District Court Judge: National Day of Prayer is Unconstitutional

Here is another skirmish in the war to make the Establishment clause as murky as possible. Just what is the establishment of religion, anyway? Sectarians and secularists seem so certain their polar opposite interpretations are true.

First off, there is bound to be an appeal, so the National Day of Prayer this may should go on regardless of how badly Barack Obama wants to bludgeon Christianity into submission. I say specifically say Christian because Obama wholeheartedly supported 500 Muslims praying at a march on the Capitol last year. All part of his philosophy America can be called a Muslim nation, but we are in no way, shape, or form a Christian one.

Second, I imagine the National Day of Prayer will ultimately be upheld. Ihe issues I too similar to Marsh v. Chambers, the case which upheld prayer before legislative sessions because they have been a tradition since the Founding. It is true, as the opinion points out, that Thomas Jefferson was against public prayer, he was the only Founding Father to refuse. It has been a steady tradition otherwise. I do not see Marsh being overturned based o Jefferson’s refusal some 200 years after the fact.

Marsh does, however, uphold a ban on the government endorsement of religion. Is the National Day of Prayer overtly Christian? I do not recall any prohibitions on past days agaist Jewish, Muslim, or Scientologist being offered up. To steal a line from the famous George Carli routine, you can pray to Joe Pesci, if you want. He looks like a guy who can get things done. Great actor, too.

The government is boud to appeal since the case strikes down a federal statute. The question whether the decision of the district court will be upheld. If it is, one can expect a Supreme Court hearing on the matter. The SCOTUS has been inclined to uphold tradition in such matters, but with the ambiguity surrounding the Establishment Clause, one can never anticipate exactly how the Court will rule.