Well Duh!

The unconstitutional National Day of Prayer has been ruled…unconstitutional.  The AP reports:

Federal Judge Rules Day of Prayer Unconstitutional

A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional Thursday, saying the day amounts to a call for religious action.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb wrote that the government can no more enact laws supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic.

Yes religion is no different from practicing magic.  Mumbling in one’s head to an Invisible Being is just a bit more stupid.

Congress established the day in 1952 and in 1988 set the first Thursday in May as the day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison-based group of atheists and agnostics, filed a lawsuit against the federal government in 2008 arguing the day violated the separation of church and state.

Woo Woo!  Let’s hear it for atheist’s reason, logic and the adherence to our laws.  Prepare for Christians to cry like babies.

Crabb wrote that her ruling was not a judgment on the value of prayer. She noted government involvement in prayer may be constitutional if the conduct serves a “significant secular purpose” and doesn’t amount to a call for religious action. But the National Day of Prayer crosses that line, she wrote.

“It goes beyond mere ‘acknowledgment’ of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context,” she wrote. “In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.”

It seems so hard for Christians to understand that we are a secular nation.  If they want a theocracy I advise them to convert to Islam and move to Iran.