Prayer time

Christian Century, May 9, 2001 by William F. Schulz

Then Andrew Young finally had his turn. The president greeted Young with an embrace that would have done Bill Clinton proud--and Young evoked a presidential chuckle with the line, "Oh Lord, we know you have been working on this man for a long, long time." Wintley Phipps concluded the breakfast with a spectacular gospel number whose refrain of assurance that all was right with our souls appeared to bring tears to George Bush's eyes.

As I made my way to the exits, I thought how tricky the politicization of religious ritual always is. On the one hand, this was a genuinely bipartisan event (or as bipartisan as you can get with a Republican president and Congress). And it cannot be a bad thing for Americans of all political stripes to remind themselves of those eternal verities that transcend the petty differences of the everyday.

On the other hand, while the occasion is at least ostensibly designed to encompass a wide variety of faiths, it clearly does not. Despite the marked changes in the religious makeup of America since the breakfast was inaugurated in 1952, it is still a Christian event. George Washington's 1783 prayer for the United States, ending with "Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord," served as the printed invocation and gave cover to many on the rostrum who concluded their own prayers in similar form. The brochure at each seat, which contained inspirational quotations as well as remarks delivered at prayer breakfasts past, included words from notable nonChristians Plato, Gandhi and Jefferson, but far more were in the vein of former Senator Sam Nunn's observation that "[Jesus] ... gave us the opportunity for redemption and the hope of eternal life." There is of course nothing wrong with a National Christian Prayer Breakfast as long as everyone knows what they are paying for and taxpayers are not the ones doing it.

Something else was not quite right. Events like this pose less danger to the separation of church and state than to the reputation of prayer. When worship and religion of any hue are appropriated by the established powers, it is likely that their prophetic role will be compromised. How, after all, could we expect the prayer breakfast speakers--an admiral in the U.S. Navy, the wife of a former secretary of state, three members of the U.S. House of Representatives, two senators, the vice president and the president--to call down the wrath of God on the principalities and powers? Though that would make for an interesting morning, none of them are fools. They know that the more religion is put in service to the principality, the less threat it can be to the powerful. Maybe that's why Andy Young looked so uncomfortable.

William F. Schulz is executive director of Amnesty International USA.