Talk:National Day of Prayer

message: This article seems too focused on the legal and history aspects of the holiday, and not on the actual content of the holiday. I think it needs to go more in detail on what the holiday actually celebrates. The date of observance wasn't even in the first paragraph, so I edited in the date ("first Thursday of May"). However, can someone research more deeply on what this holiday is about and add a section describing it in detail?
98.110.54.24 (talk) 01:34, 6 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: The actual holiday

message: This paragraph is superfluous: "Despite this attempt at inclusivity, however, the day still makes no provision for atheists, agnostics, and all others who do not practice prayer." Yeah, well, it's a day of prayer. Obviously people who don't pray aren't included, and I say this as an atheist who doesn't pray.
I removed it and was accused of vandalism, which is nonsense. Is Wikipedia in general this hostile to editing? 64.48.93.1 13:32, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Misc

message: In response to the first paragraph of this page:
This paragraph is superfluous: "Despite this attempt at inclusivity, however, the day still makes no provision for atheists, agnostics, and all others who do not practice prayer." Yeah, well, it's a day of prayer. Obviously people who don't pray aren't included, and I say this as an atheist who doesn't pray.
You personally may be okay with it, but there is still an extremely legitimate argument that the existance of a National Day of Prayer/Task Force violates the establishment and free exercise clauses.  It is inclusive of all who pray, but excludes those who do not pray, are atheist, are agnostic, or simply protest government involvement in religion.  Even if every person within the United States prayed, this would still be an establishment of religion.  Wikipedia, however, is neutral, and must represent both viewpoints in this article.  I will, however, allow for responses before changing it to that effect.DougOfDoom talk 20:46, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Please do go ahead and make this article more neutral.  One thing seems to be a bit unclear here.  Although a National Day of Prayer is recognized by the government, the "National Day of Prayer Task Force" is not.  They are an independent, non-profit, and are tied to some very conservative religious/political organizations. I think this distinction needs to be made more clearly. -MrFizyx 14:59, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Atheists, Agnostics, Dissenters, and Secularism

message: The independence of the "task force" should probably be made clearer. The language of the second mention leaves the reader thinking that it was formed due to governmental action (and it's just badly written in general, e.g. passive phrasing): "On April 17, 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law. It was in 1972 that the National Prayer Committee was formed. It went on to create the National Day of Prayer Task Force..."
The nationaldayofprayer.org web site appears to be run by Focus on the Family, suggesting that they also run the "task force":
Domain Name:NATIONALDAYOFPRAYER.ORG
Created On:18-Mar-1999 05:00:00 UTC
Last Updated On:06-Feb-2007 16:25:43 UTC
Expiration Date:18-Mar-2009 05:00:00 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Network Solutions LLC (R63-LROR)
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:30779942-NSI
Registrant Name:NationalPrayerCommittee, Inc.
Registrant Organization:NationalPrayerCommittee, Inc.
Registrant Street1:P.O. Box 15616
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Colorado Springs
Registrant State/Province:CO
Registrant Postal Code:80935-5616
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.71953134
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:domainnames@FOTF.ORG
Admin ID:30779943-NSI
Admin Name:Legal Affairs
Admin Organization:Focus on the Family
Admin Street1:8605 Explorer Drive
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Colorado Springs
Admin State/Province:CO
--Woozle (talk) 23:05, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: clarification

message: I've changed The Continental Congress issued a day of prayer in 1775 to designate "a time for prayer in forming a new nation."
to The Continental Congress issued a proclamation recommending "a day of publick humiliation, fasting, and prayer" be observed in 1775.
(with a citation) because the original quotation was actually from former U.S. Senator Rod Grams, per NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER -- (Senate - May 04, 2000)
AV3000 (talk) 01:43, 26 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Continental Congress quotation change

message: I suggest that the inclusion of the two Founders quotes in this section borders on violating WP:NPOV and WP:OR. Are the quotes frequently used by opponents of the National Day of Prayer? If so, their inclusion should be justified by noting that fact, with appropriate cites. Otherwise, it looks a lot like an editor has researched reasons to oppose the National Day of Prayer, which would clearly violate WP:OR, and the tone and emphasis would seem to violate WP:NPOV. --Yaush (talk) 16:36, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree. Please remove that section. It is original research and a synthesis of ideas. The litigation section is fine, except for that unnecessary full ruling of Crabb. That needs to go as well. Whoever wrote this section was definitely pushing his/her POV here.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.220.1.66 (talk) 17:34, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I concur. Lionel (talk) 00:12, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Controversy 

message: Several issues here:
# It's too long: it violates Fair Use
# It's WP:UNDUE: it was never enforced (she stayed her ruling) and it was struck down on appeal by a higher court, so basically it's the opinion of a single judge which was invalidated
# Per WP:UNDUE the ruling of the Appeals Court should receive similiar treatment, and of course that would make the article unbalanced.
I'm going to remove it. Lionel (talk) 23:09, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Extremely belated comment: judge's decisions are a matter of public record and in the public domain as works of the government.  Peruse wikisource:Category:United States Court of Appeals decisions for example.  Points 2 & 3 are fine for the text as it was a year ago, but point 1 on fair use absolutely does not apply. SnowFire (talk) 01:59, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Crabb quote 

message: The section about the Jerusalem Christian Review's "Global Day of Prayer" was inserted in this article (and reinstated) with no justification. This June, 1993, event was definitely not part of the National Day of Prayer and had no demonstrable influence upon it. If no one can explain its relevance, I will delete it: this topic is complex enough without adding in distracting, tangential items like this. SteveStrummer (talk) 19:24, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Removed, ten days later. SteveStrummer (talk) 22:43, 19 October 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Global Day of Prayer is unrelated

message: Here's an essay by James Madison specifically about national days of prayer. http://www.au.org/resources/history/old-docs/james-madison-on.pdf  Since specific proclamations by Adams and Lincoln (well before the actual national holiday was created) are listed in the article, I think it's perfectly fair to also mention that Madison was opposed to the idea. --Galaxiaad (talk) 17:06, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: The intentions of the Founding Fathers are considered crucial by many, so I too think it would be perfectly fair to add relevant info like that. You might want to shore up its referencing with this plainspoken passage from Ralph Louis Ketcham's James Madison: "He [Madison] opposed presidential proclamations of religious holidays," p. 166. SteveStrummer (talk) 17:30, 12 October 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Include essay by Madison? 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on National Day of Prayer. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120413165629/http://nationaldayofprayer.org:80/about/history/ to http://nationaldayofprayer.org/about/history/
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 03:26, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
Is < http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/prayerday.asp > an acceptable reliable source to support wiki article statement "though he has issued presidential proclamations regularly each year" ?  Also, the second citation regarding Obama is not a secondary source and the link does not currently display any information about Obama.  
Added information regarding President Trumps declared National day of Prayer in September 2017.  Let us eat lettuce (talk) 01:40, 5 September 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reliable source? 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on National Day of Prayer. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100602073444/http://www.wiwd.uscourts.gov/assets/pdf/FFRF_v_Obama_Order.pdf to http://www.wiwd.uscourts.gov/assets/pdf/FFRF_v_Obama_Order.pdf
*Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/14/ap/national/main20054020.shtml
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 12:47, 10 September 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified