This seems to be Bush's solution (that and invading Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9/11). Certainly, pro-actively going after Bin Laden isn't on his agenda, and probably never was. It seems as if every anniversary of 9/11, our "leaders" will gather us together in yet another self-indulgent orgy of prayer while they take full advantage of the resulting photo op's for their own political advantage. The cynical, manipulative callousness never ends, it seems...

If you need it, fine- but it won't stop more planes from flying into buildings. . .

Its our link to God.

Nah that won't help As Bin Laden wants to kill us all as god told him to. Also he doesnt exist!

Well to pray is to believe that God will move on our behalf. However this most blessed nation on Gods green earth dose not desreve His grace. We have it so good here and some of us think we are the only nation that believes in only one God and that is not so for the one God relegion did not start here and even to this day their are many countries that believe praying to THE ONE GOD works.

Bush uses God's own words to captivate fear in the name of freedom. However, only in the US do people believe that there is only one God. I will admit, this currently residing power God is viscious, violent and entirely one-dimensional. Americans put all their eggs in ONE basket and now they have to reap the consequences of their unjust actions. The power God will eventually abandon you as has happened in previous colonial powers.

Heh. That'll be effective. The terrorists pray, too.

Prayer is important and necessary, but prayer without action can be void. We must trust the Lord and at the same time be the feet of him, walking the walk and talking the talk. I do believe that man is destroying this world and killing each other off, not in the name of God (even though many make this claim), but in the name of greed. Unfortunately I do not believe there will ever be peace, the bible speaks of wars and rumors of wars. So...pray? sure...ask God for wisdom!

The idea of prayer being a potential US response to 9/11 is ridiculous. But feel free.

The US has not, and will not pray in the event of another attack. When we were invading Iraq, Iraqi religious leaders said prayers over loudspeakers in thier churches. And look at where that got them? Tens of thousands of dead Iraqi's. Thier prayer didn't accomplish anything, why would ours? Personal prayer is fine, but we are not rating that. Instead of fighting, they were all inside thier churches praying. And that's why a lot of them are now dead.

Prayer is fine. It disturbs me greatly, however, when people who claim to follow Jesus, the ultimate pacifist, rate simple prayer above non-violent response to terrorism. Christianity is a wonderful ideology. I just wish more Christians would walk it instead of talk it.

Get up and go help the grieving people who lost their relatives on 9/11. Tell people you love them. Donate to the Firefighters. Just don't sit around on your ass and cry "Ooooh, God! Save me! Save me!" Praying isn't going to help any of us physically or financially. We have to do things ourselves and make them happen.

If it'll make you feel better to pray, then I suppose that's some benefit. The problem is that prayer has never had any tangible effect on anything other than the personal emotions of people. Even if God exists (and I believe that He doesn't), no prayer can ever be shown to have been answered, ever. Go ahead and pray, but it's an almost complete waste of time that would be better spent 'doing' something, anything.

Don't rely on false hope. Get off your butts and help people, not talk to the sky.

If you find comfort in asking Christ for help as I do, then I don't see the problem with it.

"The prayer of a RIGHTEOUS person avails much." It does no good for a person who is not a believer to pray for this situation - unless he first prays to accept Christ as savior. But, believers MUST pray because this is a spiritual war not just physical. This is the most "productive" thing we can do.

Your go ahead and practise this worthless archaic notion of prayer. Me? Im joining the Marines. If you people had any balls you would do the same.

Pray, Pray a lot! Perhaps we shall need the prayers!

Prayer is the only solution to our current situation.We must not forget to pray for our enemies as well as for ourselves. We as Americans often forget how our own country was founded on TERROR and curruption, blood and guts of Native Americans and Africans.

In God We Trust------ It just maybe, maybe, maybe is so that He doesn't trust you?

