Congress Still Trying to Add Prayer to National WWII Memorial
Some theocrats in Congress are constantly in proselytization mode.
Sometimes lawmakers just won’t give up on a bad idea. This week’s bad idea is brought to you by members of Congress who think it would be great to add a Christian prayer to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
If this sounds familiar to you, that’s because some in Congress have been pushing this misguided measure every year since 2011. The proposal is pretty simple: A prayer given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on D-Day (June 6, 1944) would be added to the memorial, which opened in 2004.
Roosevelt’s prayer was, in part: “Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace.”
(Ironically that message was fairly non-sectarian, and it’s amusing to see the Religious Right hijacking FDR for its agenda considering he isn’t exactly a beloved conservative figure.)
The prayer proposal has been sponsored over the years by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Rep Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). The legislation in its various incarnations has passed the full House of Representatives once previously, but it has never been passed by the full Senate.
Despite that clearly tepid support, the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation will hold a hearing on the bill, HR 2175, tomorrow morning. Americans United has opposed this measure for years, and once again AU is discouraging Congress from forcing religious content into a completed, secular memorial.
More: War Over Words: Congress Still Trying to Add Prayer to National WWII Memorial