Obama Admin to Defend Day of Prayer in Court

clipped from www.cbn.com The U.S. Justice Department has filed an appeal against the ruling by a Wisconsin Judge who said the annual Day of Prayer event is unconstitutional. Some legal analysts believe the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the army is considering disinviting Evangelist Franklin Graham from speaking at the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer event. Some muslims have protested because of comments Billy Graham's son made in the past calling Islam "wicked" and "false." "I want them to know that they don't have to die in a car bomb, don't have to die in some kind of holy war to be accepted by God. But it's through faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone," Graham said. "But when you look at Islam, I love the people of Islam but the religion, I do not agree with the religion at all. If you look at what the religion does for just to women, women alone, it is just horrid." Graham also said it is up to the military to decide if he will speak at the prayer event on May 6.

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Obama admin. to appeal prayer ruling

clipped from firstread.msnbc.msn.com From NBC's Pete Williams The Justice Department says it intends to appeal a federal court ruling that found the National Day of Prayer to be a violation of the separation between church and state. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed against President Obama and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. One week ago, a federal judge in Wisconsin ruled that the president's declaration of a national day for prayer was unconstitutional. The government today informed the court that it will appeal the decision. Since 1952, when Congress required the president to issue a proclamation designating a national day of prayer, all presidents have done so. Beginning in 1988, the day has been the first Thursday in May, because Congress amended the original law to declare it the day for the event. that "does not mean that the government may enact a statute in support of it, any more than the government may encourage citizens

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Atheist Group Calls on Obama to Endorse ‘National Day of Reason' Instead of 'National Day of Prayer'

clipped from cnsnews.com (CNSNews.com) – An atheist group is calling on President Obama to ditch the National Day of Prayer and formally recognize its own “non-theist” version called “The National Day of Reason.” Last week, a federal judge in Madison, Wis., ruled that the law designating the first Thursday in May to be the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional because, the judge said, it negatively impacts non-believers. A White House spokesman indicated last Friday, however, that President Obama will formally recognize the May 6 observance of the National Day of Prayer with a proclamation because the judge’s order barring the observance would not take effect until after the appeals process had been exhausted. But the Washington, D.C.-based American Humanist Association is urging the president to recognize instead the “National Day of Reason” -- the atheist movement’s “response” to the National Day of Prayer.

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