Praying for Reason

“I prayed for 20 years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.”

~ Frederick Douglass, escaped slave and leader of the abolitionist movement 

I like the idea of a National Day of Reason.

Even when I was still religious, I was uncomfortable with the whole “National Day of Prayer” thing. I didn’t like how it violated my understanding of the concept of church/state separation. I didn’t like how politicians of all stripes and persuasions pandered to the prayer-mongers among us. I didn’t like how it took what I always thought was a selfish, lame activity – talking to a possibly nonexistent being about our wishes and desires as opposed to doing things that might actually cause our goals to be achieved – and elevated its legitimacy.

Now that I’ve come to believe organized religion is a sham and my Higher Power is my family, I find a National Day of Prayer even more ridiculous – and the efforts of public officials to glorify it distressing.

Although the National Day of Reason was started in 2003 by the American Humanist Association and the Washington Area Secular Humanists who thought government participation in the National Day of Prayer was a violation of the separation of church and state, I just heard about it yesterday. Scheduled on the same day as the National Day of Prayer (Thursday, May 3), the NDR is when people who don’t need religion in order to be good hold blood drives, launch voter registration efforts, march, rally and socialize.

Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) even issued a proclamation in the U.S. House of Representatives acknowledging the National Day of Reason. His proclamation states in part, “Our nation faces many problems – bringing our troops home from Afghanistan, creating jobs, educating our children, and protecting our safety net from irresponsible cuts. We will solve these issues through the application of reason. We must also protect women’s reproductive choices, the integrity of scientific research, and our public education system from those who would hide behind religious dogma to undermine them.”

I’m all for that.

I see the similarity between prayer and meditation and therefore begrudgingly concede that it’s not wholly without benefit. But falling to one’s knees in the end zone after scoring a touchdown and embracing official proclamations that designate certain days as being best for communicating with the Bearded White Dude Who Floats on Clouds and Awards Grammys are beyond silly. Teaching our kids that submitting requests to an unseen mythical entity is in any way productive makes about as much sense as teaching ‘em that an obese dude in a red pantsuit who travels the world in a flying sleigh once a year will place just what we want under the dead tree in our living room as long as we leave milk and cookies next to the fireplace.

If I were the type to wear a tin-foil hat and believe in vast conspiracies, I might even entertain the notion that pacifying and distracting the masses is at the heart of the National Day of Prayer. Why else would politicians and “news” outlets trip all over themselves to promote participation?

It’s pretty simple. If someone wants to kneel at his or her bedside and participate in one-sided dialogue every night before retiring, that’s his or her prerogative. If entire congregations want to bow their heads and send fervent pleas to the Object of Their Worship, that’s fine with me. But I’m not happy about the use of public resources to promote an activity that’s more akin to a cult ritual than the behavior of competent adults. Our problems and challenges are real. Shouldn’t our responses be as well?

"Faith means not wanting to know what is true."

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“Human decency is not derived from religion.  It precedes it.”

~ Christopher Hitchens

“Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.”

~ Benjamin Franklin

“Those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.”

~ Voltaire 

Sources: Huffington Post, American Humanist Association.