Atheists in Colorado are suing the governor after he issued National Day of Prayer proclamations:
“A Wisconsin-based group of atheists and agnostics that won a lawsuit last week in which a federal judge ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional is hoping that the decision will assist in a similar lawsuit filed against the governor in Colorado.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing Gov. Bill Ritter for showing “governmental preference for religion” by issuing National Day of Prayer proclamations in Colorado. The lawsuit — first filed in 2008 in Denver District Court and is awaiting summary judgment that is expected in early May — charges that Ritter violated the state constitution by issuing proclamations on the National Day of Prayer in 2007 and then again in 2008.
Ritter’s proclamation in 2007 was based on a belief that the prayer day is “intended as a day for Americans to celebrate rights purportedly endowed by their Creator,” according to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The group points out that Ritter participated in a prayer day event at the Capitol in 2007 and again in 2008. In 2008, he read a proclamation with a theme from Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts Him and I am helped.”
The Colorado Springs-based National Day of Prayer Task Force, chaired by Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson, assists in crafting prayer day proclamations such as the ones read by Ritter. The Freedom From Religious Foundation’s lawsuit alleges that Ritter has aligned both himself and the state with the National Day of Prayer Task Force. They believe reading such proclamations gives official “recognition to the endorsement of religion” and “turns nonbelievers into ‘political outsiders.’”
“The whole message is public officials telling constituents to pray,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “What we argued is that they have no such right under our constitution — Colorado State or U.S. — and that it’s an affront and a violation of our freedom of conscience, you can’t get much more of an affront to someone who’s an atheist or an agnostic than being told by their president they’re supposed to be religious and pray.”
Wisconisin U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled last week that the National Day of Prayer “goes beyond mere ‘acknowledgement’ of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that served no secular function in this context.”
She ruled that the national prayer day violates the First Amendment, which bans the creation of a “law respecting an establishment of religion” by the federal government.
This year’s National Day of Prayer is scheduled for May 6. The White House said last week in a Tweet that regardless of the ruling, Obama “intends to recognize a National Day of Prayer.” Crabb’s ruling does not prohibit the president from issuing an official presidential prayer proclamation. But the National Day of Prayer Task Force is still calling on Obama to appeal the decision.
A spokesman for Ritter’s office was unable to tell the Denver Daily News yesterday whether the governor intends to issue an official proclamation on this year’s National Day of Prayer. Several attempts to get on-the-record comment from the governor’s office failed.
Gaylor fully expects Ritter to issue an official proclamation, especially given the fact that he’s “under the gun” from the separate lawsuit in Colorado, she said. But she expects her group to win the lawsuit, especially given the momentum from last week’s federal ruling.
Four Coloradans are named on the lawsuit as plaintiffs. One of the plaintiffs, David Habecker, gained national and local recognition as an atheist for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance after he was elected as an Estes Park town trustee. In 2005, voters recalled Habecker from the town board for his decision not to recite the pledge.
Habecker claimed at the time and maintains his opinion today that saying the phrase “under God” in the pledge violated separation of church and state.
“You can’t have a National Day of Prayer, an official day of prayer, coming from our federal government,” said Habecker. “We’re supposed to not be intertwined with religion, and I don’t know of anybody that’s non-religious that prays; non-religious people usually don’t have some imaginary person in the sky that they pray to.”
In a statement released last week following the ruling in Wisconsin, Shirley Dobson said she believes the National Day of Prayer is something that would be supported by the nation’s Founding Fathers.
“Since the days of our Founding Fathers, the government has protected and encouraged public prayer and other expressions of dependence on the Almighty,” said Dobson. “This is a concerted effort by a small but determined number of people who have tried to prohibit all references to the Creator in the public square, whether it be the Ten Commandments, the Pledge of Allegiance, or the simple act of corporate prayer — this is unconscionable for a free society.”
Congressman Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, agrees with Dobson and her supporters. He also points out that the prayer day is completely voluntary.
“It in no way requires Americans to participate in prayer,” he said in a statement last week. “Unfortunately, some in our country are seeking freedom from religion, rather than freedom of religion.”
But Habecker points out that when politicians issue proclamations designating a day of prayer, non-believers feel like they’re doing something wrong by not participating.
“I am an atheist, which is in many parts of the world, and many parts of this country, that’s considered normal,” he said. “I’m not an oddball, I’m a normal person. I don’t believe in mythical, invisible people in the sky and zombies and other things.””
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