The Freedom From Religion Foundation faxed a letter to the White House yesterday asking President Barack Obama to disassociate himself from the so-called annual "National Prayer Breakfast" taking place on Thursday, Feb. 4.
The Foundation has federal court challenges of the National Day of Prayer presidential proclamations, as well as the Congressional resolution to prominently engrave "In God We Trust" at the Capitol Visitor Center, among other challenges of other 1950s-era state/church violations.
The Christian-focused National Prayer Breakfast began in 1950 at the instigation of the notorious group, The Fellowship Foundation, also known as "The Family," and the Rev. Billy Graham.
The letter by Foundation co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor also expresses disappointment that Obama invited Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to attend and speak at the breakfast.
"Your invitation to Zapatero lends the unmistakable appearance that the White House itself is cosponsoring the event, working hand in glove with the ultra-rightwing Christian group, The Fellowship Foundation," the Foundation letter states.
"The U.S. Constitution provides for a Commander in Chief, not a Pastor in Chief. It is time for the U.S. President and members of Congress to boycott the National Prayer Breakfast and cleanly break with the scandal-ridden Fellowship Foundation, an incubator of religious-right policies. Prayer and religious ritual ought to be a private matter, not a political litmus test."
To add your voice in complaint over this unseemly mix of religion and government, contact:
The White House Comment Line
202-456-1111
FAX: 202-456-2461
Consider making this the focus of a short letter to the editor of periodicals, including your local newspaper.