On National Day of Prayer, Plenty of Politics
Yesterday’s annual “National Day of Prayer” (NDP) is the high holy day for the intersection of religion and politics in America, so writes The Christian Science Monitor’s Mark Trumball. Since a 1952 law gave it the imprimatur of state sanction, NDP “has become an annual part of the political fabric,” explains Trumball. “It’s a day when politicians appeal to voters as people of faith, when interest groups cast wary judgment on politicians, and when many atheists and civil libertarians seek to cast doubt on the very concept and constitutionality of an annual day for prayer in the US.”