For the second year in a row, the National Day of Prayer will not be publicly recognized by the Obama Administration.

For some this continues to come as a surprise because it is a stark contradiction to Obama’s perceived spiritual or Christian beliefs. The National Day of Prayer was a yearly staple in the Bush Administration and dates back to our 33^rd president, President Harry S. Truman.

It has been reported by internet rumor that President Barack Obama has canceled the National Day of Prayer, but it isn’t true. As mentioned above, he has decided that the White House will not recognize it. There have been many arguments on the internet in favor and against the national day of prayer.  Many people feel that there are more important issues to argue about.  Some believe it should be cancelled all together due to the need of separation between church and state, while others believe that a day set aside to pray shouldn’t exist because it should happen daily. Another argument is that people can not corporately pray and have beliefs in different things, because it’s counter productive.

I believe Obama should keep it publicly recognized as an example to the rest of the country, but he does not want to offend any religion that may not agree with his perceived Christian beliefs.  In the past, I have had the opportunity to attend and participate in the National Day of Prayer at the University of South Carolina and it served more as learning experience and an eye opener than a contradiction to the separation of church and state.

There were many people recognizing the importance of prayer and we joined in unity because we understood the purpose, which was prayer and  not persuasion.