President Barack Obama seems to be starting a tradition that breaks away from his presidential predecessors. Apparently “the practice of commissioning and vetting prayers for presidential rallies is unprecedented in modern history, according to religion and policy experts,” writes Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News and World Report.

You haven’t seem them? Don’t be surprised if you don’t, says Gilgoff: “The Obama administration may have skirted controversy by scheduling the invocations to be delivered before the president arrives at the events- and before national cable network cameras start rolling.”

While some favor the practice, there are those on both the right and the left who seem to take issue with the matter.

“If a similar thing had been done by President Bush’s White House, I guarantee you there would have been a lot of people crying foul. Democrats can do this with immunity, but when Republicans do it, it becomes controversial.” said Bill Wichterman, deputy director of the Office of Public Liaison under President George W. Bush.

“The only thing worse than having these prayers in the first place is to have them vetted, because it entangles the White House in core theological matters,” said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Audio clips of the prayers used at the president’s events are found here.

Blog post by Christopher Guzman.

Photo Credit: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images