Thank God! No National Day of Prayer ceremony at the White House

For the past eight years, the National Day of Prayer has been an excuse to tout the Fundamentalist Right’s holier-than-thou attitude and its clout within the Republican Party.

This year's National Day of Prayer to Promote the Repudiated Policies of the Republican Party/Focus on the Family will be held tomorrow, May 7, at public venues all over the U.S.

Cheyenne's version is usually held in front of the State Capitol Building. It always features a military component and a fairly good crowd of Republicans and Libertarians and Millennialists. Never a Democrat to be seen, unless you count me, the inveterate rubber-necker.

The National Day of Prayer Task Force is based in Colorado Springs, hotbed of fundie ferment. Focus on the Family’s James Dobson and other people with the same last name are part of the organization.

Here what the organization says about itself on its web site:

• Mission: The National Day of Prayer Task Force's mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.
  
  Our Vision and Values: In accordance with Biblical truth, the National Day of Prayer Task Force seeks to:
• Foster unity within the Christian Church
• Protect America's Constitutional Freedoms to gather, worship, pray and speak freely.
• Publicize and preserve America's Christian heritage
• Encourage and emphasize prayer, regardless of current issues and positions
• Respect all people, regardless of denomination or creed
• Be wise stewards of God's resources and provision
• Glorify the Lord in word and deed
  

All us us raised within the "Christian Church" know the code words and phrases. "Biblical truth" means the literal word of the Bible as interpreted by TV preachers. The "Christian Church" means everybody but Catholics, even though Catholic Church, in the past couple decades, has made nice with the fundies. The fundies, in turn, only pretend to make nice with Papists, who will not be part of The Rapture due to the fact that they worship false idols (saints) and spend way too much time drinking beer and practicing "social justice." "Mobilizing the Christian community" means voting Republican. I could go on and on.

To Pres. Obama's credit, he won't allow this sham ceremony to take place in the White House. Bush did, and look where that got him.

Here are some excerpts of a CNN story about the subject:

For the past eight years, the White House recognized the National Day of Prayer with a service in the East Room, but this year, President Obama decided against holding a public ceremony.

"Prayer is something that the president does everyday," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday, noting that Obama will sign a proclamation to recognize the day, as many administrations in the past have done.

Asked if Obama thought his predecessor's ceremonies were politicized, Gibbs said, "No, I'm not going to get into that again.

I will answer that question. Yes, yes, yes. It was all politics. And it's about time we did without it. Dobson and his avenging angels on the Right have been pounding on Democrats and Democratic Party politics for decades. Let them have their own ceremonies with their fellow travelers in Congress.

Although there are no public events scheduled at the White House, representatives from the legislative and judicial branches are expected to attend an event the National Day of Prayer Task Force is holding on Capitol Hill.

"It would be belittling to those millions of people to reduce this day to merely one event not being held at the White House."Task Force Chairman Shirley Dobson said in a statement that she was disappointed in the "lack of participation" by the Obama administration, adding that "at this time in our country's history, we would hope our President would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

Dobson will be a presenter at that event, along with her husband and former president of Focus on the Family James Dobson, author Beth Moore, NFL player Shaun Alexander and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Shirely Dobson and James Dobson will join wingnut Michelle Bachmann at the Capitol Hill National Day of Prayer ceremony?

Enough said.