# National Day of PRAYER and Rememberance **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683 "2005-09-08T18:31:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/41 "2005-09-08T20:17:13Z")
Forgot the \* - = hyperbole, for those unable to distinguish. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/42 "2005-09-08T20:19:27Z")
Why don’t Presidents declare a National Day of Masturbation? We’d all certainly get more benefit out of it? ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/43 "2005-09-08T20:19:41Z")
Which religions don’t have prayer? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/44 "2005-09-08T20:20:28Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > - = hyperbole, for those unable to distinguish. You didn’t need to do that; I’m not reading this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/45 "2005-09-08T20:21:34Z")
In _Marsh v. Chambers_, the Supreme Court upheld the Nebraska legislature’s opening its daily sessions with a prayer from an official chaplain, paid by the state treasury, as not violative of the Establishment Clause. That’s quite a bit more entanglement than merely marking a day of prayer. And the Court has commented on the Day of Prayer approvingly: In _Lynch v. Donnelly_, the Court said: > [@](#): > > Our history is replete with official references to the value and invocation of Divine guidance in deliberations and pronouncements of the Founding Fathers and contemporary leaders. Beginning in the early colonial period long before Independence, a day of Thanksgiving was celebrated as a religious holiday to give thanks for the bounties of Nature as gifts from God. President Washington and his successors proclaimed Thanksgiving, with all its religious overtones, a day of national celebration and Congress made it a National Holiday more than a century ago. > . > . > . > Executive Orders and other official announcements of Presidents and of the Congress have proclaimed both Christmas and Thanksgiving National Holidays in religious terms. > . > . > . > Congress has directed the President to proclaim a National Day of Prayer each year “on which [day] the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.” 36 U.S.C. § 169h. Our Presidents have repeatedly issued such Proclamations. Presidential Proclamations and messages have also issued to commemorate Jewish Heritage Week, Presidential Proclamation No. 4844, 3 CFR 30 (1982), and the Jewish High Holy Days, 17 Weekly Comp. of Pres. Doc. 1058 (1981). The practice clearly is consistent with the Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/46 "2005-09-08T20:22:30Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Which religions don’t have prayer? I can not think of more then one right now, but hell, even one is enough to prove my point. Buddhism. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/47 "2005-09-08T20:24:53Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **Cliffy.** Still, among our Constitutional Rights is the right to _practice_ religion, and for many religions prayer is an efficacious thing, regardless of your amusing comparison to pink speedo jumping. As long as the state recognizes that fundamental quality without specifying any religious preference, it’s not a big deal to call for a day of prayer. > > There’s no safeguards in the Constitution for atheism. Other people’s praying does not infringe on the right not to believe or not to participate. Okay…the government doesn’t have to _designate_ anything related to religion. He could have left it at “Day of Rememberance”. Obviously, people are free to go pray their brains out if they feel the urge. He should never even bring it up except at home or at church. Why is that so fucking hard to understand? Does anyone think the religious folks FORGOT they could pray to comfort themselves? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/48 "2005-09-08T20:32:50Z")
Yeah, it’s an endorsement of religion. Yeah, I’d prefer it if our government were more secular and didn’t do such things. But as governmental endorsements of religion go, this one’s pretty harmless. I mean, as long as they’re not forcing anyone to actually _do_ anything. Anyway, it’s all fine and well to bitch about this sort of stuff, but it’s a long-standing and basically harmless tradition, and there are far more important battles to be fought. Complainining about semi-meaningless governmental expressions of religion just furthers the impression that liberals are anti-religious, which only hurts our chances of getting people elected who can actually do something about the _important_ issues. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/49 "2005-09-08T20:34:02Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > I can not think of more then one right now, but hell, even one is enough to prove my point. > > Buddhism. _sigh_ Sure it does. What is _samadhi_, to a Buddhist? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/50 "2005-09-08T20:37:19Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What is _samadhi_, to a Buddhist? _Sigh_ Sure doesn’t. It’s control over the functions of consciousness (According to them, not to me), not prayer. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/51 "2005-09-08T20:39:57Z")
It’s not like he said you WILL pray and it WILL be to Jesus. I’m not really offended by the idea of them saying, “It might be a nice idea to pray.” My problem is that I know this man apparently thinks that I’m going to fry in hell because I won’t pray to his version of his God. At least, unlike him, I ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/52 "2005-09-08T20:45:41Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > _Sigh_ > > Sure doesn’t. > > It’s control over the functions of consciousness (According to them, not to me), not prayer. It’s a state of prayerful meditation. > **[Samadhi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samadhi#The_Buddhist_tradition)** > > Samadhi (Sanskrit: समाधी), in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In the yogic traditions, and the Buddhist commentarial tradition on which the Burmese Vipassana movement and the Thai Forest tradition rely, it is a meditative absorption or trance, attained by the practice of dhyāna. In the oldest Buddhist suttas, on which several contemporary western Theravada teachers rely, it refers to the development of a luminous mind which is equ In... > [@Wiki](#): > > Samadhi, or concentration of the mind, is the second of the three parts of the Buddha’s teaching: sila or conduct, samadhi or samatha (concentration), and vipassana (insight or wisdom), all achieved through a concentrated prayer state of complete mindfulness. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/53 "2005-09-08T20:47:12Z")
It’s a Wiki link, Scott. Most believable cite there is, right? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/54 "2005-09-08T20:47:19Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > It’s not like he said you WILL pray and it WILL be to Jesus. I’m not really offended by the idea of them saying, “It might be a nice idea to pray.” My problem is that I know this man apparently thinks that I’m going to fry in hell because I won’t pray to his version of his God. > > At least, unlike him, I I think you’re going to fry in hell because you can’t complete posts. So what? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/55 "2005-09-08T20:49:09Z")
It’s not like he said you WILL pray and it WILL be to Jesus. I’m not really offended by the idea of them saying, “It might be a nice idea to pray.” My problem is that I know this man apparently thinks that I’m going to fry in hell because I won’t pray to his version of his God. At least, unlike him, I actually care about the people of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast. If he’s an example of what conservative/fundamentalist Christianity does to one’s human compassion, I’ll just run screaming the other way, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/56 "2005-09-08T20:51:45Z")
I DID finish the post. The server crapped out on me or something. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/57 "2005-09-08T20:54:44Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I DID finish the post. The server crapped out on me or something. That’s what you get, infidel! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/58 "2005-09-08T20:56:18Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Okay…the government doesn’t have to _designate_ anything related to religion. He could have left it at “Day of Rememberance”. Obviously, people are free to go pray their brains out if they feel the urge. He should never even bring it up except at home or at church. Why is that so fucking hard to understand? Does anyone think the religious folks FORGOT they could pray to comfort themselves? No, but that is why he made it a Day of Prayer **and** Remembrance. So the religious 85% of us can pray, and the idiot atheists can remember that they don’t have to pray if they don’t want to. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/59 "2005-09-08T20:59:41Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I DID finish the post. The server crapped out on me or something. Tell it to the Eternal Lake of Fire, pal. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683/60 "2005-09-08T20:59:51Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > It’s a state of prayerful meditation. > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samadhi#The\_Buddhist\_tradition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samadhi#The_Buddhist_tradition) Doesn’t sound like any kind of prayer I ever heard of. Take away that word, and it is just plain old meditation. Forgive me if I seem skeptical that the existance of the word word prayer is more then just a way to get westerners to relate to the concept, when reading that article. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-day-of-prayer-and-rememberance/320683.md?page=4)