Did Obama Cancel National Day of Prayer in 2009? Snopes Tells Its Story

Mr. Obama recently has discovered going to Church…..a pattern noticeably increased  since mid November, 2010.    In his presidency Obama is a public  man.   He appears to enjoy performing in public, speaking often, telling people lofty things and proceeds to price America into its financial death.  He is a Progressive.

I received an email from a Prager group devotee today.   It contained pronouncements that America’s National Day of Prayer had been canceled by President Obama in May of 2009.

Obama the duplicitous?    from CNN, April, 2009.

For the past eight years, the White House recognized the National Day of Prayer with a service in the East Room, but this year, President Obama decided against holding a public ceremony.

“Prayer is something that the president does everyday,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday, noting that Obama will sign a proclamation to recognize the day, as many administrations in the past have done.

Asked if Obama thought his predecessor’s ceremonies were politicized, Gibbs said, “No, I’m not going to get into that again.

Snopes is an explainer of truth from the shades of the  politically Left.   It usually quotes  a challenged claim and judges it True…or False….and might give or  might NOT give a further response.   In this case:

Snopes offers the Quote in question:   “President Obama has decided that there will no longer be a “National Day of Prayer”  held in May.  He doesn’t want to offend anyone.  Where was his concern about offending Christians last January when he allowed the muslims to have a day of prayer on the capitol grounds?

Verdict:     FALSE

Snopes does add an explanation which includes:  “Observers of the National Day of Prayer took place throughout the US in 2009 and 2010.  The status of the National Day of Prayer is currently somewhat uncertain, though, as on 15 April 2010, a federal judge ruled in favor of a challenge brought by the Freedom from Religion Foundation.”

Still, there is more to the story than this begnign explanation above.    Here is another source refering to the same claim in question:

Summary of the eRumor:   This is a forwarded email that says that President Obama cancelled the 21st annual National Day of Prayer ceremony at the White House.  The email also says that the White House participated in a Muslim Prayer Event in Washington D.C. and that the President said that the United States is no longer a Christian nation.

The Truth:   The National Day of Prayer is celebrated in the United States every year on the first Thursday in May but President Obama did not have a ceremony at the White House in 2009.  On May 7, 2009, the President did issue an official proclamation in observance of the National Day of Prayer.   According a statement by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the President would be spending some time in private prayer that day – “as he does every day.”  A spokesperson from the National Day of Prayer task force told TruthorFiction.com that the 2010 event, now in its 59th year, is scheduled for May 6th but there is still no word from the Obama Administration regarding ceremonial observance at the White House.  The spokesperson also said Evangelical leaders were invited to gather for a ceremony of prayer and commemoration in the East Room at the White House during the years that President George W. Bush occupied the Oval Office.    The myth that the White House ceremony is a 21 year tradition is a fabrication.  The National Day of Prayer task force, in a May 4, 2009 USA Today released a statement saying, “While there will be tens of thousands of prayer gatherings throughout the nation, on May 7th, the Obama Administration announced there will not be a White House Observance for the National Day of Prayer this year, contrary to the administrations of President George W. Bush, President George H. W. Bush, and President Ronald Reagan. A White House Observance was not held during the administration of President Bill Clinton.”   Additional confusion has been sparked over a Muslim prayer event that was scheduled in September 25, 2009.  There was no official White House ceremony for this event.   Some forwarded emails included a photograph of President Obama removing his shoes as he prepared for the prayer event.   The photograph was taken prior to the President’s tour of a Mosque in Turkey.   Truth of Fiction findings are posted at this link:  Muslims Pray at the Capitol United States Is Not A Christian Nation? President Obama did say “we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation” in Turkey but this quotation has been taken out of context.  The President said, “We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Jewish Nation or a Muslim Nation.  We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”

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