Gov. Perry should focus on governance, not godliness

[struggle4progress]

Minister, lawyer, activist
Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn is a ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, a lawyer, and Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State

... His job is to run the state, not act as an evangelist ...

... Let the pastors set up religious events; let governors work on their jobs: fixing roads, making healthcare affordable, and paying the public servants who try to keep their communities safe, educated, and responsive to citizens’ needs ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/gov-perry-should-focus-on-governance-not-godliness/2011/07/13/gIQAKLbhCI_blog.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Transcript shows Perry likening office to pulpit

Allusions to his faith could either help or hurt him, analysts suggest
By PATRICIA KILDAY HART
AUSTIN BUREAU
July 14, 2011, 5:41AM

Employing deeply religious language that national experts say affords both power and peril for his political career, Gov. Rick Perry in late May told a group of East Texas business leaders that he was "called to the ministry" at age 27, suggested that the governor's office was his pulpit and that God put him "in this place at this time to do his will."

According to a transcript of the private meeting, organized to raise funds for Perry's Aug. 6 "day of prayer and fasting" at Reliant Stadium, the governor stated that property rights, government regulation and a "legal system that's run amok" were threatening the American way of life and "it's time to just hand it over to God and say 'God, you're gonna have to fix this.' " ...

"This speech is a good example of both the power and the peril of politicians talking about their faith," said Dr. John C. Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron and senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. "To the extent they can mobilize people's deepest sentiment, it can be very effective for them. On the other hand, it can also frighten people because it sounds like too much of an intrusion of religion into the public sphere."

For the immediate goal of seizing a lead in the GOP primary, Perry's strong appeal to the religious right "will play incredibly well," pollster Anna Greenberg suggested ...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7652531.html#ixzz1SCCWLZoC

[struggle4progress]

2. Perry has a Christian pastors problem

Author, activist
Jason Pitzl-Waters
Jason Pitzl-Waters is co-founder and Projects Coordinator of the Pagan Newswire Collective. He writes daily for the popular Pagan news site The Wild Hunt.

... Christian pseudo-historian David Barton, who believes that “paganism and witchcraft were never intended to receive the protections of the Religion Clauses,” Cindy Jacobs, who blamed Shintoism for the earthquake in Japan, and C. Peter Wagner, who is waging a spiritual war with the “The Queen of Heaven,” a demonic figure that manifests as pagan goddesses.

The event itself is being organized by the American Family Association, whose director of issue analysis, Bryan Fischer, claimed, like Barton, that the Establishment Clause only applies to Christians, that Native Americans are mired in alcoholism and poverty because they won’t all become Christians, and that the environmental movement is a stalking horse for Paganism. The more you dig into the official supporter’s list, the more animosity towards non-Christians you can find. You simply can’t shake all these hands, accept all these endorsements, and then pretend their views don’t matter. That they won’t be granted access and influence down the road.

I would be more than happy to leave religion out of politics, but I fear that battle has long been fought and lost ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/perry-has-a-christian-pastors-problem/2011/07/14/gIQA1NYJEI_blog.html

[struggle4progress]

3. Texas Gov. Perry's public day of prayer draws fire from clergy and atheists

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas has called for a public day of prayer and fasting, prompting criticism from First Amendment watchdog groups, atheists, and the Houston Clergy Council.

By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, Staff writer / July 14, 2011

... The ecumenical Houston Clergy Council issued a letter in June saying it supports a “healthy boundary between church and state.” Signed by 24 Houston-area pastors and ministers, the letter says the event materials imply an exclusion of people who are not Christians of a certain type. And it says it is inappropriate for the governor to organize an event funded by the American Family Association, a group they note the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled a hate group for its anti-gay and anti-Muslim statements ...

