OBAMA SAYS AMEN TO NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER: President signs proclamation but will not hold event at the White House.

gospel | May 07, 2009 | Comments 0

There are a lot of differences between President Obama and President Bush. Who knew that prayer would be one of them? President Obama will not hold an event at the White like President Bush has done in the past.

In the previous administration Dr. James Dobson and his wife Shirley of Focus on The Family were annually invited to the White House to observe the Day of Prayer. Obama is returning to the practice of signing a proclamation as his predecessors, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush has done.

According to the Christian Post, the annual event was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman, right at the height of McCarthyism. In 1983 a National Day of Prayer Task Force was created, headed by Shirley Dobson, in order to express the Judeo-Christian view.

While some Christians call this an “Obamanation” others argue that to have a National Day of Prayer violates the separation between church and state. Lawsuits have been filed against Dr. and Mrs. Dobson, President Bush and other officials, to end the National Day of Prayer.

The Alliance Defense Fund has said it will defend the National Day of Prayer Task Force should the case be accepted. The legal group argues that public prayer is part of the history and tradition of the country and Americans should be allowed to freely pray without people threatening to silence them.

Millions are expected to participate Thursday, May 7.