Just in time for the 70th anniversary of D-Day Friday (June 6), the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent passed a bill to include a prayer plaque at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The prayer to be included on the plaque was delivered over the radio to millions of Americans by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the morning of the D-Day invasion, the Allied push into Europe that eventually led to the end of the conflict.
“O Lord, give us Faith,” the prayer reads in part. “Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade.” It concludes: “Thy will be done, Almighty God.”
My admiration for Roosevelt’s prayer is boundless. For that reason, it saddens me that it is being kicked around as a political football to settle scores. The objections of the Center for Inquiry simply boggle the mind in their utter irrelevance–not to mention the complete lack of understanding of the prayer’s importance.
But, but, but . . . why this central text above all others? What about the declaration of war; Eisenhower’s address to the troops; the four freedoms; or, for that matter, the universal declaration of human rights or the Marshall Plan as direct consequences; and I’m sure the list goes on? And the answer, sadly, can only be we wanted to score a point for public prayer in the ongoing squabbles of today (one cannot dignify them with the term debate) and we were willing to take hostage a great instance of inspiring presidential leadership, completely ignoring the importance of the prayer in itself.