National Day of Reason: Activism

Washington Area Secular Humanists (WASH)
P.O. Box 15319
Washington, D.C. 20003
Contact: media@wash.org

SECULAR HUMANISTS OPPOSE OFFICIAL PRAYER DAY

NON-RELIGIOUS DECRY GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED RELIGION

1 May 2002

Washington, D. C. - The federally mandated National Day of Prayer (NDP) is a divisive and exclusive breach of fundamental Constitutional protections, according to the Washington Area Secular Humanists (WASH).

The NDP observances scheduled for May 2nd will be isolating and insulting to many of the nation's non-religious, who see the government's call to prayer as "an invitation to a private party that millions of Americans cannot accept without violating their intellectual integrity," says Steven Goldberg of Gaithersburg, chair of WASH's Activism and Outreach Committee.

"Participation in scheduled prayer events is technically voluntary, but the atmosphere can be coercive and exclusionary to the 14% of American adults who identify themselves as non-religious, especially in the workplace," adds Goldberg, citing the results of a recent study on American religious identification by the City University of New York. Humanists point out that the 29.5 million non-religious adults represent a greater proportion of the population than that encompassed by any religious denomination except Baptist and Roman Catholic.

In his proclamation for this year's NDP, President George W. Bush encouraged citizens of the United States to "pray for God's protection, to express gratitude for our blessings, and to seek moral and spiritual renewal," and urged "all citizens to join in observing this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities."

"Humanists support the religious freedom guaranteed by our First Amendment," says Mary Ellen Sikes of Charlottesville, president of the 350-member organization serving the nation's capital and surrounding states. "President Bush has a right to his personal beliefs. What we object to is his use of government resources to instruct citizens when, whether, and in what manner to pray. Such intrusion of the state into individuals' private spiritual lives is something we associate with repressive theocracies, not the United States. It offends not only humanists, but religious people of a mature faith who don't want or need government's help in matters of worship. It's unconstitutional and anti-American."

This year's NDP will prominently feature an official "Prayer for America" written by Rev. Lloyd Ogilvie, Chaplain of the U. S. Senate. Ogilvie's prayer calls on God to "bless our President, Congress and all our leaders with supernatural power" and promises the nation "to be faithful to You as Sovereign of our land and as our personal Lord and Savior."

Humanists reject the notion of a supernatural realm and promote the use of reason and critical thinking in solving important problems, says Sikes. "By virtue of our location, WASH members include a great many dedicated government and military workers, some of whom have been receiving these prayer announcements over government e-mail networks. Those who are public sector leaders themselves are not interested in praying to be made superheroes. They know that their jobs demand constant exercise of the very highest of their human faculties -- intelligence, compassion, perseverance, and common sense -- not wishful thinking. One federal employee expressed to us how 'lousy' it made him feel."

Initially passed by an act of Congress in 1952, the National Day of Prayer was one component of a series of legislative acts that also saw the adoption of "In God We Trust" as the national motto. It has been celebrated on the first Thursday of May since an act of Congress in 1988. Most activities are coordinated by the NDP Task Force, a private organization with close ties to fundamentalist Christian organizations such as Focus on the Family.

Secular humanists and other advocates of the separation of church and state are neutral towards the private promotion of prayer, but they point out that the NDP Task Force enjoys access to special government privileges like Congressional office space. They challenge the appropriateness of a decidedly Christian national prayer written by Ogilvie, a government employee with a taxpayer-financed budget of $288,000.

Non-believers face an onslaught of government imposed religion ranging from non-binding Congressional resolutions that "God Bless America" be displayed in our schools to legislation requiring that the Christian version of the ten commandments be displayed in government buildings.

Yet, as President Bush acknowledged in a recent radio address, "Americans practice different faiths in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. And many good people practice no faith at all."

"Humanists support such sentiments, which properly relegate religious practice to the private sphere," says Goldberg. "Perhaps the President would better serve our citizens next year by proclaiming a National Day of Reason."

The Washington Area Secular Humanists was incorporated in 1989 as a non-profit, educational organization. Their purpose is to encourage public education in the methods of critical thinking, and scientific investigation, and to promote open and rational inquiry as the most reliable approach for obtaining knowledge.

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