Source: The Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-me-beliefs19-2009jan19,0,5650037.story
Like so many presidents before him, Barack Obama has invited a revered guest to his inauguration: God.
Although the Constitution forbids the government from establishing religion, faith is once again figuring prominently into the nation's grandest political pageant, just as it has over the course of American history.
Whether Republican, Democrat or Whig, presidents from the nation's beginnings have invoked the Almighty's powerful hand to convey their visions in times of calamity and contentment alike.
George Washington credited the birth of a young America to "providential agency."
Abraham Lincoln, delivering his second inaugural shortly before the end of the Civil War, said God was punishing a bloodied people for the evils of slavery.
John F. Kennedy called in the middle of the Cold War for heeding the command of the prophet Isaiah "to let the oppressed go free."
In his inaugural address, George H.W. Bush announced, "My first act as president is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads."
Atheists, agnostics and others have long objected to the use of religious language and symbols in inaugurations and in other functions of government.