After reading Marlee's comment, I just had to change my previous comment. Alright, if praying makes you feel beter, go ahead. I'm not stopping you. But abdul689 makes a good point too. Isn't there enough religion in this war already? And I feel it my own sacred duty to point out one thing that y'all have failed to grasp. You say that praying will unite the counrty, but what you don't understand---how could you understand?---is that praying will isolate ME and everyone who thinks like me from the rest of the country. You do not have a snowball's chance in hell of changing my religious beliefs, so don't bother trying. And also, are we going to throw ourselves into a praying contest with Osama bin Laden? 'Cause he's praying too, you know. He's praying till he runs out of things to pray for. I'm really hoping with all my heart that Mr. Bush calls off his war---his war, not mine!---and makes peace with everyone. To all y'all who do decide to pray: pray for whatever you want, but do not forget to pray for forgiveness from Afghanistan. This is crucial. And do not spend the rest of the decade down on your knees, please. Do something productive, too! We're not helping anyone or anything by praying. As for Medgar Evers asking everyone to pray to a force of good, I'd do that, but see, I'm afraid that my force of good would not give y'all the answer you want. He'd want us to respond with love and understanding, like sane human beings. (BTW, for any of you who are interested, the initials of my force of good are FM.) Please think about the things I have said, and take care, everyone!

We all pray to the same God, and His answer is PEACE, but nobody wants that answer. Pray as if your life depended on it! It does!

We need prayer now more than ever in this country. We just endured the worst terrorist attack in world history. Thousands are dead, millions are in mourning, and it looks as if we are embarking on a protracted, and potentially bloody war. It baffles me that there are still people out there concerned with the fact that Americans are praying. Praying is a good thing, in spite of what the atheists at the ACLU will tell you. They will also tell you that the Constitution establishes a "wall of separation" between church and state. That is not the case. The First Amendment prohibits the establishment of a state religion. Fair enough. I think all Americans can agree on that. However, nowhere in the Constitution is there a mandate for a separation of church and state. You will find that in the constitution of the United Soviet Socialist Republic, but not in ours. More importantly, the First Amendment, which ironically is so frequently lauded by the liberal left as the foundation upon which all our other rights rest, states that Congress shall make NO LAW PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION. The prohibition against prayer in school clearly violates this constitutional right! Prayer is vital and it is our right. We need to recognize the atheistic offensive against all things Christian for what it is. It is not a good-hearted attempt to protect the constitutional rights of those with a minority view. It is a well-orchestrated attempt to erase Christianity from America's cultural landscape by demonizing those of us who recognize God's Law as being superior to that of mortal man. The fact that liberals demonize law-abiding Christians as being close-minded, ignorant and hateful should tell you something about the true nature of their agenda. It should also give you some insight into their notion of "tolerance", which seems to closely parallel the communist notion of peace. Without prayer, we can expect more terror. Without prayer, we will lose our way as a nation. Pray for all Americans, even those who would take away your right to do so.

I guess I could see some good in this, but the Taliban wants a Jihad (Holy War). Nationalism and biased religious opinions are causes of far, far too much angst in this world. Read the lyrics of "Imagine" by John Lennon and it gives a good insight as to what our world should be like.

It's not that I don't have a spiritual side, but.. well, personally, I'm an agnostic, and I don't think praying is really going to do anything. I don't like the idea of KILLING people either, but we have to do something more active than just praying. I don't mind that some people pray. We SHOULD pray for the lives of the people who died in the bombing, and for our survival and eventual victory. But "lying supinely on our backs, hugging the elusive phantom of Hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot", in the words of Patrick Henry, won't help in this situation. At least that's MY opinion. All I mean by this is that, from my personal experience, praying is ineffective, but I suppose for others it could be effective, and that's fine, but I don't think it's going to help very much in our winning the war. I'm not saying we SHOULDN'T pray, just that praying is not the main solution. I'm only fifteen years old, so I admit I may be rather ignorant in my limited experience, but I wanted to express my opinions on this situation.

Interesting idea, seeing as this whole fight is about religion. I'd suggest at least praying to the force of good is in this world, even if you don't believe in a god, so that our Earth doesn't end up in shambles. Not to say that we're gonna sit here on our knees while they're plotting away in the Middle East. Praying will unite the country, and that's what we need if we're a-gonna stay standing.

I am not a religous freak, but I do believe in the power of prayer. To many weird things have happened in my life not to believe there is God. I think he is there. Many bad things happen to this world, but I think it is all part of the big plan.

