hursday, May 3 is the National Day of Prayer, an annual event marked by celebrations, prayer breakfasts and religious services at government buildings throughout the country. Organizers of the yearly ritual deny that it is part of a political agenda, though they admit that the day includes "events in keeping with the Judeo-Christian tradition" of the nation.

   As in past years, the 2001 National Day of prayer is organized by a task force headed by Shirley Dobson, wife ofFocus on the Family founder James Dobson. The NDOP web site insists that the event is not affiliated with the Colorado-based religious right organization, although between 1990 and 1993, the Focus group provided grants and other resources for the task force. Prior to Dobson's involvement, the Day of Prayer group was headed by Vonette Bright, wife of Campus Crusade for Christ evangelist Bill Bright.

   An estimated 40,000 volunteers work at the state and local level under Dobson, organizing a bevy of prayer breakfasts and rallies which frequently are held on the steps of city halls, county office buildings and state capitols. In Washington, DC, there is a national prayer breakfast attended by the President and key lawmakers, along with a rally/prayerfest scheduled this year for the Cannon office Building.

   Honorary chairman for the 2001 National Day of Prayer is the aging Billy Graham. The theme for this year's event is "One Nation Under God," taken from the Biblical verse in Psalm 33, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord..."

   This year's National Day of Prayer seems to be attracting less publicity than the year 2000 and 1999 events, in part because of the lack of controversy surrounding Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura. Once again, Ventura's office has not issued a "Proclamation" calling upon citizens of his state to support the event, and instead signed a standard "Certificate of Recognition." The document, posted on the NDOP web site (http://www.ndoptf.org)/ is dated March 20, 2001 and states: "This certificate of recognition is presented to the National Day of Prayer organization with the appreciation and respect of the people of Minnesota."

   "Proclamations" issued by other state leaders such as Arizona Gov. Jane Hull officially establish the date as a "day of prayer" to a deity.

   Last year, the colorful wrestler and film star-turned-politician came under relentless attack from religious organizations for being the one governor in the nation to not call upon citizens to support the National Day of Prayer. That controversy followed a 1999 interview Ventura gave to Playboy Magazine, where he held forth on everything from sex to politics. He raised eyebrows, and invited harsh criticism, when he remarked: "Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business."

   This year, Ventura once again rejected the idea of issuing an official proclamation.

   "The Governor supports the separation of church and state," said Ventura press information officer, John Wodele, in an interview this afternoon with AANEWS. "Any proclamation is an official document which is registered with the secretary of state. Governor Ventura feels that it is inappropriate to issue such a document for the National Day of Prayer."

   Wodele added that in the last week, the governor's office had received "over 300 phone calls," the majority of them urging Ventura to sign an official proclamation.

   Since last year's flap, Ventura has taken a step back from the limelight and concentrated instead on the more nuts-and-bolts business of managing a state budget. The role of religion in the public square, though, has not vanished as an issue. The question of public displays of religious worship and icons continue to divide the nation in disputes over school prayer and posting of the Ten Commandments in schools. President George Bush has even proposed that public money be used to subsidize religion-based social programs.

   State NDOP web sites, and well as materials from the National Day of Prayer Task Force, say that the event dates back to 1775 when the Continental Congress made "the first call to national prayer." It was not until the 1950s, however, and the advent of the cold war against "godless communism" that the idea of organized prayer commemorations began. Congress passed a joint resolution in 1952 calling for an annual prayer day, and President Eisenhower inaugurated the practice of holding official prayer breakfasts in the White House.

   In 1988, President Ronald Reagan officially established a regular date for the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday of May. The enabling legislation had been introduced in Congress by Sen. Strom Thurmond, and Rep. Tony Hall. (Hall is a sponsor of HR 7 along with Oklahoma Republican J.C. Watts, Jr. which expands "charitable choice" and government aid to faith-based social programs.) Since then, state-church separationists have battled what they say is an unconstitutional endorsement not only of religion, but the sectarian faith of Christianity.

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