We've noted before that Barack Obama seems to have been ill-served by the spiritual leaders he's chosen. He simply wasn't taught a thoroughly biblical worldview, and it's unrealistic for Bible-believing Christians to expect that of him. His faith, like that of many in the pews of our churches on Sundays, is clearly that of the milk-fed variety.

One disturbing result of that fact has surfaced in the early weeks of Obama's term. It's great that he has incorporated prayer in the public rallies he's held as President. The unfortunate and scarcely reported aspect of those prayers is that they've been vetted in advance by the federal government.

We're all for a public display of faith. What's objectionable is that the clergy and lay people asked to pray have been asked to submit their prayers to the White House in advance of the rallies where they're spoken. There's no evidence that the White House has yet asked an invocator for editorial changes, but that's hardly the point. Should we really want the administration passing judgment on a person's theology?

We find ourselves in the odd position of agreeing with Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who asked U.S. News & World Report's Dan Gilgoff, "Why would you even request getting a copy of the prayer in advance if you didn't want to exercise the power to change it or even cancel it?”

The presence of a vetter has already had adverse effects. Gilgoff notes that a Baptist preacher in Fort Myers, Fla., readily admits omitting the name of Jesus from the prayer he gave before Obama's visit to promote the economic stimulus bill. "For some strange reason,” the Rev. James Bing told Gilgoff, "the word Jesus is like pouring gasoline on fire for some in this country. You learn how to work around that.” Why any Christian should want to "work around” the name of Jesus in a public forum escapes us. A "prayer” that doesn't invoke the name of the One who is prayed to is nothing but a poem in our book.

Somehow, we believe this isn't what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they forbid the government from establishing religion in the First Amendment. We hope the Obama administration stops this offensive practice of vetting prayers immediately.