Tag Archives: Topic: National Day of Prayer

AL.com: A national observance of the National Day of Prayer will be streamed live Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. CST from the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

More information here.

Raw Story: Two LGBT rights groups, the Human Rights Campaign and OutServe-SLDN, have launched a campaign to get Laurie removed as the headline speaker for the Pentagon’s Day of Prayer event on May 2. In a press release, the HRC noted that Laurie had a history of disparaging LGBT people and their relationships.

Liberty Counsel: The City Council of North Miami ignored the threatening, inaccurate letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in favor of Mission Miami and local pastors, after a letter from Liberty Counsel.

Charisma News: Pastor Greg Laurie, the honorary chairman of the National Day of Prayer, believes America faces a spiritual crisis. So he has issued a call to pastors and churches across the country to participate in the 62nd annual National Day of Prayer on May 2.

David Hacker apeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this: ADF: Calif. student free of disciplinary hearing, but not of unconstitutional speech policy. | MP3 audio 8:30 mins

Religion Clause Blog: The Freedom From Religion Foundation has written Florida governor Rick Scott complaining about an e-mail sent by Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins to all department employees.

One News Now: The Freedom From Religion Foundation and other groups like them routinely issue legal threats to cities and towns in their quest to scrub the public square free of any trace of religion,” Harvey reports. “The courts have repeatedly disagreed with them because the Constitution requires no such thing. As the U.S. Supreme Court has recently stated, ‘The Constitution does not oblige the government to avoid any public acknowledgment of religion’s role in society.’”

ADF offers free legal counsel to municipalities in wake of atheist group’s threats over prayer events

One News Now: “Our founders knew that as they were laying the foundations of this nation that they had to remind Americans that we need to give bended knee to almighty God, that we do not have accumulative wisdom sufficient to navigate the challenges of our day, that we need God’s direction and guidance for all leaders within all centers of influence and power in America,” the vice chair asserts.

Rasmussen: Congress 60 years ago established the National Day of Prayer, celebrated throughout the nation today, and 68% of American Adults favor federal government recognition of the special day.

Religion Clause Blog: President Obama has issued a Presidential Proclamation (full text) declaring tomorrow to be a National Day of Prayer . . .

Joel Oster at the ADF Blog: On Thursday, May 3, 2012, teachers, electricians, athletes, public officials, mothers, bankers, doctors, and indeed Christians from all walks of life will be seeking the face of God. On this 61st annual observance of the National Day of Prayer, Americans across this nation will join the millions who have done so before, and will seek His guidance, His blessings and His will for our nation. We at the Alliance Defense Fund encourage you to join with us, and the many others, in seeking Him on this special day.

Washington U. St. Louis: 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Engel v. Vitale, which invalidated official prayer in public schools.

Mesquite Citizen: Millions will answer the call to prayer on May 3 and organized events will be held in thousands of public venues throughout the nation from Washington, D.C. to Hawaii. Nevadans in large and small communities create their own events led by volunteers who share information and post unique events on the website provided by the National Day of Prayer Task Force www.NationalDayofPrayer.org

Christian Newswire: ational Day of Prayer will celebrate its 61st anniversary as people from all walks of life come together to pray for direction and correction that America will be “One Nation Under God.”
Billboards covering the Texas Capitol Area bring the theme for 2012: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

HeraldOnline.com: South Carolina senators will consider creating a State Day of Prayer to coincide with the national one.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s press release announcing its intentions is here. “FFRF is filing papers showing intent to appeal the decision to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and is also considering filing a similar case in state court.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at The Speak Up Movement Church Blog: On December 12, Judge Silver, a federal judge in Arizona, threw out a claim that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer violated the Establishment Clause by issuing day of prayer proclamations in observance of the National Day of Prayer. The court cited the Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in FFRF v. Obama, saying “hurt feelings” don’t give someone standing to bring a federal case.

Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service via National Catholic Reporter: David Cortman, senior counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, which argued for both the National Day of Prayer and for the Arizona tuition credit program, is not surprised about strategies to move to the state courts. “If they can’t challenge them in federal courts, they’ll certainly challenge them in states,” he said, “but we’ll also be there to defend those programs.”

The Christian Century (6/29): David Cortman, senior counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, which argued for both the National Day of Prayer and for the Arizona tuition credit program, is not surprised about strategies to move to the state courts. “If they can’t challenge them in federal courts, they’ll certainly challenge them in states,” he said, “but we’ll also be there to defend those programs.”

Freedom From Religion Foundation: The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., filed a petition Friday seeking a rehearing of its National Day of Prayer challenge before the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago.

