NDR Media Coverage

Bible-reading marathon opens National Day of Prayer

by Bob Dart

WASHINGTON — It wasn't the lion's den but it was Capitol Hill and Courtney Weaver admitted to being "a little" nervous Wednesday as she read from the Book of Daniel in the Bible on the eve of the National Day of Prayer.

But despite any jitters, said the 17-year-old junior from the Philadelphia Christian School in Conyers, Ga., "It was a privilege to give the word to our nation."

The soft drawls from a score or so of high school juniors from Georgia were among hundreds of voices of folks from around the world who joined in a 90-hour Bible-reading marathon. Beginning with the first verse of Genesis, they planned to conclude with the last passage in Revelations about noon on Thursday.

At 9:15 a.m., President Bush is expected to give remarks from the White House for the National Day of Prayer. Later, Christian author Henry Blackaby, this year's honorary chairman, will address hundreds of federal officials and Grammy-winning gospel singer Rebecca St. James will perform the theme song "America, Honor God."

This day, set aside by Congress in 1952, "gives our nation a time to reflect on what really matters and on what our nation was founded upon," said 17-year-old Jaron Collins, also of Conyers, Ga., who was among the Bible marathoners.

Reading scriptures into a microphone with the Capitol dome looming behind her "was very special," said Sarah Stapp, 17, of Stone Mountain, Ga. "It was like we were talking to the whole country."

"It was a cool experience," agreed Trevor Sancho, 16, of Stone Mountain. The opportunity was a "blessing," he said, adding that he "tried hard not to mess up any of the big words."

"It allowed the word of God to go out in the atmosphere," said Douglas Green, a hazardous waste truck driver from Gainesville, Fla., who came with other members of the Monteocha New Life Christian Church. "And it allowed the spirit of the word to reach the hearts of people."

In Washington, he said, "They need the Holy Spirit."

However, others rejected what they saw as a collusion of church and state.

"Our elected officials aren't being true to their oath of office when they promote divisive political props like national prayer," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. "Our secular government has no business calling on people to express their beliefs in one way over another."

He said the day even offends millions of religious Americans who see it as an attempt by politicians to use the beliefs of voters to try to boost their poll numbers.

"Not only does the National Day of Prayer inappropriately promote belief over non-belief, it sets an unnecessary standard for how religious people should behave," said Mel Lipman, president of the American Humanist Association.

He suggested substituting a "National Day of Reason."

But Shirley Dobson, chairman of the National Day of Prayer, said the traditional observance is needed more than ever.

"At a time when so many principles found in Scripture have been rejected by society, it's all the more vital that God's people stand firmly in defense of the precepts he's laid out in his word," said Dobson, the wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson.

Copyright 2006 Cox Ohio Publishing

Read the original story on the The Oxford Press Web Site.

This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of Humanist issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.