National Day of Prayer & Roy Moore In Denial
Jonathan Rowe on May 1st 2008
Today is the National Day of Prayer. Here is the groups website, complete with the mythical picture of George Washington, on his knees praying at Valley Forge (Washington was a man of prayer, but didn’t pray on his knees; the reason why I say it’s mythical is because scholars have debunked that the incident ever occurred). I don’t know much about this group. To the extent that it is a private organization I don’t care about what it does or how it prays. However to the extent that this group is endorsed by government, it should be praying in generic monotheistic prayers only because that, not Christian theology, is what America is founded on.
The first four Presidents, Ben Franklin and Abe Lincoln never publicly prayed in Jesus’ name (neither do we have records in their private writings doing so). Further, they believed in natural religion, which holds all good men of all religions (regardless of whether they are “Judeo-Christian”) worship the same God. It was this natural religion that gave “all good men” access to the Deity that was key to forming America’s public theology.
In his column Roy Moore recognizes that generic prayers are not consistent with orthodox Christian theology.
Sadly, too many judges today like to call prayer and other civil acknowledgments of God mere “ceremonial deism,” a historic relic that has no “religious” significance. In fact, in cases involving public prayer in courts and legislative bodies, only those traditions that have decades or more of history behind them tend to survive legal challenge. Unfortunately, that means that only empty, generic references to God are allowed.
Jesus called such lip service “hypocrisy” when the Pharisees exalted their man-made traditions above the true worship of God.
“Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias (Isaiah) prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’ (Matt. 15:7-9)”
Accordingly, Moore is in a state of denial or ignorance about America’s Founders’ actual political theology. “The founders prayed because they believed in a real God who could actually meet their needs.” Moore cites George Washington, Ben Franklin and Abe Lincoln as figures to support his thesis. Presumably he believes they invoked the “real God.” As mentioned none of them publicly (or do the records show privately) prayed in Jesus name. All systematically used generic philosophical titles for God. Moore is confused by the fact that they could also use biblical allusion when speaking to Christian audiences. As Moore recounted:
Benjamin Franklin, remembering these daily prayers, reminded the Constitutional Convention 13 years later of the need for “imploring the assistance of heaven” lest their proceedings fare “no better than the Builders of Babel.”
The problem is Moore and the Christian America crowd interpret the use of biblical allusion such as Franklin’s to mean they believed in the one true Biblical God, whose way is exclusive. Wrong. Franklin was, like the other key Founders, a theological unitarian who believed all good men worshipped the same God. As such they could speak in biblical allusion one minute and then turn around and speak as if Muslims and unconverted Native Americans worshipped the same God they did. This may not be “ceremonial deism” as the secularists articulate it. But it arguably nonetheless qualifies as the kind of generic religion that the Bible criticizes. And it is what America’s public institutions are founded on, like it or not.
Filed in The Belfry, The Bureau
The National Day of Prayer “official web site” is in no way official. They hold no office associated with the Congressionally enacted National Day of prayer (no such office exists). The NDP Task Force is led by Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson, of Focus on the Family. Congress enacted a non-denominational opportunity for Americans of all faiths to pray together. The NDP Task Force requires its volunteers to state their belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. That’s VERY denominational.
Whether Congress’s initial idea of the NDP was good or not, it has been hijacked by a very particular small interest group. Congress ought to repeal their act, or else provide for an official body to guarantee the nondenominational character of the observance.
Thanks for the info!
Moore cites George Washington, Ben Franklin and Abe Lincoln as figures to support his thesis. Presumably he believes they invoked the “real God.”
In fairness, we must look at the converse. Those guys might have had their problems with the KJV, but they did not doubt the “real God” was in there somewhere.
Or if they did, they kept it to their damnselves…
I think your are exactly right. They believed *some* scripture was legitimately revealed. Though, when I study orthodox Christian theology, I see exclusivity. One either worships the real God who is Triune or one doesn’t believe in God even if one thinks he does. If one concedes those with unconventional, non-Trinitarian, even non-Judeo-Christian views believe in the real God even if he gets some of the details wrong, then I wouldn’t try to convince Christians that Washington, Franklin and Lincoln didn’t believe in their God. Most orthodox Trinitarian Christians won’t make that concession though.
