Lessons Learned from Franklin Graham and the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer

This article was originally published by Technorati on 23 April 2010. To see all my Technorati articles, click Lifestyle in the Contents listing on the sidebar.

Well it looks like the Franklin Graham-Pentagon National Day of Prayer imbroglio is over. After complaints from Muslim participants and a formal objection by a religious rights group, the Pentagon Chaplain's Office disinvited Graham from the May 6th service.

Perhaps the National Day of Prayer Task Force, which organizes the yearly Pentagon event, acted unwisely in selecting as its Honorary Chairman Graham, who has called Islam an "evil and wicked religion"; has said Muslims are "enslaved by their religion"; and has confirmed his opinion yet again that he believe that Islam is "just horrid."

The decision was especially ill-taken, given that the National Day of Prayer is meant to be an ecumenical endeavor.