Some in GOP, Faith Community Leery of Perry's Prayer Day

An Aug. 6 prayer event organized by Texas Gov. Rick Perry is intended to appeal to the Almighty to restore America's prosperity. But some in the GOP worry that the event, known as "The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis," will harm, Perry's chances at a presidential run.

Though Perry's call to prayer has attracted critical commentary from across the nation, the event itself has attracted few followers -- though the lengthy list of anti-gay clerics who have signed on has raised hackles among GLBT observers, who have decried "The Response" and Gov. Perry for the inclusion of a Who's Who from the religious fringe right.

The 71,000-seat Reliant football stadium in Houston will hardly be filled to capacity. Only 8,000 attendees have signed up. But the seven-hour prayer vigil may well exert an influence over the coming electoral race far in excess of its tiny stature.

Liberals aren't the only ones voicing doubt about the governor's elaborate show of faith. GOP strategist John Feehery told the Washington Post that "The Response" "might play well in Iowa or South Carolina, but I'm not sure how well it plays in New Hampshire, Florida or Michigan.

"It's too much of an overt mixing of religion and politics," added Feehery. "Rick Perry has got to decide if he wants to run for president or run to replace Pat Robertson."

"One thing Republicans are going to demand this election is a candidate who can beat Barack Obama," GOP strategist Alex Castellanos told the Associated Press, which quoted him in an Aug. 3 article. "The election is all about him.

"A candidate who establishes his identity on the fringe, talking about social and religious issues, when the economy is going over a cliff, risks marginalizing himself, becoming unacceptable to independents and unelectable," added Castellanos. "That would be the kiss of death."

Castellanos added: "Perry should be trying to establish recognition as the minister of job creation. This leads him to build an identity as just a minister."

The AP article took note of the fact that the AFA is footing the bill for the event, not taxpayers. But the AP also remarked on the AFA's inclusion among hate groups by The Southern Poverty Law Center, a watchdog that monitors extremist groups. The SPLC listed the AFA as a hate group "for spreading misinformation about homosexuals and transgender people," the AP article said.

"Perry has dismissed such characterizations and appeared on a Christian radio show with the association's president, Tim Wildmon," the AP article continued.

Perry himself has said that the prayer day "is not political, it's not about promoting an organization." But that didn't stop Perry from sending out invitations to Congressional members and the president, as well as number of other state governors. Only one politician -- Sam Brownback of Kansas -- RSVPd, the Post article said. Other media sources noted that Brownback's office would not confirm the governor's plans for the weekend, leading to speculation that Brownback may be a no-show.

Moreover, there's a political tinge about the lineup of speakers and sponsors for "The Response." The event will not be all prayer and fasting: Well-known anti-gay figures such as The Family Research Council's Tony Perkins will be on hand to offer speeches.

The Family Research Council, a vitriolically anti-gay group, made headlines last year when its co-founder, George Rekers, hired a male escort from website RentBoy.com to accompany him on a European vacation. Though Rekers denied any previous knowledge of the 20-year-old man's resume as an escort, the young man himself told the media that sexual massages on a daily basis were part of his duties during the trip.

The Family Research Council quickly and quietly distanced itself from Rekers.

Rekers has also been identified in news reports as the doctor who attempted to "cure" a young gay child in the 1970s. Though Rekers seemingly referred to the child as a success story in "curing" homosexuality for decades afterwards, the young man the child grew into came out as gay in his 20s. Later, at age 38, he committed suicide.

Rekers, evidently unaware of his former patient's suicide, continued to make reference to the treatment he had overseen for a patient he referred to by the pseudonym "Kraig," claiming success with Kraig in "Handbook of Therapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attractions."

Perry's prayer day has been characterized as a response to a "financial and moral crisis" in America. The financial crisis is too readily observable in the daily lives of ordinary Americans, as unemployment remains high and the stock market, rattled by a recent game of chicken between Congress and the White House over the federal deficit, took a nosedive earlier this week that was reminiscent of the 2008 financial meltdown.

