Is America a Christian nation?

Sarah Palin said on Friday that it’s “mind-boggling” to suggest otherwise.

But two groups dedicated to the separation of church and state are now speaking out against her, arguing that she is misreading the founders’ intent.

“It’s incredibly hypocritical that Sarah Palin, who disapproves of government involvement in just about anything, now suddenly wants the government to help people be religious,” Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told ABC News.

“It is wildly inconsistent with her views on limited government to get the government involved in matters of faith.”

Lynn was reacting to remarks Palin gave last Friday in Louisville, Ky., one day after a federal judge in Wisconsin ruled that the National Day of Prayer, created in 1952 by Congress, violated the First Amendment.

“We hear of a judge’s ruling that our National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional,” said Palin. “I think we’ll be challenging that one.”

“God truly has shed his grace on thee — on this country,” Palin told the Women of Joy conference. “He’s blessed us, and we better not blow it.”

An Oakland Raiders cornerback claims he was penalized on Sunday for making a religious display while celebrating an interception.After picking off a Matt Schaub(notes) pass in the end zone, Oakland Raiders cornerback Chris Johnson celebrated by dropping to his knees and raising his arms in triumph. He was instantly flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for excessive celebration.

Johnson later complained that he was whistled for thanking God:

“I’m just getting on my knees giving my respect to God. I don’t see how that’s a personal foul or anything like that.”

He actually stated exactly why it’s a personal foul in the first sentence and the reasoning has nothing to do with religion. A rule instituted in 2006 prohibits NFL players from celebrating in the end zone by “going to the ground to celebrate a touchdown or using the ball as a prop.” The instant Johnson fell to his knees he violated the rule. After he did that, Johnson could have read scripture, done a silent prayer or helped an old lady across the street and it wouldn’t have mattered. (And, incidentally, it looks a lot more like Johnson is asking the heavens to praise him, rather than the other way around.)

So, there is no religion controversy here (despite attempts to start one by some Bay Area bloggers), but there is still an issue, namely that the NFL’s touchdown celebration rules are inconsistently enforced and completely hypocritical.

It’s not OK for Johnson to go to the ground in celebration/prayer after an interception, but Jared Allen(notes) can fall to his knees during his lame sack dance? And the Lambeau Leap is fine, but players can’t coordinate a touchdown high five? And what’s the difference if a player raises his arms in triumph while on a knee but not while standing on two feet?

I’m loathe to defend a guy who obnoxiously celebrates an interception in a game in which his team is down by 13 points, but Johnson is correct in that there’s no reason getting on his knees should be a personal foul. But it’s not the fault of the official who flagged him, it’s the fault of the NFL owners who voted three years ago to restrict celebrations.

Update: Over at Yardbaker, Alana G dug up an old video clip featuring the NFL’s vice-president of officiating explaining that a player is allowed to drop to his knees if it’s in prayer. Mike Pereira told the NFL Network last year that there would be an exception to the “going to the ground” rule for players who did so to “praise the lord”. He said he’d allowed this because he didn’t want to be “struck by lightning”.

Thanks to JT Hundley for the link.

50,000 Muslims to Pray on Capitol Hill: Guess Who’s Not Happy?

The event sounds like yet another Tea Party protest, or perhaps an encore of last weekend’s Values Voter Summit: Devout believers joining together this Friday to pray on Capitol Hill for the soul of America.

Who could argue with that? Well, when the believers happen to be Muslims, and there could be as many as 50,000 of them kneeling to pray in Arabic, yes, you could see how there might be some blowback from the usual suspects.

Indeed, the online publication from David Horowitz, FrontPageMag.com, sounded the alarm in an article Monday titled “Taking Islamism to the Streets,” and the title of the “9/12 Project” post is simply, “OUTRAGED!” The writers at “Bare Naked Islam” are calling the event “disgusting” and “treasonous” and warn that “50,000 Muslims, terrorists, and terrorist sympathizers” will turn the Capitol into “a giant outdoor mosque.” And Charisma magazine, a mainstream Pentecostal publication, quoted Christians in its account saying things like, “It is warfare time.”

The most organized pushback so far is from a new organization of a nativist bent called Stop Islamization of America, or SIOA. It describes itself as a group of “scholar warriors/ideological warriors in the cause of American freedom and Constitutional government”– and defines Islam as against those things. SIOA is using Friday’s event, “Islam on Capitol Hill,” as a launchpad for the group and to stage a counterprotest.

Pilot who paused to pray in crash-landing sentenced to 10 years in jail

A Tunisian pilot who paused to pray instead of taking emergency measures before crash-landing his plane, killing 16 people, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court along with his co-pilot.

The 2005 crash at sea off Sicily left survivors swimming for their lives, some clinging to a piece of the fuselage that remained floating after the ATR turbo-prop aircraft splintered upon impact.

A fuel-gauge malfunction was partly to blame but prosecutors said the pilot had succumbed to panic, praying out loud instead of following emergency procedures and then opting to crash-land the plane instead trying to reach a nearby airport.

Another five employees of Tuninter, a subsidiary of Tunisair, were sentenced to between eight and nine years in jail by the court, in a verdict handed down on Monday.

The seven accused, who were not in court, will not spend time in jail until the appeals process has been exhausted.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The nation’s largest group of atheists and agnostics is suing President Bush, the governor of Wisconsin and other officials over the federal law designating a National Day of Prayer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sued Friday in U.S. district court, arguing that the president’s mandated proclamations calling on Americans to pray violates a constitutional ban on government officials endorsing religion.

The day of prayer, held each year on the first Thursday of May, creates a “hostile environment for nonbelievers, who are made to feel as if they are political outsiders,” the lawsuit said.

The national proclamation issued this year asked God’s blessings on our country and called for Americans to observe the day with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle is named in the suit because he is one of 50 governors who issued proclamations calling for the prayer day. The foundation is based in Madison.

Shirley Dobson, chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, and White House press secretary Dana Perino also are named.

The foundation has filed numerous lawsuits in recent years, including one rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court last year that attacked President Bush’s faith-based initiative.

The White House and Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner had no comment on the lawsuit. A message seeking comment from the task force was not returned Friday.