Prayer day has mixed views among students

By Amanda Sivan Kaufman
There is controversy, there are arguments, and there are groups dedicated for and against it. However, the first Thursday in May does not sound like something familiar to many Americans and in the Plattsburgh area—heavily a Christian population—it is often a day overlooked.
The National Day of Prayer was established in 1952 by President Harry S. Truman. The official Web site for the holiday not marked by calendars states that the mission of the day is to “communicate with every individual the need to repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership,” specifically for government, military, media, business, education, Church and family.
The closest event to Plattsburgh will take place in Ticonderoga at 6:00 p.m. on May 6 at the Bicentennial Park, lead by Pastor Steve Blanchard. Those attending are encouraged to bring one item to donate to the Ticonderoga Food Bank.
However, not everyone has a friendly approach to the day and the younger generation has mixed views on a day dedicated to Christian prayer.
“Bullshit. Why is there only one National Day of Prayer for Christianity only,” Turner Sasina, a college student at Plattsburgh State, said. “If there is gonna be one you gotta have ‘em all if you wanna be fair.”
Sasina is a non-confirmed Methodist and does not find the holiday appropriate, due to the fact that the government and state are supposed to be separate. Sasina said with a day dedicated to one religious group it appears as though the government is pushing Christianity on people.
“It is not like you have freakin’ Muslim prayer day,” he said.
Junior Aaron Anctil agreed.
“Do I think it is appropriate? No. My reason for thinking that is because they put Christianity over anything,” Anctil said.
The major issue is not that there is a day of prayer, but that the day focuses completely on Christianity and not on any other religion. The good that could possibly come out of the say, Anctil said, is “some sense of unity from it, but that’s only a part of the nation and not the whole.”
With no listings more local than the Ticonderoga event, the Plattsburgh area will not be having any public events for the holiday. Whether or not any events go on, freshman Josh Thomas said the day does not impact him.
“I don’t care, I think it’s only offensive if what [people] pray for is offensive,” Thomas said.
Even though recent controversy on the day has made recent headlines, particularly with the Obama Administration fighting a judge’s decision that the day is unconstitutional, Thomas stated that the holiday is just as appropriate as any other. He said he thinks people should be free to celebrate whatever they want as long as it “does not impede on the rights of others.”
Thomas was born a Christian but said he is personally not very religious.