Judge rules National Day of Prayer unconstitutional

MADISON, Wis. (ABP) — A federal judge has found a National Day of Prayer mandated by Congress unconstitutional, saying it violates the separation of church and state.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb of the Western District of Wisconsin ruled April 15 that laws passed in 1952 and 1988 establishing a national day of prayer are unconstitutional because they endorse religion in violation of the Establishment Clause. 

"It bears emphasizing that a conclusion that the establishment clause prohibits the government from endorsing a religious exercise is not a judgment on the value of prayer or the millions of Americans who believe in its power," Crabb wrote in a 66-page opinion. "No one can doubt the important role that prayer plays in the spiritual life of a believer. However, recognizing the importance of prayer to many people does not mean that the government may enact a statute in support of it, any more than the government may encourage citizens to fast during the month of Ramadan, attend a synagogue, purify themselves in a sweat lodge or practice rune magic."

Americans United for Separation of Church and State hailed the decision as "a tremendous victory for religious liberty." 

"The Constitution forbids the government to meddle in religious matters," said AU Executive Director Barry Lynn continued. "Decisions about worship should be made by individuals without direction from elected officials. That's what freedom is all about."

Welton Gaddy, a Baptist minister who heads up the Interfaith Alliance, said the ruling, while "sure to be controversial," is upon careful reading "sensitive to the integrity of religion by keeping government mandates out of it."

Conservative Christian groups, meanwhile, protested the decision. The Alliance Defense Fund said Crabb's ruling undermines an "underlying heritage and tradition of the American people which dates back to the nation's founding."

Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice called it a "flawed decision" and predicted that it would ultimately be overturned. 

Congress passed a law establishing a National Day of Prayer in 1952, following the suggestion of evangelist Billy Graham, who had just finished a six-week religious campaign in Washington.

In 1988 Vonette Bright, founder of the Campus Crusade for Christ and the National Day of Prayer Committee, persuaded Congress to amend the law establishing its annual observance on the first Thursday in May.

Crabb said while the Supreme Court has held that some forms of "ceremonial deism" — such as legislative prayer — do not violate the Establishment Clause, the National Day of Prayer "serves no purpose but to encourage a religious exercise, making it difficult for a reasonable observer to see the statute as anything other than a religious endorsement."

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 2008 by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group of atheists and agnostics who argued the day of prayer violated the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state.

The group's attorney, Richard Bolton, said the decision means that government shouldn't take sides on religious issues. 

"For those who think this decision means the sky is falling, it's not," Bolton said. "Judge Crabb is simply saying 'Do these things privately if you want to, but do not expect the president to lend the credibility or prestige of the office to the effort.'"

Foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said she was "euphoric" over the decision.

"It is such a profound violation of conscience for Congress to direct our president to tell all citizens to pray, and that they in fact must set aside an entire day for prayer once a year," she said.

Gaylor said the 1952 law establishing a National Day of Prayer "was predicated on bad history — the lie that our founders prayed at the Constitutional Convention — and defending our lawsuit involved a major debunking of bad history presented by the Obama administration."

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.