Federal Judge Rules National Day of Prayer Unconstitutional

Well I never.

(CNN) — A federal judge on Thursday struck down the federal statute that established the National Day of Prayer, ruling that it violates the constitutional ban on government-backed religion.

“[I]ts sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function,” a Wisconsin judge wrote in the ruling, referring to the 1952 law that created the National Day of Prayer.

“In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience,” wrote the judge, Barbara B. Crabb.

So, in the time it took for me to (almost) finish my taxes, the story changes from the silly email rumor that President Obama has canceled the National Day of Prayer to a federal court ruling that declares the 1952 National Day of Prayer statute unconstitutional!

Now, nothing is actually going to happen between now and May 6th since the statute will stand until all avenues of appeal are exhausted, and President Obama has already stated that he will be issuing the proclamation on scheduled, but this is going to drive the conservative Christians to apoplexy nonetheless.

Should be fun.

For the record, while I agree with the judge’s ruling (prayer is an inherently religious exercise and the federal government should stay out of it) I fully expect it to be overturned on appeal, with the appellant judges citing some sort of vague ceremonial tradition as the reason why the statute should stand—just as they did in various Ten Commandments monument-related cases.

In fact, given that this will give the religious right all the excuse they need to kick up an even bigger fuss about activist judges and the perceived persecution of Christians, I would have actually preferred it if the Freedom From Religion Foundation had not brought the suit. Ceremonial stuff like National Day of Prayer proclamations, religious mottoes on our money, and moldy old religious monuments stuffed away in the corner of a courthouse yard are the type of thing that people don’t pay much attention to anyway, secular or religious, and filing lawsuits against them does nothing but keep the religious fundamentalists fired up, engaged, and ready to fight.

I grew up in Britain during the time when Christianity went from being a dominant force in British life to being almost irrelevant.  That didn’t happen because atheists and non-believers fought tooth and nail to overthrow the established order. It happened though benign neglect. The shrinking religious minority found it very hard to get fired up about the gradual atrophy and decay of their religious institutions.

I would prefer the secularists and the separationists to keep their powder dry for things that really matter, like efforts to teach creationism in school, or attempts to proselytize students in public school, etc. But, what’s done is done, and no doubt Fox News pundits everywhere are lining up a gaggle of guests to express their righteous outrage at the court’s decision.