The National Day of Prayer has been hijacked, reports Jews on First.

What began in 1952 as President Truman's declaration of a National Prayer Day for all Americans is now excluding and dividing us on religious lines. The "Task Force" excludes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Catholics and even mainline Christians from participation in the events it coordinates around the country. Many of those events are staged in government venues with elected officials, in a deliberate affront to the separation of church and state.

Jews on First has been promoting a campaign for a more inclusive National Day of Prayer.

The National Day of Prayer falls on May 1st this year, and in most parts of the country, there is a religious "litmus test" limiting participation to fundamentalist Christian evangelicals. Focus on the Family, the largest organization on the Christian Right, and groups allied with it control the occasion, calling themselves the National Day of Prayer Task Force and asserting that their website is the "National Day of Prayer Official Website."

The Christian Science Monitor noted this unbalanced national prayer problem.

In Columbus, Ohio, the clergy and lay leaders of We Believe Ohio – a diverse group working together on matters of faith and public policy – voted to communicate with the governor on this issue.

"What we're calling for is a press release [from the governor's office] that says in the future we need a more inclusive day of prayer," says the Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior pastor of First Congregational Church in Columbus.

"An inclusive day is essential across the country, but it's going to take a while to catch on," he says. "Like riding a wave to the beach, you may not catch the wave the first time, but we will eventually. We really should be about religious acceptance."

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