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Lawmakers Seek National Day of Prayer and Fasting Wednesday, March 26, 2003 WASHINGTON — Harking back to the Revolutionary and Civil wars, the House is talking about a national day of humility, prayer and fasting to seek guidance from God during a time of war and terrorism. A vote on urging President Bush to designate such a day was expected later in the week. "It is a resolution that I think all of us can support with humility and grace and our love for our great nation," Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., said Wednesday. But several lawmakers were less sure. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, an opponent of the war in Iraq, said, "This resolution may be seen by some as an attempt to inject religion into this war at a time when some of America's enemies abroad are asserting that this indeed is a war about religion." Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, said he supported the resolution but was "a little troubled that we would presume to tell the American people what they should do to secure the blessings and protection of Providence." But Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., chief sponsor of the measure, said it has long been America's way, "when we get into an armed conflict, to turn to God and to ask his support." The resolution notes that the Continental Congress, on March 16, 1776, called for a day of "humiliation, fasting and prayer" in light of the dangers to American liberty, and that on March 30, 1863, Abraham Lincoln, "recognizing the need of the nation to humble itself before God in repentance for its national sins, proclaimed a day of fasting, prayer and humiliation." The resolution says Americans should use the day of prayer "to seek guidance from God to achieve a greater understanding of our own failings and to learn how we can do better in our everyday activities, and to gain resolve in meeting the challenges that confront our nation." The Senate approved a similar resolution last week, stating that it was the sense of the Senate that March 17 should be a national day of prayer and fasting. |