But what some call a "moral crisis," others see as a remarkable period of progress for minorities striving for full legal and social parity. For GLBTs in particular, the last few years have been a watershed: Marriage equality is now legal in half a dozen states, the anti-gay law that prevented gay and lesbian patriots from serving their country openly is in the final weeks before its repeal is final, and the Obama Administration has come out against another anti-gay federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies same-sex families any recognition on the federal level.

We're Here, We're Clear, But Some Aren't Used to It

For many religious groups, such as "The Response" sponsor the American Family Association, social acceptance and legal equality for gays and their families is anathema -- if not a sure sign of the long awaited and oft-announced "end times." For some who fail connect the nation's financial plummet to Wall Street and the federal policies that enabled a complex, but ultimately flawed, financial culture to run rampant, gays have become the go-to for blame and excoriation.

Indeed, several state lawmakers, such as Utah's Chris Butters and Oklahoma's Sally Kern, have openly and specifically pegged gays as a threat to Western civilization, claiming that acceptance of GLBTs poses a risk more grave and immediate to the United States than Muslim extremists.

Among Republican presidential hopefuls, animus toward gays is nearly universal: Almost all of the contenders in the crowded field who attended a recent debate said they would favor an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would discriminate against gay and lesbian families. One prospective nominee, Michele Bachmann, has become embroiled in accusations that the Christian counseling clinics she and her husband promote so-called "reparative therapy," which is predicated on the idea that homosexuality is a pathological condition that can be "cured."

The idea that gays "choose" their sexuality or else become gay due to early life trauma is common among anti-gay evangelical denominations. "The Response" has drawn heavy support from some of the most anti-gay names in the evangelical sphere. Religious right pastors Jim Garlow and John Hagee are slated to attend, along with a number of others.

Garlow, pastor at Skyline Church in La Mesa, California, was a proponent of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that snatched the then-existing right to marry from gay and lesbian families in that state. Garlow was one of those who insisted that unless marriage rights were stripped from same-sex couples, people of faith would find their religious freedoms trampled.

Hagee, pastor of a Texas megachurch, is also a well-known anti-gay pastor. Hagee suggested on a radio broadcast that Hurricane Katrina was God's divine punishment for a New Orleans Pride parade.

Another pastor associated with the prayer event is C. Peter Wagner, who, as a posting at Right Wing Watch noted, has made the claim that natural and financial disasters in Japan are the direct result of the Emperor having had sexual relations with a demon known as "the Sun Goddess."

"Japan, as a nation, is one of the nations of the world which has consciously openly invited national demonization," Wagner declared. "The Sun Goddess visits him in person and has sexual intercourse with the Emperor. A very, very powerful thing -- so the Emperor becomes one flesh with the Sun Goddess, and that is an invitation for the Sun Goddess to continue to demonize the whole nation."

Wagner went on to claim, "Since the night that the present Emperor slept with the Sun Goddess, the stock market in Japan has gone down."

Since the comments in the video clip, above, were made, Wager has reiterated his claims, saying that the tsunami that ravaged part of Japan and led to a crisis at a nuclear power plant was the result of the Emperor's sexual escapades with the "Sun Goddess."

Such claims of calamity descending upon nations and peoples due to God's wrath or demonic intervention are hardly unusual among religious extremists. But the claims of another right wing pastor endorsing the seven-hour event place the blame for the suffering of African Americans squarely on gays.

Or rather, the claim -- made by Anti-pastor Willie Wooten -- is that African American political leaders have invited God's "curse" upon all African Americans by supporting GLBT protections and equality measures.

Wooten has denied that the fight for legal and social parity for GLBTs and their families is a matter of civil rights. Rather, Wooten has argued, "[I]t's a moral issue. It is a deviant type of behavior and lifestyle."

Wooten has also boiled down all issues pertaining to LGBTs to a matter of sexual mechanics, saying, "How do they do it? It's too nasty."

But not all people of faith cling to Biblical passages that have been interpreted as condemning gay relationships as "unnatural."