80% of Americans understand themselves to be Christian and probably over 90% believe in God in some sense. Only a minority of them are orthodox Trinitarian Christians and most are cafeteria believers of some sort. Most accept the Golden Rule or the Sermon on the Mt. as Truth. If one concedes good and decent people who profess to believe in God really do believe in God even if they don’t believe Jesus as the only way or the Bible infallible, then these historical figures devoutly believed in the real God. However, it’s precisely that kind of creedal indifference that makes the orthodox shriek “you don’t really believe in God.”
I dunno if “they” shriek much anymore, Jon. Dunno if they ever did here in America except behind closed doors. Not in the public square. It’s simply not civil.
Even ex-Cincinnati Reds pitcher Frank Pastore cum evangelical pastor, whose spoutings you’ve quoted around here, sees Mormonism as heretical to orthodox Christianity—and I believe he’d be right about that. But he still said he’d vote for Mitt Romney for president, which I could too.
I’d expect an atheist to be more wigged out about Romney’s professed religion, meself. And I wouldn’t blame him either. But I’d expect him to keep the shrieking down to the absolute minimum.
I’ve long thought that the real religion of America is a sort of multicultural universalism.
Most Americans hate the thought that their neighbors, parents, children, and so many others will be roasting in hell because of their failure to believe in one dogma or another. This religious tolerance about the afterlife is a product of religious tolerance in the here and now, a reflection of perhaps the most religiously diverse national population that has never fought a war of religion. Insofar as a religious belief can be healthy, I’d have to give this one my approval.
A little discussion of relationships between the NDOP and the NDOP Task Force is needed here.
At least half-a-dozen active-duty military officials have been working closely with the task force planning religious events at military installations around the country to commemorate Thursday’s National Day of Prayer. In working directly with the National Day of Prayer (NDP) Task Force and agreeing to work as event coordinators, these military officials signed an oath that states they “believe that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of The Living God” and that “Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only One by which I can obtain salvation and have an ongoing relationship with God,” according to materials posted on NDP Task Force’s website. Furthermore, the declaration signed by the military officials says that they promise to “ensure a strong, consistent Christian message throughout the nation” and that National Day of Prayer events scheduled to take place at their military installations “will be conducted solely by Christians.”
At Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado, the community events office sent out an email to everyone on the base along with a flyer announcing an event scheduled at Fort Carson in observance of National Day of Prayer. The email included a message from Specialist Brian Havens, who closed his note with “In Christ.” Havens is identified on the Task force website as an event coordinator, indicating that he signed the Task Force’s “Statement of Faith” application and agreed to uphold the NDP Task Force’s Christian policies.
In Washington state, military flyovers were scheduled to take place at the Calvary Chapel South ball field in Kent, according to the task force website, and the Christian radio station, Praise 106.5 FM, said the Whidbey Island Naval Station will be providing a flyover at the Skagit County event in Mount Vernon. Additionally, Marine color guards are scheduled to appear at the National Day of Prayer celebration in Bakersfield, Calif., and the Concert of Prayer in Wheeling, West Virginia. The Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base Honor Guard is slated to appear at the “Call To The Wall” in Wheatfield, New York. The National Day of Prayer Noon Rally at the Phoenix, City Hall features the Luke Air Force Base Honor Guard, and the Fort Huachuca Select Honor Guard will appear at a service in Patagonia, Arizona. All these, I have been told by a researcher who participated in uncovering them, are Task Force events for Christians only.
So while the Task Force is a non-government group, it does sponsor Christian only NDOP events within government institutions and does seek and obtain government co-sponsorship for their events. Dobson’s task force seems determined to turn the half-century old holiday into its own personal recruitment tool by proselytizing to members of the armed forces and the public in hopes of converting people to evangelical Christianity, according to task force documents posted on the group’s website.
Yes the founding fathers often genericized Christianity. They were wrong too. As honorable as they were, they were not perfect. Nevertheless, because all forms of government are run by sinful men, no matter what they did, it would eventually become corrupt. However, their idea was pragmatically speaking one of the best, as it was.