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Thanksgiving combines themes secular and sacred in ways that are sometimes astounding.
It is the only American holiday in which an act of prayer is front and center. On Thanksgiving Day the President of the United States will lead the nation in a prayer. This happens at a time when the nation is deeply divided over the appropriate connections between politics and piety, church and state. In happens at a time when a public school principal could not do exactly what the President is doing and if he or she did try to lead such a prayer, the same government which the President heads would step in and forbid it. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court continues to wrestle with the place of prayer in our public schools, and Congress passionately debates legislation designed to circumvent prior court decisions.