How would building a consecrated meeting room, (“prayer room” ? chapel?) next door to the Oval Office go down… for the purposes of direct consultations you understand?

Sorry, but I can not accept that dependence upon divine interventions will ever make for good and proper governance of a nation.

Have a day of prayer by all means. The President can join in if he wishes, no problem with that.

But making decisions in the belief that they are divinely inspired, or that they will become so as the result of divine intervention, is beyond just plain dumb.

“So is it about ‘prayer’ or is it about ‘this president’? If a President Al Gore/Jesse Jackson/Tony Blair/John McCain/Hillary Clinton said the same thing (as he/she undoubtedly would on this occasion), would the same minds be perspiring over it?”

Well, considering that I was just as bothered by Clinton’s declarations, I can honestly say that my dislike for the president has nothing to do with this. (My dislike for him rears its head in all sorts of other places, but not here.) Frankly, I’d be more irate depending on who was making the declaration. If it were Pres. Dean, I’d see it as shameless pandering with nothing behind it, and Pres. Jackson would bother me since it would be a minister of another denomination telling me what to do with my spiritual life.

Far as I’m concerned, prayer in public is like sex in public: as long as it doesn’t scare the horses.

I tend to ignore “National Days of Whatever.” If something’s important to me, for whatever reason or reasons, then I don’t need a special day for it. If it isn’t, I just let the day sail on by. It each his or her own. Different strokes. Etc.

From my perspective as a believer, Tim’s quote from the Bible nails it.

Well, Thank God!

I pray, but I don’t see what’s so big about the first Thursday in May to have the government encourage people to pray. My faith is strong enough that I don’t need to have a presidential proclaimation to validate my behavior. Frankly, as long as I’ve known of the national day of prayer, I’ve found it a little patronizing.

What I am “riled up” about is the evangelical community claiming that since the National Day of Prayer exists, they’re the ones that get to call the shots on it. Christianity is larger than the evangelical community, and people other than Christians pray. I’m upset that the requirements for NDP volunteers and coordinators include “A volunteer must be an evangelical Christian who has a personal relationship with Christ” and “I acknowledge that I am working for the Lord Jesus Christ and the furthering of His Work on earth.” And I’m really bothered that the government keeps on endorsing this despite the fact that every year, the inclusive nature is frayed just a bit more and it becomes more difficult to see where the National Day of Prayer ends and James and Shirley Dobson’s National Day of Prayer Task Force begins.

If the evangelical Protestant community wants to have a national day of prayer, they’ve got every right. If they want it to be exclusive to their ultra-narrow definition of Christian, that’s their right too. But don’t expect my government to endorse it.

LOL!!!! Come on Dos, it’s hilarious. If he’s goin’ to hell, I want to go too. We can start up a comedy club.

To me it’s as if the President announced a national day of spellcasting or voodoo doll stabbing.

You’re going to be the real funny boy…in hell.