Governor Rick Perry would do Jonathan Edwards proud. In this day and age, religious rhetoric from politicians is nothing new, but Perry's religious rhetoric is making the San Antonio News sit up and take notice. Perry is responsible for organizing, in conjunction with the American Family Association, the upcoming August 6 prayer rally that has various clergy organizations up in arms. He has also used his office as governor to declare days of prayer in April to relieve the severe drought Texas is currently undergoing.
Employing deeply religious language that national experts say affords both power and peril for his political career, Gov. Rick Perryin late May told a private group of East Texas business leaders that he was “called to the ministry” at the age of 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 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 that “it's time to just hand it over to God and say ‘God, you're gonna have to fix this.'”
While Perry spokesman Mark Miner could not verify an Internet transcript of Perry's remarks, he said it contained nothing inconsistent with the governor's belief that “every Christian is called into ministry” whether serving as a church leader or in the workplace, and that “God provides opportunity throughout peoples' lives to do his will.”
Eric Bearse, a spokesman for “The Response” prayer rally, confirmed the meeting took place as a fundraiser for the Houston prayer event.
Historians and political scientists say Perry, who is actively testing the waters for a presidential campaign, may be ratcheting up religious rhetoric to seize the mantel of evangelical candidate in the Republican primary, only to frighten away a more mainstream general election electorate.
“God was dealing with me,” he said. “At 27 years old, I knew that I had been called to the ministry. I've just always been really stunned by how big a pulpit I was gonna have. I still am. I truly believe with all my heart that God has put me in this place at this time to do his will.”
To advocates of religious tolerance, the statement borders on “a theocratic declaration,” said C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Interfaith Alliance.
“The problem is not faith. The problem is the public assumption that he understands God and the will of God so perfectly that he can implement for everybody God's policies for this nation,” Gaddy said. “I think there are a lot of people uncomfortable with that, and I am one of them.”
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