President Obama has declared tomorrow, May 5 to be a National Day of Prayer, an annual proclamation required by a congressional statute. The 7th Circuit recently decided that no injury is caused by that law, so it can't be challenged in court. But that doesn't make the declaration a good idea, as the Baptist Joint Committee argues in a press release today:
Congress’ official designation and the president’s proclamation of a National Day of Prayer is misguided and unnecessary, says a Washington, D.C.-based church-state organization. A recent court decision said the law calling for the day of prayer cannot be challenged in court, but an official religious declaration by the government is still “unwise,” according to the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
“The government shouldn’t be in the business of telling the American people what, where or when to pray or even if they should pray,” said J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee.
