So, district judge Barbara Crabb has ruled National Day Of Prayer to not be constitutional. Oh wait, no, the GOVERNMENT SUPPORT of it is. That's right. Christians are really riled up about this, but if they actually analyze the ruling, they should be thankful of it! National Day Of Prayer in its current state is considered unconstitutional because it's the government telling us how/when to worship. I'm still undecided, since it IS optional, even more optional than Christmas... but unlike Christmas, National Day Of Prayer isn't secularized in any way. It's exclusive to religions/denominations who either don't pray or don't pray in public. The Bible itself says to keep prayer private(Sermon On The Mount), basically because people fake-prayed too much in order to look holier than they really were. I suspect that a lot of people pray just for appearance on the National Day Of Prayer.

Seriously, it's very fortunate that my church has a skeptic(me) on staff. I debunked the "Obama cancelled NDOP" rumor for several people(he supports the day, although prays in private), and I'm keeping a close watch on developments on the controversy. I made sure to deal with the myths as soon as possible to prevent this from getting too big. I'm also going to make the point of the lawsuit not being about prayer, or even organized prayer en masse. People seem to consider it an attack on prayer, unfortunately. I must calm the masses!

The legal stuff for this ruling will drag on way past National Day Of Prayer, so this year's day is in no danger. The president plans on issuing a proclamation this year, just like last year. If next year's or some later year's Day Of Prayer is indeed cancelled, it will only be the government's declaration of it that will be cancelled. I have full faith that Christians will continue it, and that's the way it should be, if it's continued. Keep the government out of religion. Isn't that what Christians want anyway?

And to atheists offended by National Day Of Prayer, we also have National Day Of Reason, which I'm planning on celebrating. I hope there's an event on Second Life since I'm not ready to come out as an atheist in real life(I want my friends and family to trust my bullshit detector, which has helped them several times). I could probably hold an event myself, but I don't know what I'd fill the time with. Lots of NDOR events have blood drives, clothing drives and food drives. I figure a portion of the day would have the latest episode of The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe podcast playing. They always have great discussion of the latest technological/medical advancements and critical thinking. Their "Science Or Fiction" segment is great exercise for my bullshit detector.
I don't own any land in Second Life, nor do I know of the best region to rent in for it. There's "The Church Of Atheism", maybe I could contact them about using their tiny parcel of land(30x30 meters I think). I could probably also hijack an existing atheist group for the day just in case we get too huge of a turnout.

I'm not offended by National Day Of Prayer. I'm certainly going to encourage the people at my church to celebrate it(yes, to keep up my appearances, heh), and I might even offer some things to pray for(*ahem* to think to themselves about, for comfort). I'm also not going to pray on that day. Well, unless it's for rain. That'll mess with some people.