Day of Prayer...

Recently, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation.  The group filed suit against the federal government and President Obama claiming that an April, 2010 proclamation signed by the president, violated the Establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution.

While the judge who wrote the opinion dismissed the suit on what amounted to procedural grounds, he did clearly affirm a president's power to pen proclomations like the one drafted by President Obama.  He actually went a bit further than that. 

He opens his opinion with, "Since the founding of the Republic, Congress has requested Presidents to call on the citizens to pray..."

Strong words.  Very strong words.  From the judge's perspective, presidents have a well-established duty to ask citizens to pray, and citizens have generally responded to this presidental request.

This all begs a few questions.  How and why did this become litigation?  Now as a prosecutor, I can appreciate the desire to settle disputes in court, but did President Obama need to call for a National Day of Prayer?  Most studies indicate that around 70 to 80 percent of the American population identifies themselves as Christian.

Certainly, Christians, like subscribers of many other faiths believe that regular prayer is an essential piece of worship and living.  In fact, and I'm not merely prooftexting to prove my point, the Biblical Scriptures (1Thessalonians 5;17) call on Christians to pray without ceasing.  If that is the case, then wouldn't a National Day of Prayer be wholly superfluous to a group of people who are to pray without ceasing, or at least regularly?  And how does it harm the Freedom From Religion Foundation if the president calls on Americans to pray?

Well, why the need for the lawsuit?