Day of Prayer: A day of Inclusion or Exclusion?

Manya Brachear, writer for the Chicago Tribune’s online religious blog called The Seeker, invited readers to voice their opinions about the National Day of Prayer. Is President Obama breaking the tradition of recognizing this lawfully instituted holiday?
According to well-known Evangelical Christians Shirley and James Dobson, President Obama is selling out those who follow the Christian faith, the same faith he claims to follow by not inviting figures of faith and religious communities to pray at the White House this year. However, Brachear presents another perspective in the words of an unnamed White House official, who says that the president will recognize the holiday, but will focus his attention on improving the nation by working with faith communities and furthering his individual spiritual faith.
Although both sides of the debate about President Obama’s intentions regarding the National Day of Prayer, the sources conspicuously lean to the side of the Evangelical Christians. Representing the National Day of Prayer Task force, Brachear spoke with Shirley Dobson, married to one of the most renowned and influential figures of the Christian faith in contemporary religious society. On the other hand is a single anonymous white house official. The term official is broad and can mean a number of positions, ranging in access to information pertinent to this article.
The article diverges into various opinions, both past and present, about the purpose and dangers of a National Day of Prayer. While the blend of opinions is somewhat unorganized and dizzying, Brachear succeeds in giving the reader a sense of the possibilites that could be reached by recognizing or rejecting the Day of Prayer.
If President Obama were to embrace the holiday whole-heartedly he risks marginalizing religious, non-Chrisitian faithful citizens as James Madison, who is quoted in teh article, foresaw. However, the Interfaith Alliance asserts that if he extends the holiday to followers of all faiths as an interfaith celebration and plea for prayer for our country he could promote unity in diversity, a trend in our society.