Religion
Related: About this forumCongressman Wants A ‘National Day Of Reason’ As Atheist Alternative To Day Of Prayer
Because not everyone has a god to pray to.
04/13/2016 05:41 pm ET | Updated 6 hours ago
Nick Wing
Each year, on the first Thursday of May, elected officials gather in Washington, D.C., and around the country for the National Day of Prayer. Its a day when public servants from the president on down encourage Americans of all faiths to pray and contemplate the role of the divine in their lives. But 20 percent of Americans identify as religiously unaffiliated or simply dont believe in God and many of them arent comfortable with the idea of a government-sanctioned occasion that shuts them out entirely.
This week, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who represents the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a resolution to create a secular alternative to the National Day of Prayer. The one-time occasion, known as the National Day of Reason, would be observed on Thursday, May 5, the same day as this years National Day of Prayer. According to the resolutions authors, the National Day of Reason would provide an opportunity for the religious and non-religious alike to come together and recognize the importance of reason in the betterment of humanity.
The application of reason has proven to improve the conditions in which people live, offer hope for human survival on Earth, and cultivated intelligent, moral, and ethical behaviors and interactions among people, said Honda in a Tuesday press release. I encourage everyone to take this occasion to reflect upon the way that philosophical principles developed during the Age of Reason influenced our Founding Fathers as they formed our country and how the employment of reason, critical thought, the scientific method, and free inquiry can help resolve human problems and improve the welfare of humankind.
Honda introduced a similar resolution last year, only to see it die in committee. Atheism and outspoken support for non-traditional religious beliefs remain, for the most part, a third rail in politics. There isnt a single openly atheistic member of Congress, and only one Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona who lists herself as unaffiliated. More than 90 percent of members of Congress identify as Christians, and an entire 57 percent, including Honda, consider themselves Protestants.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/national-day-of-reason_us_570e7143e4b08a2d32b89ad5
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c114:H.+Res.+670:
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)And only one.
rug
(82,333 posts)http://blogs.findlaw.com/decided/2011/05/court-rules-national-day-of-prayer-constitutional.html
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Denying same sex marriage was clearly unconstitutional as well, but until 3 years ago, pretty much court findings across the land.
Courts can and are wrong, often.
rug
(82,333 posts)Anonymous internet posts on the subject are dross.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)The fact that you got it wrong doesn't change that.
struggle4progress
(118,330 posts)It can't be helped, I suppose ...
But a National Day of Reason would be just as pointless and silly a show as the National Day of Prayer