Today is the 58th anniversary of the codification of the “National Day of Prayer” by the United States Congress. There have been earlier proclamations for a National Day of Prayer and these have not come about without controversy:

“Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and right can never be safer than in their hands, where the Constitution has deposited it. …civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents.”

- Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Reverend Samuel Miller

“There has been another deviation from the strict principle in the Executive Proclamations of fasts & festivals, so far, at least, as they have spoken the language of injunction, or have lost sight of the equality of all religious sects in the eye of the Constitution. Whilst I was honored with the Executive Trust I found it necessary on more than one occasion to follow the example of predecessors. But I was always careful to make the Proclamations absolutely indiscriminate, and merely recommendatory; or rather mere designations of a day, on which all who thought proper might unite in consecrating it to religious purposes, according to their own faith & forms. In this sense, I presume you reserve to the Govt. a right to appoint particular days for religious worship throughout the State, without any penal sanction enforcing the worship.”

– James Madison in a letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822

Today, as in the past, we have yet another controversy about the National Day of Prayer. The Reverend Franklin Graham, son of Reverend Billy Graham, was uninvited to speak at the National Day of Celebration at the Pentagon by the United States Army! The reason he has been uninvited has nothing to do with his religion or his belief in religion. It has everything to do with him being open, honest and forthcoming in speaking the truth about a competing religion, Islam.

“When you look at what the religion [Islam] does to women and women alone, it is just horrid.”

- The Reverend Franklin Graham

Muslims speak one way, but act another, when it comes to issues of sexual equality and fair, even-handed treatment.

“Pakistan’s government vigorously condemns the practice of so-called honour killings. Such acts do not find a place in our religion or law. Killing in the name of honour is murder and will be treated as such.”

- General Pervez Musharraf, April 2000

Maybe President Musharraf actually believed this way and would have worked to improve conditions, but I doubt it. As this article clearly demonstrates, this is a religion of evil, a religion that sanctions pedophilia, a religion that sanctions conditional polygamy (men alone may take more than one wife, but not the other way around), and passing women and young girls along to men for “marriage” as if they were nothing more than a pack of cigarettes. In fact, a woman’s life is not just in danger from an angry husband, but other men as well.

It seems to me that the Reverend Graham has, not only a right to speak the truth, but a moral obligation to do so as a “man of God”. However, speaking in truthful and factual terms about Islam and the way women are treated is not politically correct. Honest discussion and description of Islam was discouraged by the Bush Administration in his latter years, but has been insisted upon by the Obama Administration. We have no evidence that the Obama Administration acting on behalf of the Commander-In-Chief ordered the cancellation, but President Obama has made no effort to restore Reverend Graham’s invitation either. We also have evidence that Generals and Admirals tend to be more political animals than leaders with warrior class viewpoints – just examine how many key military leadership positions change with each administration.

To me, however, the most controversial aspect of this entire subject has been the lack of voices coming from the feminist groups who profess concern about women’s rights, equality, mistreatment, rape, child sexual abuse and the sexual exploitation of the female gender. Where are the representatives of the National Organization of Women? What has Camille Paglia had to say about the matter? Where are the concerns for economic justice, sex discrimination, promoting diversity and ending racism, sexism and homophobia, where are the demands to stop the violence against women under the umbrella of global feminism

These voices of the past are and have remained silent. They will continue to do so because of the fear and intimidation that radical Islamists have instilled through their terror tactics against those who would dare speak out as we’ve witnessed through assaults on filmmaker,Theo Van Gogh, a Danish newspaper where 12 cartoonists, using sarcastic humor to draw attention to the danger of radical Islam drew 12 different cartoons of Mohammed. Author, Salmon Rushdie was endlessly pursued by Islamic killers, and threatend with death along with his family, for his writing “Satanic Verses”, and where, most recently, the creators of South Park have been similarly threatened for their depiction of Muhammed in a bear costume.

Instead of speaking out from all sectors of the community, America has chosen to remain silent and to limit criticism which has only served to embolden these maniacs. Of particularly odious offense are those “advocacy groups” proclaiming to represent the creation and enforcement of laws to protect women children and human rights who sit in cowardly silence on their hands fearing the midnight metriculation of Allah’s assassins to their homes or places of work. Some causes, apparently are only worth fighting for when it is safe to do so.

Thanks to events such as those above, we can now see, clearly, the true level of commitment of groups such as NOW, the Democrat Party, gay and lesbian organizations, free speech advocates, the compassionate Christian wing of the Republican Party. It’s not impressive.

Take a good look at your youngest daughter or grand-daughter and ask yourself how you would feel if, at the age of 13, 12 or younger, you were told that she had died of hemorrhage due to the rupture of he sex organs by her “husband”! Would that bother you? Would you feel anger? Would you speak out, then? Then why are you not speaking out now?

For those not familiar with me, I would like to see the “National Day of Prayer” ended, altogether, and religion out of government consideration in every instance. I would like to see religion reserved to private places of worship such as the home and churches and private religious events on non-public property. The public square, in my opinion, should be completely and utterly secular. It should be a place where everyone, regardless of makeup or beliefs can come to, relax and feel welcome and comfortable. Imagine for a moment how quickly the deprivations and abuses of women and young girls, babies…, would end were Islam stripped of Sharia and replaced with an immutable rule of law and secular reasoning.

Yet, here I am, fighting for Reverend Graham’s right to be heard, for the truth about Islam to be considered and the need for and the benefits vs. risks of religion, in general, to be weighed and judged through reasoned discourse as opposed to fanatical adherence to doctrine due to fear of the unknowable, and silence due to the fear of the unspeakable horror that Islam could visit upon you.

I learned a long time ago that everyone dies and that many die before they should. However, dying is not something to be feared. What should be feared is living a life without meaning and purpose, a life of cowering and acceptance of all that others would put upon you and a life that would keep silent; while others, through no fault of their own, are beaten, tortured, and left to die in silent suffering whether sanctioned by man or God.