Congressman Wants A ‘National Day Of Reason’ As Atheist Alternative To Day Of Prayer

[rug]

Because not everyone has a god to pray to.

04/13/2016 05:41 pm ET | Updated 6 hours ago
Nick Wing

Each year, on the first Thursday of May, elected officials gather in Washington, D.C., and around the country for the National Day of Prayer. It’s a day when public servants from the president on down encourage Americans of all faiths to pray and contemplate the role of the divine in their lives. But 20 percent of Americans identify as religiously unaffiliated or simply don’t believe in God — and many of them aren’t comfortable with the idea of a government-sanctioned occasion that shuts them out entirely.

This week, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who represents the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a resolution to create a secular alternative to the National Day of Prayer. The one-time occasion, known as the National Day of Reason, would be observed on Thursday, May 5, the same day as this year’s National Day of Prayer. According to the resolution’s authors, the National Day of Reason would provide an opportunity for the religious and non-religious alike to come together and recognize “the importance of reason in the betterment of humanity.”

“The application of reason has proven to improve the conditions in which people live, offer hope for human survival on Earth, and cultivated intelligent, moral, and ethical behaviors and interactions among people,” said Honda in a Tuesday press release. “I encourage everyone to take this occasion to reflect upon the way that philosophical principles developed during the Age of Reason influenced our Founding Fathers as they formed our country and how the employment of reason, critical thought, the scientific method, and free inquiry can help resolve human problems and improve the welfare of humankind.”

Honda introduced a similar resolution last year, only to see it die in committee. Atheism and outspoken support for non-traditional religious beliefs remain, for the most part, a third rail in politics. There isn’t a single openly atheistic member of Congress, and only one — Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona — who lists herself as unaffiliated. More than 90 percent of members of Congress identify as Christians, and an entire 57 percent, including Honda, consider themselves Protestants.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/national-day-of-reason_us_570e7143e4b08a2d32b89ad5

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c114:H.+Res.+670:

[AtheistCrusader]

1. The interesting thing is, one of these two competing 'day' ideas, is constitutionally permissible.

And only one.

[rug]

2. It's the National Day of Prayer.

Court Rules National Day of Prayer Constitutional

http://blogs.findlaw.com/decided/2011/05/court-rules-national-day-of-prayer-constitutional.html

[AtheistCrusader]

3. For now.

Denying same sex marriage was clearly unconstitutional as well, but until 3 years ago, pretty much court findings across the land.

Courts can and are wrong, often.

[rug]

4. I'll defer to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on questions of constittionality

Anonymous internet posts on the subject are dross.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Anything to avoid the meat of the issue.

[rug]

7. Yhe constitutionality of the event is the meat of the issue.

The fact that you got it wrong doesn't change that.

[struggle4progress]

6. Oh, goody! We really need yet another day for bloviating blowhards to blither!

It can't be helped, I suppose ...

But a National Day of Reason would be just as pointless and silly a show as the National Day of Prayer

[rug]

8. Now, don't be so unReasonable.