Christian Only White House Prayer Service Ended by President Obama - Hindu American Foundation Applauds

May 6, 2009 (Washington, D.C.)-- President Barack Obama resisted mounting pressure from the far-right Christian group, Focus on the Family, and will not hold a formal Christian-only prayer service in the White House to mark the National Day of Prayer tomorrow.  For the past eight years, the annual observance led by the National Day of Prayer Task Force, specifically excluded Hindus, other non-Christian faiths and progressive Christians, according to the Managing Director at the Hindu American Foundaton (HAF).  She welcomed the Obama administration's plans to sign a national proclamation to mark the day instead. 

 

Suhag Shukla, Esq., the Washington D.C. based Foundation's managing director, explained that while leaders of the Foundation were invited to attend portions of the National Day of Prayer ceremony at the White House during the previous Bush Administration, only Christians could offer the prayer to mark the observance.  "As a private organization, members of the Task Force are, of course, free to pray however they may see fit," stated Shukla, "but for years now, the Task Force has, under the appearance of governmental endorsement, staked exclusive claim to 'official' National Day of Prayer celebrations across the nation." Several years back, when she and other Hindu Americans reached out to local Prayer Task Force chapters in both Florida and Michigan to offer a Hindu prayer at local celebrations, Shukla added that the Task Force, headed by the right-wing conservative Shirley Dobson,  rebuffed the offers, indicating that only Christian prayer could be offered.