WASHINGTON — The House passed a resolution March 27 urging a national day of prayer and fasting as the nation battles Iraq and the threat of terrorism.
The resolution, which passed 346 to 49, urges President Bush to proclaim a “day for humility, prayer and fasting” for all Americans. A similar bill was passed March 17 by the Senate. The bill recognized “the public need for fasting and prayer in order to secure the blessings and protection of Providence for the people of the United States and our armed forces.”
Prayer and fasting will help produce “unity and solidarity among all the diverse people of this nation as well as procuring the enduring grace and benevolence of God,” the bill said, adding that it will help the nation “better recognize our faults and shortcomings and submit to the wisdom and love of God.”
White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan told the Associated Press that the president has not considered the resolution but “believes that faith and prayer are important and frequently references the importance of praying for American troops and for freedom around the world.”
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, meanwhile, found the bill laughable. “The resolution is full of references to “God” as if belief in one is unanimous,” said President Anne Gaylor. “It is insufferable ego to imagine that, if there were a god, it would respond to these demeaning supplications.”
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