National Day of Prayer

When Prayer and Politics Intersect

Across America on this official National Day of Prayer, those who normally pray behind closed doors are going to great lengths to be seen and heard by their fellow citizens. Tens of thousands of believers will get plenty of notice as they pray on radio airwaves over Tampa, Fla.; on mountaintops near San Francisco; and on the steps of courthouses, capitols, and city halls from Columbia, S.C., to Carson City, Nev.

Let's see what the Bible has to say about boastful public prayers, shall we?

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:5-6

All followers are encouraged, for instance, to pray for schools to get "back to basics" and stop "teaching homosexual propaganda to kindergartners."

Huh? Ohhhhh...they mean to stop teaching compassion toward others.

"We're praying not only for the troops' safety but for success of their mission in spreading liberty in the world," says Mark Fried, spokesman for the National Day of Prayer Task Force. "Since President Bush is in leadership, we're praying that his cause will be successful."

And if a chimpanzee were in leadership (sorry for repeating), would they pray that its cause would be successful? I can just imagine the prayers..."Dear Lord, we beseech thee that thine will might mercifully find purchase in the soul of intent of our glorious leader that whatever target he doth take aim against, his poop doth hit". When are these people going to start thinking for themselves instead of just blindly following whatever puppet the Reich Wing offers up.

"Prayer is really about the heart, and political life is about thinking and hard choices," he (Wolfe) says. "That's why it's better not to mix these two."

Well, I'm not so sure that political life is about thinking...at least not these days, as witnessed by the current maladministration, but otherwise, Wolfe has the right idea.