The Freedom From Religion Foundation is chastising Florida’s Orange County Public Schools system for endorsing Christian nationalism through its recent support of the National Day of Prayer.
A concerned local resident informed the state/church watchdog that Orange County Public Schools (headquartered in Orlando) went overboard with the National Day of Prayer this year. The school board released an official proclamation signed by Chair Teresa Jacobs and Superintendent Maria Vazquez “proclaim[ing] May 2, 2024 as National Day of Prayer in Orange County Public Schools.” The proclamation attempted to disguise this overtly Christian event by characterizing it as for “people of all faiths in the United States.” This Christian event was also promoted on the district’s official social media pages. Disturbingly, this year’s National Day of Prayer specifically invoked the Seven Mountains Mandate, which requires that Christian nationalists or Christians should lead government, family, religion, business, education, media, arts and entertainment: “Lead us forward to dispel the darkness and bring light throughout the Church, Family, Education, Business, Military, Government, and Arts, Entertainment, and Media.”
Orange County Public Schools must refrain from supporting and promoting the National Day of Prayer in the future in order to respect the right of conscience of district students and their families, FFRF is demanding.
“Public schools may not show favoritism towards or coerce belief or participation in religion,” FFRF attorney Chris Line writes to Jacobs. “Moreover, ‘the preservation and transmission of religious beliefs and worship is a responsibility and a choice committed to the private sphere,’” to quote the U.S. Supreme Court.
Contrary to the assertion made in the board’s proclamation, the National Day of Prayer is a sectarian event. It originated with Rev. Billy Graham’s evangelical crusade in Washington, D.C., in 1952. He expressed an openly Christian purpose, seeking an annual prayer proclamation by the president because he wanted “the Lord Jesus Christ” to be recognized across the land. Subsequently, the National Day of Prayer Task Force was created to “communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership.” The task force issues annual National Day of Prayer proclamations and submits them to the president, choosing a theme with supporting scripture from the bible.
The 2024 commemoration adds a troubling dimension by specifically invoking the Seven Mountains Mandate, a sectarian notion that requires Christian nationalists or Christians leading government, family, religion, business, education, media, arts and entertainment: “Lead us forward to dispel the darkness and bring light throughout the Church, Family, Education, Business, Military, Government, and Arts, Entertainment, and Media.”
By instituting an official, district-sponsored Christian day of prayer, the board needlessly alienates community members who are non-Christians, including those among the nearly 30 percent of adult Americans who are religiously unaffiliated, as well as the additional 6 percent of Americans adhering to non-Christian faiths. Even if this event were actually for “people of all faiths,” that would still exclude the 49 percent of Generation Z who are religiously unaffiliated. Promoting a Christian nationalist prayer event and encouraging students to take part in prayer usurps the authority of parents who have the right to decide whether to raise their children in any given faith or no faith at all.
Supporting the National Day of Prayer is inappropriate and unnecessary and raises the distasteful appearance of political pandering to appeal to or appease a vocal Christian evangelical constituency. The district must end its official support for this divisive event, FFRF is insisting.
“The Christian nationalist vision of society has been reflected in the National Day of Prayer event this year — and Orange County Public Schools endorsed that vision in supporting the event,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
You can read the full FFRF letter here.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 2,000 members and a chapter in Florida, the Central Florida Freethought Community. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