While I will most likely never see Osama been Hidin' face to face, I submit that as a Christian I would want to emulate Jesus and pray for those who would curse me and humiliate me (the "me" symbolic of my nation, my family and all who strive to bring growth and self-actualization to fruition). Some would venture that that seems awfully naive and near-loony, but Jesus preached forgiveness, patience and humility, despite it being perfectly understandable to be angry and outraged and to cry out for justice and swift retribution. Some have even argued for the nuking of Afghanistan (a bit premature, in my judgment). But from my viewpoint, violence is not the answer. War is not the answer. A humane, compassionate, real understanding of the abject poverty and sense of hopelessness among the Islamic faithful, coupled with the tremendous sense of national responsibility to feed the hungry and clothe the needy, is the real path of triumph in winning over the hearts and minds of the people. Osama bin Loony and his ilk may truly believe they are fighting the evil in this world, but they kill themselves and don't allow for real growth to take place: the growth of inner self-realization that a life that is lost should never be forcefully taken; rather, Allah should be the only one to do so. Islam is a religion of peace, as is Christianity and Judaism, and the Prophet Muhammed would most likely condemn Osama Been Hidin' as not truly representative of Islam.

Displomatic and political disaster? Maybe you should take a look at the world around you...we had eight years of depravity in the White House...it sure did a lot for the country. I for one am glad to see God (not "whatever god") being given the reverance due. This country is not just uniting around piece of red white and blue colored cloth. This country is uniting around fatih in the Creator, and at the call of our President. I am PROUD to have a President that asks for prayerful support, and that we ask God to give him wisdom...think how many more innocent lives have been save because we (as a country) did not immediately drop into a carpet-bombing campaign (for those who forget, Bill Clinton blew up a milk factory because of the embassy bombings). Would you rather follow a man led by prayer, or pray for a man led by his penis? There is a reason we say God bless the USA. Because without the faith in God our forefathers held strong, we would have no USA. Maybe it isn't the prayer you have the problem with...maybe you just don't know what to pray for?

OK - my comment is not about the merits of prayer, or religion in general. If praying makes you feel good, that's wonderful. The topic at hand is about how the US should respond to the terrorist attacks that killed 6,000 people. This is real life that we are talking about - death, destruction, tragedy - and practical, effective responses are needed. I have no problem with people praying for those affected by this tragedy(who would?) - but while you're at it, make sure to give blood, make a donation, support our military and political efforts - in other words do something concrete. I agree with the Freak's point on this - the fanatical people who committed these atrocities feel that they are executing the wishes of God - in my opinion the world would be a better place if religion and spirituality were more internal and personal, and less aggressive and combative.

All of us should pray for the victims and their families in light of the horrible events of September 11th. People forget what really matters in life, we look only to what is to what is immediately present. We must realize that there is more to our world than meets the eye. Things happen for a purpose, bad things as well. God has always been and will always be. Some people are doubting His existence because "he lets horrible things happen." Yes, he does, but that is because we do not live in a perfect world. Terrorism is one of the many evils that exist in our world. Just look at all of the miracles that occured during this tragedy, people who did not show up for work because their cars broke down, or they had to take their kids to work that day. Out of all this evil, good has come out. The American spirit has sone through during these days after September 11th; some examples of this include firefighters and policemen selflessly giving their time and risking their lives looking for victims, we cannot also forget those firefighter who gave their life attempting to save people during the attack, the outpouring of support from other countries and from our own backyard has also been very heartening as well. People simply praying is also good, we need a little more faith in our world; cynicism in the past couple of years has befallen us. Hopefully, the best thing to come out of this is that people will learn to trust a Higher Authority more than themselves.

I see nothing wrong with prayer. I know I pray for people for whatever reason. If someone believes in God than there is no harm in praying. It makes me feel a bit better when i have prayed for someone.

In a time like this, we need to get down on our knees to pray to the only living God. He is the only one who can change both the US and the rest of the world. The man has to changes inside, in the heart and in the mind, not just get new ideas and opinions. By prayer, we prepare others (and also ourselves) to be touchable by God, so that they will be able to know the only one that is able to change a persons life from the ways of destruction to a life of real meaning. I believe that this person is Jesus (Yeshua or Isa). We also need to pray for the protection of innocent people. The people that are guilty of these terrible crimes ought to be punished in one way or another, though.

Prayer and God are two important things in my life. I pray for all the victims and their families in this tragic time. May God help them get through this. I also pray that God shows mercy on the cowards who are behind this, because I know the US Government won't.

I have seen the direct results of prayer in the lives of others and have experienced it in my own. It is real and it is powerful. There are none so blind as those who will not see or as sad as those who will not try.

I'm sorry, but I don't think that it'll work.