President Obama Proclaims May 3 as National Day of Prayer Amid Protest

President Obama signed his annual proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer, a traditional that began under President Truman in 1952. However, some atheists and secular groups are planning protests and are asking the annual day be discontinued.

“On this National Day of Prayer, we give thanks for our democracy that respects the beliefs and protects the religious freedom of all people to pray, worship, or abstain according to the dictates of their conscience,” reads the president’s proclamation. “Let us pray for all the citizens of our great Nation, particularly those who are sick, mourning, or without hope, and ask God for the sustenance to meet the challenges we face as a Nation.”

But the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, takes issue with the president’s words and says the annual day has been “hijacked” by conservatives to promote a “far-right religious-political agenda.”

“The National Day of Prayer is just another attempt by the Religious Right to mix government with religion,” says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Americans don’t need to be told when or whether to pray, so this is yet another excuse for those who oppose church-state separation to go on the attack.”

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