Sonoran News: “Public officials should be able to recognize public prayer activities just as America’s founders did,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco. “After the events of this past weekend, it’s hard to imagine better timing for this event. We encourage all Americans to take part in National Day of Prayer activities to give thanks to God and ask for His guidance. ADF stands ready to defend such activities if they are challenged in court.”

Rees Lloyd at News with Views: The Alliance Defense Fund has won an important victory in the Day of Prayer case (Freedom From Religion Foundation vs. Dobson, et al., 7th Circuit), especially on the issue of legal “standing,” which ordinarily requires a litigant to have a legally cognizable injury in order to sue. The Seventh Circuit ruled that a feeling of “alienation,” i.e., hurt feelings, taking offense at acts or symbols reflecting America’s own religious history or heritage, is not a cognizable injury conferring “standing” to sue.

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to | MP3 audio 5:50 mins | Decision Points: An Evening with President George W. Bush | ADF Media: 7th Circuit rejects lawsuit against National Day of Prayer | Website: Save the National Day of Prayer

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show. | MP3 audio 18:50 mins | National Day of Prayer | Save the National Day of Prayer

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley appeared on KFUO with Roland Lettner. | MP3 audio 24 mins | ADF Pulpit Initiative | National Day of Prayer | Save the National Day of Prayer

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on the Georgene Rice Show to discuss the National Day of Prayer. | MP3 audio 12:11 mins | Save the National Day of Prayer

“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot at Townhall: The timing of the National Day of Prayer with the events of this week couldn’t be more appropriate if one would have planned it that way. And recent court decisions rebuffing the ability of anti-religious groups to go to court to strike down the event also couldn’t come at a better time.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys say they are ready to offer free legal counsel to any government entities legally challenged for recognizing events related to Thursday’s National Day of Prayer.

Christian Post: ADF Senior Counsel Kevin H. Theriot has also sent out letters encouraging local government leaders, “You are free to proclaim your support for this event, and you are under no obligation to satisfy the demands of any disgruntled individual or civil libertarian group that may oppose such action.”

Charisma News: “Public officials should be able to recognize public prayer activities just as America’s founders did,” says ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco. “After the events of this past weekend, it’s hard to imagine better timing for this event. We encourage all Americans to take part in National Day of Prayer activities to give thanks to God and ask for His guidance. ADF stands ready to defend such activities if they are challenged in court

More information here.

Religion Clause Blog: Last week President Obama issued a Proclamation (full text) declaring Thursday, May 5 as a National Day of Prayer. The Proclamation was issued just two weeks after the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed for lack of standing a constitutional challenge to both 36 USC Sec. 119 which directs the President to issue a National Day of Prayer proclamation each year, and to Presidential proclamations issued under it.

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on Family Talk with James and Shirley Dobson to discuss the National Day of Prayer victory at the 7th Circuit. The show also features John Bornschein, Executive Director, of the National Day of Prayer. | MP3 audio 25:55 mins

MLIve.com:Should city officials allow prayer events to be publicized through government mailings?
That is the question one Metro Detroit municipality is facing after being confronted by the nation’s “largest atheist/agnostic association.”

Dakota Voice: The 2011 National Day of Prayer is coming up on May 5 . . . The video below from the Alliance Defense Fund and Alan Sears providing an update on the courts’ rejection of the lawsuit against the National Day of Prayer. The second video is a promo video from the National Day of Prayer . . .

FavStocks.com: at the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund legal group, praised the decision. “Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did.”

LifeSiteNews: The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which filed a supporting brief as a friend of the court on behalf of the private, non-profit National Day of Prayer Task Force, said in a press release, “Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did.” ADF praised the court’s decision for determining that “a feeling of alienation” was not sufficient legal grounds for the atheist group to file suit. “The 7th Circuit has clearly understood that the Freedom From Religion Foundation simply had no legal standing to attack the federal statute setting a day for the National Day of Prayer simply because the group is offended by religion,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot.

Little Chicago Review: Alliance Defense Fund attorneys represented the private, non-profit National Day of Prayer Task Force in a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the 7th Circuit after prevailing in having then-chairperson Shirley Dobson dismissed from the lawsuit at the district court level.

Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: It was exactly one year ago that a Wisconsin federal court incredibly ruled that our 200 year practice of praying together as a nation is unconstitutional by striking down the statute establishing the National Day of Prayer. But on April 14, 2011, the day before the anniversary of that troubling ruling, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed it in a fantastic opinion holding that the anti-religious Freedom From Religion Foundation should not have been allowed past the courthouse gate because they suffered no legal injury . . . This ruling adds to the list of recent setbacks for anti-religious forces in America in Establishment Clause cases.

