The National Day of Reason:

Held on the first Thursday in May

Sponsored link.

Overview:

Leaders from American national and local Atheist, secular, Humanist and Rationalist groups are sponsoring an annual National Day of Reason to be synchronized with the National Day of Prayer. Both are scheduled for the first Thursday in May -- e.g. 2003-MAY-1. ₁ In a letter of 2003-MAR-21, they have asked President Bush to proclaim the observance. They noted that such an action "would go a long way toward encouraging the application of reason and tolerance in public discourse and affirming the value of maintaining the separation of church and state." ₂ In their letter, they proposed a draft proclamation which would read:

NOW, THEREFORE I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the power vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, the 1st day of May, 2003, a NATIONAL DAY OF REASON, and encourage all citizens, residents, and visitors to join in observing this day and focus upon the employ of reason, critical thought, the scientific method, and free inquiry to resolve human problems and care for the welfare of humankind. ₂

As of 2003-APR-1, the Day of Reason has been endorsed by 27 organizations: Washington Area Secular Humanists, American Humanist Association, Institute for Humanist Studies, Frederick Secular Humanists, Minnesota Atheists, Americans for Religious Liberty, Secular Humanists of the Low Country, Secular Humanists and Atheists of Lehigh Valley, Council for Secular Humanism, Atheist Station, Humanists of Montgomery County, Humanists of Los Angeles, New Orleans Secular Humanist Association, Humanists of North Puget Sound, Tri State Secular Humanists, South Carolina Progressive Network, Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix, Great Lakes Humanist Society, Humanist Community of Tucson, Humanists of Prescott, ULC of Kalamzoo, Corvallis Secular Society, Atheist Alliance International, Humanists of Greater Cincinnati, Secular Coalition for America, SecularLife.org, Houston Atheists, and Upstate SC Secular Humanists. By 2005-MAY, the list had grown to 90 groups. It has also been endorsed many hundreds of individuals.

Reaction to the National Day of Prayer:

The National Day of Reason (NDR) is a reaction to the annual National Day of Prayer (NDP) which is authorized by Federal statute. The NDP was originally conceived as an partly-inclusive celebration for the majority of Americans who believe in a personal deity or deities who respond to prayer. This would include most followers of monotheistic religions: conservative Christians, liberal Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and perhaps Deists. It had included believers in duotheistic religions, such as Wicca and Zoroastrianism, as well as polytheistic and henotheistic religions, such as most Aboriginal traditions, some Buddhist groups, Hinduism, etc. However, the Day appears to have been monopolized by a conservative Christian group who have converted it into a conservative-Christian-only observance. It is now coordinated by a conservative Christian group the National Day of Prayer Task Force which is closely affiliated with the Fundamentalist Christian Focus on the Family. A Nationally Broadcast Concert of Prayer (NBCOP) is broadcast over a network of conservative Christian television and radio stations and over the Internet on the evening of the Day of Prayer.

Constitutionality of a NDP and/or NDR law or proclamation:

The 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, guarantees that:

These two principles are continuously in a state of creative tension. Many Americans feel that prayer forms part of their religious expression; thus they want their children to pray in school, their school board and municipal council to pray before it holds a meeting, law courts to post the 10 commandments, the Federal government to proclaim a NDP, etc. Others, including the U.S. Supreme Court, feel that a wall of separation must be maintained between religion and the government and its agencies.

The chances of a National Day of Reason being proclaimed by the government in the foreseeable future are extremely slim, since about 75% of Americans identify themselves with Christianity while only 14% do not follow any organized religion. With the former dropping about one percentage point per year, and the latter increasing over ½ percentage points per year, such a dual observance is probably inevitable, if current trends continue as they have in other Christian (or formerly Christian) countries. But, don't look for it soon.

References:

1. The Day of Reason's home page is at: http://www.nationaldayofreason.org/
2. The text of the letter to the president is at: http://www.nationaldayofreason.org/
3. "Special Bulletin: National Day of Prayer," The American Center for Law and Justice, at: http://www.aclj.org/ This appears to be no longer online