Opinion: Trump chokes in ecumenical call for Day of Prayer
Jazmyne Boozer, Assistant Editor
Photo courtesy of unsplash
In light of the victims of hurricane Harvey; Trump declared that Sept. 3 would consist of a day of prayer for said victims. This day of prayer is also extended to the first responders who are working timelessly, even now, to aid those in need.
Of course, making this declaration put Trump in hot water. Speaking from a purely democratic and constitutional standpoint; Congress is prohibited in every way to declare any religion or anything religious to the entire nation. It is completely unconstitutional to declare a day of prayer in the United States. To be candid, it goes against the foundation of what this country was built on: freedom from the establishment of religion. This being noted, Trump deserves kudos and accolades due to the fact that he did call the entire nation to pray. However Trump only gets partial kudos due to this statement:
“I urge Americans of all faiths and religious traditions and backgrounds to offer prayers today for all those harmed by Hurricane Harvey…” President Trump stated.
While it is great that the president called the entire nation to pray for the hurricane victims; it was ruined by this politically correct statement that he made later. As Christians, we are called to be bold in our faith. If we were to purely take Trump’s word for it, we would find that he aligns himself with the Christian faith
“I am Presbyterian…” Trump stated earlier on July 18, 2015.
And although he stated a paraphrased quote from the Bible, he never explicitly called Christians to prayer. So in hindsight, there was a “shout-out” to the Christian faith. But he included every religion in this call to prayer and asked for each religion to call on the name of their god. This “politically-correct” statement coming from President Donald J. Trump was shocking to say the least. A president who has been so candid in earlier months about different races and creeds surely would not have trouble singling out his beliefs. However, this has become a trend for our president. In regards to policy, races, ethnicities and social classes; he has been more forthright than presidents before him but when the topic of religion comes up…he chokes.
Herein lies the issue: If our president is going to have the gall and muster up every bit of courage to call the entire nation to prayer…he should at least be candid on what religion he is referring to. In an ever-growing atheistic society, it is imperative that Christians stand up for what they believe in. It is also important that these Christians do this in a clear and concise manner. To make such a bold statement and then back out in the finality of a speech with political correctness is preposterous. More respect would have been given if he would have stuck to his guns and called Christians to pray rather than every religion to do so.
The views and opinions expressed in this editorial are solely those of the original author(s) These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Vision Media or North Greenville University.