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the National Day of Prayer Victory. | MP3 audio 12:23 mins

Catholic News Agency: Kevin Theriot, senior counsel at the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund legal group, praised the decision. “Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did.”

Washington Examiner: Evidently terrified at the thought of people praying for divine blessing and peace, the militant atheist organization Freedom From Religion Foundation filed suit. Last April, a Wisconsin federal district judge struck down the National Day of Prayer as unconstitutional, holding it an endorsement of religion in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. April 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.

WorldNetDaily: “Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did,” said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “The 7th Circuit has clearly understood that the Freedom From Religion Foundation simply had no legal standing to attack the federal statute setting a day for the National Day of Prayer simply because the group is offended by religion.” The ADF represented the private, nonprofit National Day of Prayer Task Force in the case and the ACLJ represented a long list of members of Congress.

CBN (includes video): The Alliance Defense Fund also represented the non-profit National Day of Prayer Task Force in a friend-of-the-court brief. “Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did,” ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot said. “The 7th Circuit has clearly understood that the Freedom From Religion Foundation simply had no legal standing to attack the federal statute setting a day for the National Day of Prayer simply because the group is offended by religion,” he said.

Dakota Voice: “Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “The 7th Circuit has clearly understood that the Freedom From Religion Foundation simply had no legal standing to attack the federal statute setting a day for the National Day of Prayer simply because the group is offended by religion.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit rejected a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that sought to strike down the National Day of Prayer. The court determined that “a feeling of alienation” was not sufficient legal grounds for the atheist group to file suit.

Family Research Council praised the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit for its 3-0 ruling today that dismisses a lawsuit against the National Day of Prayer . . .

Freedom from Religion Foundation: A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago today ruled 3-0 that the Freedom From Religion Foundation and its plaintiffs do not have standing to continue their historic challenge of the 1952 congressional act declaring an annual National Day of Prayer and requiring the president to issue a proclamation exhorting citizens to pray. FFRF announced immediately it will seek a rehearing by the entire Seventh Circuit (“en banc” review).

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss the situation. | MP3 audio 18:22 | National Day of Prayer website

CBN (includes video): In the meantime, the Alliance Defense Fund is telling public officials that asking their constituents to pray is legal. “We prepared a letter for the governors around the country to assure them that they can recognize the National Day of Prayer, and that it is a perfectly legal activity for them to do and something our founders have done from the beginning of our country, and it is a practice we’ve maintained up until this very day,” explained Kevin Theriot, an ADF attorney.

One News Now: Kevin Theriot, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, explains. “We prepared a letter for the governors around the country to assure them that they can recognize the National Day of Prayer, and that it is a perfectly legal activity for them to do and something our founders have done from the beginning of our country, and [it is] a practice we’ve maintained up until this very day.”

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on radio to discuss this: ADF encourages governors to ignore activist groups, observe 2011 National Day of Prayer. | Hugh Hewitt Show, MP3 audio 5:53 mins | Janet Mefferd Show, MP3 audio 18:50 mins

Sonoran News: “America’s founders participated in public prayer activities; public officials today should be able to do the same,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “Local observances of the National Day of Prayer are constitutional and appropriate, particularly since the event simply provides all Americans an opportunity to pray voluntarily according to their own faith – and does not promote any particular religion or form of religious observance.”

Christian Post: “You can be confident that your participation in and acknowledgement of the National Day of Prayer are constitutionally protected activities,” Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Kevin H. Theriot assures governors in a letter expected to be received Monday.

The Alliance Defense Fund issued letters to be received by governors across the U.S. Monday urging them to observe and participate in the 60th Annual National Day of Prayer on May 5.

Christian Post: “Nontheist and Freedom From Religious Foundation co-president Annie Gaylor joined atheists in Oklahoma to decry city council prayers . . . ‘It’s ridiculous that people have to think twice about whether it’s okay to publicly celebrate Christmas. An overwhelming majority of Americans celebrate Christmas and are opposed to any kind of censorship of it,’ ADF Senior Counsel [David Cortman] said in a statement Monday.”

