Christian Lawyer Predicts Day of Prayer Will Prevail Over ACLU Protests
by Allie Martin
May 3, 2004
(AgapePress) - A Christian attorney is encouraging government officials nationwide not to interfere with National Day of Prayer observances set for later this week.This Thursday, May 6, marks the 53rd annual National Day of Prayer (NDOP). More than 20,000 organized observances of the special day will take place across the nation. The country-wide event is being promoted by many Christian organizations, among them Liberty Counsel, a litigation, education and policy organization that is dedicated to advancing religious freedom, as well as the sanctity of human life and the traditional family. This year the theme of the NDOP is "Let Freedom Ring."
Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver warns that government officials who try to curtail activities in observance of the National Day of Prayer could face legal action. "One of the things that we will ensure this year is that the NDOP gets equal treatment and equal access," he says.
Mat Staver | |
Although the National Day of Prayer was established by an act of Congress in 1952, over the past few years the event has faced growing resistance from groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union.However, Staver says the nationwide observance was set aside as a time for the people, including mayors and other governmental leaders, to gather at various meetings and to acknowledge God and pray. "They shouldn't be intimidated by the ACLU, and certainly governments should not censor the National Day of Prayer," he says.
And Staver points out that many past efforts to interfere with observances of the NDOP have failed. There have been several situations, he says, "where cities have either tried to ban National Days of Prayer, or where the ACLU has threatened suits to stop the National Day of Prayer, or where [its observance] has been allowed to go on, but [NDOP activities] have not had equal access in public forums as other secular meetings have."
Nevertheless, those past efforts to curb the observance of the NDOP have always been unsuccessful, and the Liberty Counsel attorney says any public officials who try to do so this year will find themselves on the losing end of a legal battle.
