The world might be a better place if we all set aside a bit more time for prayer and personal reflection.
So we see no harm in Gov. Paul LePage joining Texas Gov. Rick Perry in promoting a national religious rally to be held at a Texas football stadium.
In June, LePage signed a proclamation declaring Aug. 6 as “A Day of Prayer and Fasting for Our Nation.”
Courts have long held that politicians have the same rights as all Americans to participate in religious events and to express their beliefs.
But the Constitution also requires that government not favor one religion over another.
The Perry event is being billed as a “non-denominational, apolitical Christian prayer meeting.”
But Perry has all but announced that he has presidential aspirations and will likely be a candidate in the Republican primaries.
And that, sadly, invites speculation that Perry’s motives have as much to do with presidential fever as with religious fervor.
Which is always the problem with politicians wandering into the religious realm. Their motives are always suspect.
It is worth noting that the United States has had a National Day of Prayer for more than 60 years.
It is observed on the first Thursday in May and is widely observed by politicians of all parties. Each year the president signs a proclamation encouraging all Americans to pray, and each year scheduled events include Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and leaders of other faiths.
But official prayer days go back much further than 1952 when the National Day of Prayer was adopted by Congress.
Even before the nation’s founding, the Continental Congress proclaimed “a day of publick humiliation, fasting, and prayer” be observed on July 20, 1775, according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
The “National Day of Prayer” website records show that U.S. presidents have made 136 national calls for more prayer since 1789, while there have been 914 state and federal calls for national prayer.
With two wars and an armed conflict under way, a dysfunctional Congress and a sputtering economy, we should welcome any help we can get, whether or not divinely inspired.
rrhoades@sunjournal.com
The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.
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