Religious Left Frets over Rick Perry’s Prayers

Now an announced presidential candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry’s evangelical beliefs continue to arouse suspicions from some critics, especially over his August 6 prayer rally.

“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,” Perry had announced in his invite to “The Response.” The Houston event, organized by the Mississippi-based American Family Association, managed to avoid direct political statements and focused on spiritual renewal for the nation. Perry’s remarks were made available on the same day.

But protesters of all varieties lined sidewalks outside the governor’s prayer rally, while 30,000 people gathered inside Reliant Stadium to pray and fast for America. A flurry of complaints and concerns about blurring church and state boundaries flew around in the weeks leading up to the rally, culminating in protests during the event.

“Gov. Perry’s prayer rally isn’t an affirmation of the role of faith in public life,” charged People for the American Way (PFAW) president Michael Keegan. “It’s an expensive, politically-charged advertisement of a very narrow slice of one faith community that aims to impose its extreme views on the rest of us.” PFAW was founded by television producer Norman Lear to counteract religious conservatives.

The equally liberal Texas Freedom Network (TFN) similarly blasted Perry and “The Response” with a letter signed by 10,000 protesters, which demanded that he “open [the event] to speakers and attendees of all faiths, as well as welcoming to people of good will who are not affiliated with a faith tradition.” It also insisted he cut all ties to the American Family Association (AFA), which has been derided as a “hate group” for its critique of homosexuality and radical Islam, among other issues. AFA founder the Rev. Donald Wildmon, a United Methodist minister, briefly addressed the prayer event. “Gov. Perry leads a diverse state in which not everyone shares the same religious and political beliefs,” a TFN news release further declared. “It’s simply wrong that he would share a stage with extremists who use faith as a political weapon to divide Americans instead of working to unite us in support of our nation.” TFN was founded by United Methodist lay woman Cecile Richards, who remains a TFN board member and is a daughter of the late former Texas Democratic Governor Ann Richards. 

Some liberal clergy and activists joined the protests in the streets to demonstrate that “Rick Perry does not speak for all Christians.”  Richard Bates, a United Methodist minister, opposed the rally because “it’s about specific prayers that exclude two thirds of the American people.” One small group of protesters started early the evening before the rally with an alternative “inclusive,” interfaith event. Mt. Ararat Baptist Church hosted the “Family, Faith, and Freedom Celebration,” sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU). Both groups, of course, have been constant critics of conservative Christians for many decades.

Barry Lynn, Executive Director of AU, delivered the opening remarks at the “Celebration” to a group of 300 disgruntled protesters. He said the rally was “orchestrated by some of the fringiest folks on the American religious scene today,” and warned there would be hateful and “narrow” ideas purported there.  Lynn’s major issue with the rally was its supposed exclusivity. And he complained that the rally was initiated by an elected official, yet did not represent Texas’s full diversity.

Baptist minister Rev. William Lawson also spoke at the “Celebration,” and repeated many complaints about Perry’s exclusivity and the boundaries between church and state. He made unfounded accusations of racism, saying, “you may not realize it, but he’s almost calling a day of white Christian prayer” (emphasis added). According to The Washington Post, however, a “sizable number of black and Hispanics” attended.  

Openly venting anger at Perry, Lawson admitted: “I know it’s not intended to be a Perry bashing meeting. But let’s be honest. We came here because we were mad … that a city governor would have the gall to call a religious meeting called a day of prayer.” He clarified that he was not primarily angry Perry called for a day of prayer, but that it was exclusively Christian prayer. Of course, it was no consolation that “The Response” was open to people of all faiths. But because the rally highlighted evangelical preachers, it was deemed offensive. Lawson boasted that “we believe in unity, we believe in diversity, we believe in inclusion.”

Lawson accused Perry of using this event to “manipulate” people, considering his potential bid for the presidency, arguing that Perry planned this rally to “get the white conservative Christian family to back him” for the presidency. Other clergy denounced Perry for the same reason.  John Elford, Senior pastor at Austin, TX University United Methodist Church said that “it has to do with how he is basically using a very exclusive segment of Christians to support his run for the presidency.” Rev. Kevin Young, pastor of Linden United Methodist Church told The New York Times that he is “not happy that our governor is using an event like this essentially to appeal to a voting bloc.”  

Rev. Ed Robb III of The Woodlands United Methodist Church outside Houston, talking to The New York Times, asserted that such accusations were untrue. He said the prayer rally did not reflect “some newly found, politically convenient addition to [Perry’s] life … It’s long-term and it’s authentic. If the governor wants a prayer rally, I think we ought to allow him to express his faith.” The Times noted that Robb’s father, United Methodist evangelist Ed Robb, Jr., was a spiritual mentor to Perry as a young man. Ed Robb, Jr., was also a founder of IRD.

Almost certainly the controversy over “The Response” is only a preview of future ongoing clashes between conservative and liberal groups during the election year ahead.