgation of their laws." - Ronald Reagan
I invite you all to join me in prayer for our President and the other elected and appointed leaders serving our country from the White House to city hall whatever your personal beliefs may be.
Frank Corder,
Pascagoula City Councilman - Ward 4
