St. Jack
2009-05-08 03:31:19 UTC
SETTING THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER RECORD STRAIGHT.... We talked earlier
about President Obama breaking with Bush's habit of recognizing the
National Day of Prayer. In the past few hours, though, the bizarre lies
from the right about the president's decision have been remarkable.
Let's quickly summarize. In the early 1950s, when lawmakers were adding
"under God" to the Pledge and changing all American money to include the
phrase "In God We Trust," Congress created an official annual Prayer Day
for the nation. Congress, under pressure from the religious right,
changed the law in 1988 to set the National Day of Prayer as the first
Thursday in May. Obama, like his predecessors, issued a proclamation
honoring the "holiday."
So, what's the problem? Unlike George W. Bush, Obama didn't open up the
White House to the self-appointed National Day of Prayer Task Force, run
by religious right activists, which has hosted exclusive events for the
last eight years.
This has led a variety of conservatives to make a variety of
demonstrably false claims.
Lie #1: Rush Limbaugh said Obama tried to "cancel" the National Day of
Prayer.
That's obviously not true; Obama issued a proclamation acknowledging the
day. No effort was made to "cancel" anything.
Lie #2: Fox News' online project, Fox Nation, said the president "won't
celebrate" the National Day of Prayer.
Again, the proclamation proves otherwise.
Lie #3: Fox News' Gretchen Carlson said the president's decision to
participate in "private" prayer on "National Prayer Day" is evidence of
Obama "giving in to the PC society that we live in."
No one pressured Obama to keep the National Day of Prayer Task Force out
of the White House; it was just the obvious thing to do. As for the
knock on "private" prayer, I might recommend Gretchen Carlson read
Matthew 6:6.
Lie #4: Fox News' Steve Doocy said Reagan and George H. W. Bush held
events similar to that of George W. Bush.
As hard as this is to believe, Doocy has it backwards. Reagan largely
ignored the NDP for his first seven years in office.
Lie #5: Elisabeth Hasselbeck said on Fox News that the National Day of
Prayer "has been a huge tradition" in the U.S.
That's just nonsense, since most presidents, like most Americans, have
largely ignored the "holiday." Besides, Obama is keeping the
"tradition" going by doing what his predecessors have done -- he issued
a proclamation. [Update: And if we're really going to talk about
American "traditions," it's also worth remembering that Thomas Jefferson
and James Madison explicitly rejected state-sponsored prayer days. And
all Madison did was write the Constitution.]
Hasselbeck -- who is she again? -- concluded, "We should be able to
gather and pray as we see fit." What I'll never understand about
conservative activists is why they think they need government to get
involved in spiritual matters. Hasselbeck could get together with others
to pray as they see fit yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Whether the
Dobsons get to hang out in the East Room of the White House is
irrelevant.
Honestly, I'm not sure which is more annoying -- the conservatives'
prayer-related dishonesty or their prayer-related whining.
Taken from http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2188511
about President Obama breaking with Bush's habit of recognizing the
National Day of Prayer. In the past few hours, though, the bizarre lies
from the right about the president's decision have been remarkable.
Let's quickly summarize. In the early 1950s, when lawmakers were adding
"under God" to the Pledge and changing all American money to include the
phrase "In God We Trust," Congress created an official annual Prayer Day
for the nation. Congress, under pressure from the religious right,
changed the law in 1988 to set the National Day of Prayer as the first
Thursday in May. Obama, like his predecessors, issued a proclamation
honoring the "holiday."
So, what's the problem? Unlike George W. Bush, Obama didn't open up the
White House to the self-appointed National Day of Prayer Task Force, run
by religious right activists, which has hosted exclusive events for the
last eight years.
This has led a variety of conservatives to make a variety of
demonstrably false claims.
Lie #1: Rush Limbaugh said Obama tried to "cancel" the National Day of
Prayer.
That's obviously not true; Obama issued a proclamation acknowledging the
day. No effort was made to "cancel" anything.
Lie #2: Fox News' online project, Fox Nation, said the president "won't
celebrate" the National Day of Prayer.
Again, the proclamation proves otherwise.
Lie #3: Fox News' Gretchen Carlson said the president's decision to
participate in "private" prayer on "National Prayer Day" is evidence of
Obama "giving in to the PC society that we live in."
No one pressured Obama to keep the National Day of Prayer Task Force out
of the White House; it was just the obvious thing to do. As for the
knock on "private" prayer, I might recommend Gretchen Carlson read
Matthew 6:6.
Lie #4: Fox News' Steve Doocy said Reagan and George H. W. Bush held
events similar to that of George W. Bush.
As hard as this is to believe, Doocy has it backwards. Reagan largely
ignored the NDP for his first seven years in office.
Lie #5: Elisabeth Hasselbeck said on Fox News that the National Day of
Prayer "has been a huge tradition" in the U.S.
That's just nonsense, since most presidents, like most Americans, have
largely ignored the "holiday." Besides, Obama is keeping the
"tradition" going by doing what his predecessors have done -- he issued
a proclamation. [Update: And if we're really going to talk about
American "traditions," it's also worth remembering that Thomas Jefferson
and James Madison explicitly rejected state-sponsored prayer days. And
all Madison did was write the Constitution.]
Hasselbeck -- who is she again? -- concluded, "We should be able to
gather and pray as we see fit." What I'll never understand about
conservative activists is why they think they need government to get
involved in spiritual matters. Hasselbeck could get together with others
to pray as they see fit yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Whether the
Dobsons get to hang out in the East Room of the White House is
irrelevant.
Honestly, I'm not sure which is more annoying -- the conservatives'
prayer-related dishonesty or their prayer-related whining.
Taken from http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2188511
--
St. Jackanapes
- http://www.voy.com/20630/
---------------------------------------
Doc Chung's Cat Suey Café...
- http://www.jackanapes.ws/2pdcat.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- "If poor children wish to gain any help from the GOP,
~ they had best crawl back in the womb." - Jesus
St. Jackanapes
- http://www.voy.com/20630/
---------------------------------------
Doc Chung's Cat Suey Café...
- http://www.jackanapes.ws/2pdcat.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- "If poor children wish to gain any help from the GOP,
~ they had best crawl back in the womb." - Jesus