Fear of Prayer

Why are certain avowedly non-religious people so afraid of prayer? It seems that the sentiment is picking up steam, now that a federal court in Washington has ruled that the traditional National Day of Prayer - this year scheduled for May 6th - is unconstitutional. It goes 'beyond acknowledgment of religion' and actively encourages it. As such, it is a threat to the separation of Church and State.

Why is it so wrong for the nation to acknowledge a large and significant part of the population with one day a year? Surely no one who does not want to participate in any festivities will have to. No one has to celebrate July 4th or Memorial Day, for example. And to repeat, why are those opposed to publicly supported prayer so afraid of it? If it is nothing more than a mythic practice based on tired old ways of interpreting the world, how can it harm them?

Because it puts pressure on them to convert? Perhaps; but if they truly believe what they say they believe, how much of a threat is that, really? There is no pressure on anyone in particular to play football merely because the Super Bowl is popular. There are few atheists who cower as they pass a church, synagogue, or mosque. If they don't believe that anything can come of religious practice, and it presumably has not affected them as it is, why are they against those who believe in prayer, praying?

There is no great constitutional issue at point here. This is the minority of the population throwing their weight around because of their hatred of the seriously religious. If they merely had no use for religion they would simply ignore it. We are long past the days of genuine and systematic religious persecution in this country. If anything, such has been turned around. Religion is more under attack nowadays than free thought.

Why fear what you assert cannot affect you? It is a completely senseless point of view. What those against things such as the National Day of Prayer truly fear is that they may be wrong in their beliefs. It is a sense of inferiority in their own stated creed (or lack thereof) which drives them. They do indeed fear religion. They fear they are wrong, and are unprepared to face the fact.