National Day of Prayer Proceeds Without Franklin Graham

As the Pentagon walks around on egg shells to avoid offending the people who would like to kill us, the National Day of Prayer goes on:

As observers celebrate the National Day of Prayer Thursday, a recent court ruling and Army decision to revoke an invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham has shrouded in controversy a day meant for reflection and prayer.

Graham, honorary chairman of the 2010 National Day of Prayer Task Force, said he is going to stand outside the Pentagon anyway on Thursday, despite the decision to rescind his invitation to participate amid complaints about his describing Islam as an evil religion..

"I don't have to be invited to a prayer service to pray for the men and women who serve this nation, who I'm so proud (of)," he told Fox News on Wednesday night. "I want them to know that I support them."

Religious leaders and government officials are holding events Thursday to mark the 59th observance of the day, including capping off a marathon Bible reading in Washington, D.C., that began Wednesday.

The event, created in 1952 and signed into law by President Harry Truman, was amended in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan to state that the day would be observed on the first Thursday in May. Organizers cite the day of prayer's origins to 1775 when the Continental Congress encouraged the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation.

President Obama issued a proclamation last Friday as his Justice Department appeals a federal judge's ruling last month that the day of prayer is unconstitutional.

"Prayer has been a sustaining way for many Americans of diverse faiths to express their most cherished beliefs, and thus we have long deemed it fitting and proper to publicly recognize the importance of prayer on this day across the Nation," Obama said in the proclamation.

This is another of those idiotic lawsuits against religion that are pretty much doomed to fail. The President can issue whatever declarations he wants and no judge has the authority to stop it. As long as the president is mandating that people participate there's little chance the lawsuit will have any impact on the National Day of Prayer at all.

Meanwhile, if we're going to ban every pastor who has misgivings about Islam, there won't be anyone left to conduct the service...except maybe some Wiccan priestess or perhaps a witch doctor or something.