Pray Day

"Socialist / Muslim / President Obama has canceled the National Day of Prayer!"

This is according to the rumor-mongers on blogs and social networking sites.

On April 15 (ironically as uber-conservatives were Tea Partying) this falsehood was being "reported" every five seconds on Facebook.

Some will take this as an opportunity to lambaste the un-vetted, unfiltered, anything-goes world of Facebook. I'm tired of that topic...

Instead, here's my question: "Why all the fuss about Nation Day of Prayer?"

Even if we did away with the National Day, religious folks would still be able to pray to their deity of choice with the same freedom that they can any other day. Furthermore, I believe religious organizations should be the ones to encourage daily prayer; not the government. We are a nation founded on religious freedoms, including the freedom to not espouse any particular religion. Which begs another question:

"Why do we have the National Day of Prayer?"

It seems a Wisconsin federal judge, when faced with a similar question, declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. This is sure to incite outrage among some in the Christian community.

For many people of faith, myself included, this is much ado about nothing. We will continue our normal prayer rituals on May 6...and we will pray with the confidence that God hears our prayers no matter what day it is.