Last week, the 65th annual National Day of Prayer was observed across the United States. Despite Jesus specifically denouncing public displays of religious fervor, many Christians made it a point to rally and do exactly what he said not to do.

Matthew 6:5-8 states: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Obviously what Jesus meant by this statement was go forth and have the government trample upon the First Amendment, which forbids Congress from promoting any religion over another, and have them declareth a National Day of Prayer. A National Day of CHRISTIAN Prayer, to Me, outside, aroundeth the flagpoles.

I totally understand that it must feel oppressive being in the majority, in a nation where seventy percent of citizens identify as Christians. I mean, seriously, facing each day knowing that you can wear your religion on your sleeve and not get persecuted for it has to be traumatic. But the Bible says Christians will be persecuted, so if it isn’t actually happening, maybe just invent something?









So despite Biblical teaching not to pray for the sake of prayer itself, disregarding the First Amendment’s Separation of Church and State, the majority needs a National Day of Prayer just to remind itself that it’s still the majority.

In response to this, both theist and non-theist groups came together and countered with a Day of Reason, to blatantly persecute Christians allow the minority to participate in this government sanctioned event. That “Reason” is five percent of Americans are religious but non-Christian, and twenty percent identify as non-religious. They unite in hope of reminding everyone that the Constitution was created and intended to protect the minority, not give the majority even more power to discriminate.

The more I think about this, the more it really doesn’t make sense to me. Why? Money. This is America. Money is the driver for everything. Hmmm…

The National Day of Prayer is run by The National Day of Prayer Task Force. They have a website, which coincidentally has a “donate here” button. I’ve been searching for financial statements for twenty minutes, but I have yet to find any. The chairman since 1991 is Mrs. Shirley Dobson. OH SHIT…I know that name. Sure enough, guess what the next FAQ is?

Is the Task Force affiliated with Focus on the Family or Family Talk?

No. Though Mrs. Dobson is married to Focus on the Family and Family Talk founder Dr. James Dobson, the NDP Task Force is a separate organization. It was housed at the Focus on the Family headquarters from 1991 to 2009 and is currently located at an independent office in Colorado Springs, CO. Its business affairs have always remained separate and Focus on the Family was compensated for services rendered. However, between 1991 and 1993, Focus on the Family did provide grants in support of the NDP Task Force. Since then, the Task Force has been completely self-supported. http://www.nationaldayofprayer.org/faqs

While they swear up and down this is an event open to “ALL AMERICANS”, this National Day of Prayer is brought to you by the Evangelical Baptist Christians of the Bible Belt anti-LGBT anti-sleepover pro-spanking Target-boycotting Tea Party Heritage Foundation Tony Perkins-Loving Josh Duggar Disney-Hating Jesus Society of ‘MURICA.

I finally went to charitynavigator.org and found their financials from 2014. They have a good score, 80% (out of 100), and I’m impressed with their low overhead costs. However, they raised $1.17 million that year, so this isn’t just a “Hey, let’s all get together and say a few prayers” thing. This is a well-oiled repentance machine.

I’ll end it with their stated mission, which I think speaks for itself.

The mission of the National Day of Prayer Task Force is to mobilize prayer in America and to encourage personal repentance and righteousness in the culture. The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. Our Task Force is a privately funded organization whose purpose is to encourage participation on the National Day of Prayer. It exists to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, to create appropriate materials, and to mobilize the Christian community to intercede for America’s leaders and its families.

Yes, it really is about the money and violating the 1st Amendment after all.