From USA Today:
The blogosphere and Facebook have been overwhelmed over the past 24 hours with rumors and accusations that President Obama has canceled the National Day of Prayer, scheduled for Thursday May 6. So, is it true?
No. The rumors arise out of Thursday’s decision by Wisconsin U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. She ruled that it violates the First Amendment’s ban against a law respecting an establishment of religion.
The Obama administration has both tweeted and confirmed in an e-mail to the Associated Press from spokesman Matt Lehrich that Obama still plans to recognize The National Day of Prayer as it did last year.
Bloggers that accused Obama of canceling the National Day of Prayer also cite displeasure with Obama’s departure from the Bush administration policies. Last year, Obama decided not to hold an official White House service for the day, as former President George W. Bush did during his administration.
But President Obama did make a proclamation.
Crabb wrote in her decision that the National Day of Prayer “goes beyond mere ‘acknowledgment’ of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context.”
The National Day of Prayer was instituted by Congress in 1952 and in 1988 was set on the first Thursday of May.
Those celebrating Crabb’s decision include atheist groups declaring this a win for the separation of church and state, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the atheist and agnostic group that filed the lawsuit.
