Rejecting Prayer and Remembrance

RACHEL ZOLL of the Associated Press has managed to bash the President while covering the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance.

She writes:

Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, President Bush has asked religious leaders around the country to join him in a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance on Friday for the storm's victims.

But once again, several pastors said, the government was a step behind.

While many houses of worship planned to participate, several others around the country said they had already held such services and would not join the president. Some said they were so angry over the government's sluggish response to blacks and poor people in New Orleans, who waited days for rescue, that they would not heed Bush's request.

"Not to be critical, but the president is a little late," said the Rev. Reginald Jackson, president of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey.

The Rochester Islamic Center, a mosque in the southeastern Minnesota city, held three days of prayers and fundraising for Katrina victims last weekend, said Zaid Khalid, the center's president.

Rabbi David Kaufman of Temple B'nai Jeshurun in Des Moines, Iowa, said he has also been mentioning the evacuees at every Friday night service _ the start of the Jewish Sabbath.

The Rev. Enoch Fuzz, president of the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship, which represents about 100 Tennessee pastors, said his group planned nothing different for Friday, but was focusing on organizing more aid for victims.

"We need a prayer that's walking and not just talking," Fuzz said. "We need a prayer with legs right now."

Still, worship services have been especially important in the Gulf Coast and in communities that took in large numbers of evacuees, and many planned to join the national event Friday.

The religious leaders who chose to take the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance to cast stones at Bush are a disgrace. It certainly reflects poorly on them. In this case, they are not practicing what they most likely preach.

Zoll decided to lead off her article with eight paragraphs of negativity before writing anything about the services being held around the country.

Is this an appropriate way to cover a day set aside to mourn the victims of Hurricane Katrina?

Of course, it is not.

The only thing missing from Zoll's Associated Press piece was a photo of Bush sitting in the pew during the service at the National Cathedral, handing a note to Laura inquiring about a bathroom break.