Why Madison Would Have Resisted the National Day of Prayer

Richard Land recalls the inspiration of hearing President Reagan's prayer day declaration. I have mixed feelings, to be honest, about National Prayer Day. I agree with the spirit: Americans should periodically pause and consider its tremendous blessings and express profound gratitude to God (or if you don’t believe God had anything to do with it, at least express thanks to all who have fought for freedom in the past few centuries).

But having spent a couple of years now looking at the Founding Fathers and religion, my views have shifted. I now fear that while public prayer is supposed to ennoble politicians, it may just politicize, and therefore taint, prayer. Instead of uplifting politics, it downgrades religion.

The Founders were divided on this. Washington and Adams both issued prayer proclamations that went considerably farther than what Reagan (and Harry Truman) had done.

But Jefferson and Madison stopped the practice. Jefferson seemed worried about prayer proclamations violating the First Amendment. Madison did, too, but added another argument: it wasn't good for religion. By offering prayer in a political context (including asking for prayers related to specific policy goals) Madison said prayer proclamations had politicized a solemn act "to the scandal of religion as well as the increase of party animosities."

In describing why he resisted prayer proclamations, Madison said, "They seem to imply and certainly nourish the erroneous idea of a national religion," he wrote. If Americans want to band together to pray, he said, they should do so but to bring about such prayer or gathering through the political process was "doubly wrong." Madison reported that he had received many private letters urging him to follow the pattern of Adams and Washington, prompting him to fear that Americans "have lost sight of the quality of all religious sects in the eye of the Constitution.”

We see evidence of that today. While Washington's prayer proclamations were non-denominational (as have the statements of modern presidents), the organizers of the National Prayer Day have a very clear evangelical mission. "In accordance with Biblical truth, the National Day of Task Force" seeks to promote freedom of worship, pluralism AND to "Foster unity within the Christian Church: and "Publicize and preserve America's Christian heritage."

This likely would have made Madison uncomfortable. On a few occasions – for instance, during the war of 1812 – even he did issue proclamations which, sure enough, were deemed political. When he asked for prayers that God would “animate their patriotism” and “bestow a blessing on their arms,” Federalists who opposed the war felt Madison had invoked God in support of an unjustified conflict. But Madison’s approach differed from that of Washington and Adams in one way. Rather than calling the nation to prayer, he designated particular days on which different religions could devise prayers of their own – if they wished – "according to their own faith and forms."

If we are to have an officially sanctioned National Prayer Day, it should follow in this spirit. An ill-conceived prayer day makes people connect prayer with politics -- instead of with God and gratitude.