A couple weeks ago, Barack Obama picked Rick Warren to deliver his Inauguration’s invocation prayer. The gay community was (rightfully) mad. At the same time, Obama announced that Rev. Joseph Lowery would give the benediction prayer. Lowery is a little better on gay issues, but he still opposes gay marriage.

Atheists were mad that prayer was being used in the inauguration in the first place: Why was he mixing church and state? (We even filed a lawsuit.)

What has Obama done to respond to our frustration and anger?

He’s brought on two more Christian pastors.

Sharon Watkins will deliver a prayer next Wednesday (after the Inauguration) at the Washington National Cathedral as part of the National Prayer Service. She’s part of a liberal church. Good for her. But this is a problem.

Rev. Gene Robinson will offer a prayer at the Lincoln Memorial this Sunday. Robinson is an openly gay bishop. Good for him. He says he will offer a prayer for the whole nation, not just Christians, but he’s part of the problem, too.

What’s the problem?

There shouldn’t be prayer at these government gatherings in the first place.

Many are public events funded by taxpayer money. They should be free of religion.

…

So here’s what I’m doing and where I could use your help.

I suspect we’ll be hearing a lot of God talk over the next week from these four pastors. For every mention of the words “Jesus,” “Lord,” “God,” or “Christ” during the four prayers next week, I am going to make a $5 donation to the Secular Coalition for America — a lobbying group in Washington working to support the rights of non-religious people and educating Congress about the separation of church and state.

Will you do the same?

Pledge the amount you plan to give per Godly-word-mentioned in the comments — any amount is ok! Then honor your commitment after next Wednesday. I’ll tally the numbers and report back.

Please spread the word — blog it, Facebook it, inform the social bookmarkers — and help raise money for a good cause.

Let’s turn this travesty into something positive.



