Objections to Politicized Prayer Breakfast with Pataki, Laura Bush

First Lady Laura Bush attended a prayer breakfast with New York Governor George Pataki on the National Day of Prayer - but it was a very partisan, political event that was combined with a narrow understanding of religion and Christianity. Because of that, there was a serious protest mounted even by Christians.

Newsday reports:

The Republican governor agreed last week to a request from state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, to register the trust fund that collects money to pay for the annual breakfast as a charity; it previously hadn't been open to state oversight. ... During the breakfast, Pataki urged that the event become a permanent fixture in the Capitol, taking a swipe at his predecessor, Democrat Mario Cuomo. "Ten years ago, we saw a lot of things we wanted to change," Pataki said. "Only New York State didn't have a prayer breakfast, and Libby said, 'That's not right,'" he said of his wife.

Still, legal experts questioned whether the breakfast violates the separation between church and state. "I think there are real troublesome questions here," said Lee A. Albert, a professor of constitutional law at the University at Buffalo. "It carries with it a message that somehow government and religion are marching hand in hand."

Why wasn't it right for New York not to have a prayer breakfast? What is "more right" about government officials being expected to express official support and endorsement for an even that is mostly sponsored and organized by a right-wing religious group that doesn't even accept official participation from many Christian and non-Christian religious organizations? Pataki needs to find better advisors.

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