Obama Distances Self from National Day of Prayer
President Obama distanced himself from the National Day of Prayer by nixing a formal early morning service and not attending a large Catholic prayer breakfast. He signed a proclamation honoring the day, which originated in 1952 when Congress set aside the first Thursday in May for the observance. The administration’s position is that an obervance would be reverting to a Bush-era policy. Shirley Dobson, chair of the National Day of Prayer Committee, said the group was “disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration.”
No National Day of Prayer at the White House
On the first Thursday of May, dedicated as the National Day of Prayer, President George W. Bush hosted an ecumenical service in the East Room. (The event is different from the National Prayer Breakfast, held elsewhere in Washington on the first Thursday of February.) Under Bush, the day was a political event, confirming that religion was a core tenet of Republican politics.
Young Americans Losing Their Religion
New research shows young Americans are dramatically less likely to go to church — or to participate in any form of organized religion — than their parents and grandparents. Historically, the percentage of Americans who said they had no religious affiliation (pollsters refer to this group as the “nones”) has been very small — hovering between 5 percent and 10 percent. However, Putnam says the percentage of “nones” has now skyrocketed to between 30 percent and 40 percent among younger Americans.
Americans Say Goodbye to Religion, Hold on to Faith
A survey out this week from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life challenges the conventional portrait of America’s unchurched as a burgeoning society of proud secularists, atheists, and agnostics. Yes, the religiously unaffiliated are the fastest-growing religious group, the survey reports, accounting for nearly 1 in 6 Americans. But it turns out that the unaffiliated are much less antagonistic toward religion than previously thought.
Pew: Daily Prayer Poll
Check out the most and least likey to pray. Pew surveyed 35,000 adult U.S. residents. The survey was released in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer.
