On the first Thursday of May during the entire course of his presidency, Mr. Bush hosted an ecumenical service in the East Room of the White House in observance of the National Day of Prayer. President Obama decided against conducting a similar service yesterday and instead elected to observe the day in private. And as expected, the right wing is attacking President Obama and incorrectly labeling his decision as a "boycott" of the National Day of Prayer.
As opposed to turning the day into a political event like Mr. Bush, President Obama decided to worship behind closed doors but also issue a paper proclamation calling upon all Americans to "pray in thanksgiving for our freedoms and blessings and to ask for God's continued guidance, grace and protection for this land that we love". Apparently that was not enough. Shirley Dobson, the National Day of Prayer Chairwoman, and her husband James Dobson, the founder of the homophobic and extremely conservative organization called Focus on the Family, expressed their irrational concern with Obama's decision. Shirley Dobson stated that "We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration. At this time in our country's history, we would hope our president would recognize more fully the importance of prayer." (Of course, the Dobsons fail to mention that President Obama prays in private every day.)
You would think that an organization (or a political party, for that matter) so steeped in religion would realize the hypocrisy in their criticism. From Matthew 6:6: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
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