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0714/Texas-Gov.-Perry-s-public-day-of-prayer-draws-fire-from-clergy-and-atheists

[struggle4progress]

4. Members of FW church heading to Houston to protest outside Perry's prayer meeting

Posted on 12 Jul 2011 at 2:59pm

... Members of Fort Worth First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ held a congregational meeting Sunday, July 10, and voted unanimously to endorse congregants’ plans to travel to Houston on Aug. 6 to protest outside Reliant Stadium where Perry and company will be holding “The Response.” Some 15 to 20 people from FW First Congregational Church are expected to go to Houston to protest, according to a press release from the church, along with “others from Christian churches throughout Texas.”

The press release says protesters will gather outside the stadium gates while folks are arriving for the prayer meeting, expressing their feelings about the event through posters, fliers and “silent witness.” ...

The folks at FW First Congregational are like most people speaking out against the event: They have no issue with the idea of holding a prayer meeting. What bothers them is that the governor is teaming up with the American Family Association to do so, especially since AFA is footing the bill for the prayer party ...

http://www.dallasvoice.com/fw-church-heading-houston-protest-perrys-prayer-meeting-1082798.html

[struggle4progress]

5. Rick Perry’s odd mix of church and state

Jay Bookman
3:15 pm July 14, 2011

... For example, one of Perry’s partners in sponsoring the rally is the American Family Association, led by Donald Wildmon and the AFA’s “director of issues analysis”, Bryan Fischer. Among other things, Fischer has expressed a rather unique point of view on the dangers posed by letting gay Americans serve in the military.

“Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews,” Fischer writes. “Gays in the military is an experiment that has been tried and found disastrously and tragically wanting.” ...

And then there’s John Benefiel of the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network in Oklahoma City. He has what you might call an odd take on the Statue of Liberty.

“You know where we got it from? French Freemasons. Listen, folks, that is an idol, a demonic idol, right there in the middle of New York Harbor.” ...

http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2011/07/14/rick-perrys-odd-mix-of-church-and-state/

[okasha]

6. This Texan would prefer that Perry leave governance alone

and go fuck up the AFA instead.

[struggle4progress]

7. Perry answers the call, but what exactly is the message?

<scott stroud>
Published 03:39 a.m., Friday, July 15, 2011

Maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that God called Rick Perry to serve in his present capacity, but I always thought the governor answered more directly to Houston home builder Bob Perry ...

By sheer coincidence, it turns out that God is on the same side as Bob Perry and friends in trying to rein in taxes and lawsuits. Imagine that! ...

And when a politician considering a run for the presidency casts himself as a vessel of God's work, and does so in the name of tort reform, tax cuts and deregulation — all more tenets of political philosophy than articles of faith — he comes off more as a cheap carnival hustler than someone who deserves to be taken seriously ...

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/news_columnists/scott_stroud/article/Perry-answers-the-call-but-what-exactly-is-the-1467102.php

[struggle4progress]

8. Editorial: Perry prayer rally is too exclusionary and political

... many of the leaders upon whom Perry is relying come from a more extreme wing of evangelical Protestantism. For example, the American Family Association is paying for the event and is a lead sponsor. Its spokesman has linked homosexuality to Nazism.

It’s hard to see how such claims will help America unify amid its diversity.

What’s more, it’s disappointing that the governor decided not to reach across religious boundaries. According to the letter he wrote on the rally’s website, “As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles and thank Him for the blessings of freedom we so richly enjoy.”

Many Texans undoubtedly share that view. And event organizer Eric Bearse says all faiths are welcome. But it’s hard to see how Jews, Muslims or those from other traditions would feel comfortable at an event at which one purpose is to draw people closer to Jesus ...

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20110714-editorial-perry-prayer-rally-is-too-exclusionary-and-political.ece

[damntexdem]

9. Oh, I disagree: I wish he would spend all of his time in prayer meetings ...

and keep away from the Capitol, where he has been screwing over Texas for years now.

[dimbear]

10. Perry got favorable mention today on our local public radio:

A caller thanked him on the behalf of godless California for the copious rain we've enjoyed thanks to his organized raindances. :)