"We're protesting ['The Response'] because we want to say publicly that we view the Gospel of Jesus Christ very differently from the AFA," Rev. Katherine Godby of Fort Worth's First Congregational Church told local newspaper the Star-Telegram.

"In the minds of so many people these days, groups like the AFA are the voice of Christianity, but we want people to know that there are alternative Christian voices out there," added Godby. "We believe that the Gospel is about inclusion, extravagant welcome and radical hospitality to all -- no exceptions."

It's not that the congregation has any objection to the idea of a prayer day or calling upon God for guidance in times of national crisis, the Star-Tribune noted. Rather, the monolithic and exclusionary message of the AFA is the group's intended target for protest.

"We're going as Christians, saying this isn't a proper representation of what Christianity should be or what the Gospel is," the church's deacon, Marvin Vann, told the newspaper. "We want to make a public statement that will help others understand there is an alternative voice to Christianity, other than the one that dominates public discourse right now.

"It's about compassion and liberation," added Vann. "And we regard the Gospel of being about those values."

The Coalition of the Faithful

Dissent comes not only from within the larger Christian tradition, but also from other faiths, partly because the event is billed as being for Christians only.

"On Tuesday [Aug 2], more than 50 Houston-area religious and community leaders disseminated a signed statement drafted by the Anti-Defamation League expressing 'deep concern' about a prayer rally 'not open to all faiths,' " the Houston Chronicle reported on Aug. 3.

"The groups that represent gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals accused the American Family Association and other sponsors of the prayer event of hatred toward the GLBT community.

"Governor Perry has a constitutional duty to treat all Texans equally, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. His official involvement with The Response, at minimum, violates the spirit of that duty," the ADL said in the statement, the article reported. Faith leaders from the Jewish, Islamic, Baptist, and Episcopal faith traditions signed the statement.

"We strongly believe this statement, signed by so many of our most respected religious and community leaders, reflects the feelings of many Texans who are concerned that Governor Perry is overstepping his bounds in supporting an exclusionary sectarian religious event," said the ADL's Martin B. Cominsky.

Another faith tradition -- atheism -- also made its objections known. The fact that a public official is an organizer of the prayer event sparked a lawsuit from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a group of agnostics, atheists, and others. The group does not believe that Perry's role in "The Response" is constitutional because it seemingly brings governmental endorsement to a religious faith, the Associated Press reported on July 13.

"The complaint alleges Perry violated the First Amendment's establishment clause by organizing, promoting and participating in the event," the AP story said.

"The answers for America's problems won't be found on our knees or in heaven, but by using our brains, our reason and in compassionate action," Freedom from Religion Foundation Co-Director Dan Barker said. "Gov. Perry's distasteful use of his civil office to plan and dictate a religious course of action to 'all citizens' is deeply offensive to many citizens, as well as to our secular form of government."

"This kind of legal harassment is no surprise, but we will vigorously defend the right of Americans to assemble and pray and we will win," responded event spokesperson Eric Bearse.

In the end the case was dismissed, a July 29 Associated Press article reported.

"The governor has done nothing more than invite others who are willing to do so to pray," said U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller in his ruling.

"I wonder if we had a Muslim governor what would happen if the whole state was called to a Muslim prayer," responded Kay Staley, who was one of those who brought the suit. "I think the governor needs to keep his religion out of his official duties."

But Perry, a devout Christian, saw prayer as a natural and necessary avenue to addressing the straits into which the United States has drifted.

"Given the trials that beset our nation and world, from the global economic downturn to natural disasters, the lingering danger of terrorism and continued debasement of our culture, I believe it is time to convene the leaders from each of our United States in a day of prayer and fasting, like that described in the book of Joel," the governor said in his open invitation to the prayer event.

"The event is being sponsored by several evangelical Christian groups, including the American Family Association, which has been criticized by civil rights groups for promoting anti-homosexual and anti-Islamic positions on the roughly 200 radio stations it operates," the July 13 AP article noted.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation also sued the Obama Administration for the National Day of Prayer, a complaint that an appellate court threw out.