Religion Clause: “Last week, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Obama, a case in which the district court held that the statute creating a National Day of Prayer violates the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) The recording of the full oral arguments in the Court of Appeals is now available from the court’s website.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “On October 28, 2010, Colorado District Judge Mullins rejected an atheist group’s attempt to relegate religious groups to second class status . . . First he held the plaintiffs’ claim that the prayer proclamation made them ‘feel like outsiders’ was not a denial of any right or privilege. The Colorado Constitution does not give citizens the right to ‘feel any particular way.’ Then the judge properly determined that allowing the NDPTF to have the same ability to request a proclamation as other groups does not give any preference to religion.”

FFRF: “Foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor called the decision disappointing and said an appeal is likely. ‘No governor has the right to exhort citizens to pray, to set aside an entire day for prayer, much less an entire day for prayer every year.’”

OneNewsNow: “District Judge R. Michael Mullins recently decided the governor was not in violation of the state’s religious freedom clause because his proclamations do not force the law; they simply recognize individuals’ rights to practice religion . . . ‘That is a great win for 90 percent of us in America who pray and who want to be able to engage and participate in the National Day of Prayer,’ Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney [Kevin Theriot] responds.” | More information here.

“A Denver Judge says Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter did nothing unconstitutional when he issued proclamations recognizing the National Day of Prayer.”

American Jewish Committee: “AJC is urging a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.”

Wausau Daily Herald: “Christian America IS taking steps to counter attacks on their religious beliefs . . . Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) have fought, and defeated, many lawsuits brought by anti-religious groups trying to change the religious landscape of America . . . Attacks on Christianity are likely to continue unabated. It remains to be seen whether the voices and actions of Christian America will rise above those attacks and restore God to His rightful place in our American culture.”

PR Newswire: “Today Family Research Council and The Liberty Institute announced the filing of a motion for argument in a recent National Day of Prayer (NDP) case citing the Obama Administration’s weak defense of the NDP as the cause. Last April, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. The district court’s decision is now being reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.”

“‘Religious liberties are under attack across the country,’ Kellum says. ‘My sense is that there’s some type of knee-jerk reaction, almost an allergic reaction, if someone sees the expression of religion,’ he says.”

WorldNetDaily: “A district judge’s decision that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional is being challenged on the argument, submitted in friend-of-the-court briefs to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that never before has any court decided that “hurt feelings” are grounds for making a claim. ‘The district court in this case embraced an entirely novel – and improper – basis for standing: hurt feelings,’ said the brief submitted by the American Center for Law and Justice. “Never has the Supreme Court endorsed anything like such a wide-open concept of access to federal adjudication.”

CentreDaily.com: Today, Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the National Day of Prayer in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Obama. Among those Liberty Institute represents in the brief include Dr. James Dobson, the Family Research Council (FRC), Focus on the Family Action (Citizenlink), the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), Let Freedom Ring, and Liberty Counsel, along with 28 family policy councils located in states nationwide . . . View the brief online at http://tinyurl.com/2837gj5.

Christian Newswire: “Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law, a religious liberties legal organization in Montgomery, Alabama, filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit today defending the federal statute creating the National Day of Prayer, 36 U.S.C. § 119 . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “Yesterday, 29 state attorneys general joined together in filing an amicus brief (full text) with the 7th Circuit urging it to find that the National Day of Prayer does not violate the Establishment Clause. In a press release, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott who led the effort said that the district court decision striking down the Day of Prayer statute (see prior posting) also threatens Memorial Day . . . ”

The Arkansas Times posts a press release from the office of the Attorney General: “Attorney General Dustin McDaniel asked a federal appeals court today to uphold a federal law that directs the president to annually declare a National Day of Prayer. McDaniel and fellow attorneys general from across the country urged the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an amicus brief filed today to overturn a lower-court ruling that the law violated the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.”

Centre Daily Times: “Today, Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the National Day of Prayer in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Obama. Among those Liberty Institute represents in the brief include Dr. James Dobson, the Family Research Council (FRC), Focus on the Family Action (Citizenlink), the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), Let Freedom Ring, and Liberty Counsel, along with 28 family policy councils located in states nationwide.” | Liberty Institute Press Release (Google Viewer) | Brief (Google Viewer)

Legatus Magazine: “Around the time of the American Revolution, several states had official state religions. According to [Joe Infranco], ADF’s senior vice president, the First Amendment was written to prohibit the establishment of an official religion at the federal level and to prohibit the federal government’s interference in states’ religious activity. Eventually, the First Amendment’s so-called ‘Establishment Clause’ was expanded to all levels of government — local, state and federal. … ‘The National Day of Prayer is voluntary,’ [Sears] said. ‘No one is forced to pray — just like no one is forced to do Thanksgiving or Christmas — yet those are national holidays.’”