WASHINGTON, May 3: In the current preoccupation with “Islamic fundamentalism”, few Americans might have remembered that Thursday, May 2, marked a bit of the fundamentalist and evangelistic streak in their own midst.

May 2 marked the National Day of Prayer, an annual event established by an act of Congress five decades ago. The aim was to encourage Americans to pray for their nation at least once every 12 months.

The motivating force behind the annual event is the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a non-proft group, which proclaims that the government-sanctioned day is “offered to all Americans”. Yet, as the independent journal Nation points out, the task force’s website says the organization’s efforts are “executed in alignment with Christian beliefs”.

The Nation, in an article by David Corn, says: A secularist has reason to question the basic premise of the National Day of Prayer. Should Congress, the president, and governors officially encourage religious worship? Might that undermine the separation of church and state?”