Texas Gov. Rick Perry has called upon citizens and fellow lawmakers from across the country to come to Houston on Saturday, August 6 for ” a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of our troubled nation.”

The action caused a predictable firestorm of opprobrium, especially from state-church

Preaching or Bullying in God's Name?

separation groups who suggest that public officials should not be telling Americans how and when to pray.  There are concerns, too, that public money may find its way into this swill of politics and evangelical fervor; a spokeswoman for the governor, though, denied that any taxpayer money is being spent to stage the event which is slated for Reliant Stadium. 

The governor told reporters that his “day of prayer and public fasting” is an “apolitical Christian prayer service” with the goal of asking God for “spiritual solutions to the many problems we face in our communities, states and nation.”

Is it coincidence that this prayer-fest endorses the agenda of the religious right, and specifically adopts the “statement of faith” of the American Family Association?  Unlikely… the effect here is engineered to elevate the national visibility of Mr. Perry, and position him among a stable of other Bible-quoting Christian conservatives already out on the campaign trail.  One thinks of Mitt Romney, Michelle Bachman,Tim Pawlenty and others who have been nuzzling up to Ralph Reed and his Faith and Values Coalition.  Perry is simply the latest in playing the “religion card,” and coughing up boot spittle for evangelical conservative groups who have become the backbone of the Republican Party.

The great irony here, of course, is the juxtaposition of authoritarian Christian right politics with the label of conservatism.  Traditional conservatives preach against what they perceive as the evils of “big government.”  They sternly denounce the so-called “nanny state” where public bureaucrats and misguided do-gooders order us to wear safety belts, or avoid plastic bags and Big Macs, or engage in any number of  behaviors not specifically delineated in the Constitution.  They often defend the Second Amendment down to the last bullet, and rage against the totalitarian temptations of the Fourteenth Amendment with its doctrine of incorporation. 

When it comes to “values” and religion, however, the traditional conservatives have been replaced by a wave of “religious conservatives”  No government is too big for their purposes when establishing religious supremacy.  The state had better not violate your right to own a .44 magnum hand gun or an M-16 — but when it comes to marrying a same sex person, or even engaging in gay sex (and forms of straight sex) outside the sanctity of heterosexual marriage, well, a different standard is required.  The notion of individual rights is conveniently jettisoned for someone’s interpretation of a few lines of biblical verse.

Gov. Perry knows this, and he joins a sorry cadre of Republican hopefuls just lusting to move in to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and start legislating  a new national mkorality.  The first step in that unsavory process involves courting the likes of Ralph Reed and the American Family Association.  And why not?  Surveys indicate that the religious right gives more money and delivers more votes than any other segment of the American electorate. 

God has always been a good running made for politicians in distress.  Rick Perry knows that.  So do other candidates who are squirming over the delicate issue of accepting or rejecting Perry’s invitation that they make the hajj to Houston for his “apolitical” rally.

Joe Zamecki, Texas State Director, American Atheists

None of this should please atheists, freethinkers and anyone else — be they Christians, Jews, Muslims, whatever — who embrace the intent of the First Amendment, and would shun the un-constitutional blending of religious piety, political chicanery and religious establishment.  Joe Zamecki, the Texas State Director for American Atheists, will have none of this; he, and hopefully dozens, hundreds, even thousands of protestors will be there on Saturday, August 6, 2011 in a peaceful, public demonstration against Gov. Perry’s stunt.  Mr. Zamecki’s statement in this is reproduced below.  We hope you will join him in Houston. 

– Conrad Goeringer 

The prayer event is scheduled to take place at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX …on August 6th 2011 from 10am-6pm with an early morning worship service starting at 8:30am. Please visit http://theresponseusa.com/ for more details of Perry’s event.

Currently, Atheists, Agnostics, Secular Humanists and others interested in protecting state/church separation are planning to set up our demonstration at the corner of Kirby Dr and McNee Rd, just north of the stadium, but if the turnout is more than expected we may need to position several groups throughout the area. We’ll be on the sidewalk all along the perimeter of Reliant Park. This is our free speech zone.

Anyone who values the separation of Church and State is welcome to join– non-theists, non-Christian, secular Christians. Please be aware that we are NOT trying to convert or mock anybody’s religion.

GROUPS – Please let us know if you’d like your group listed here, as being a group that’s sending members to the protest, or just helping to organize or promote the protest.

If you cannot attend this event but would like to have your voice heard, please visit the governor’s comment page on his official website: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/

If you reside outside of Texas, visit this website to urge your state governor to reject Perry’s invitation to the event: http://action.secular.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6992

To express your concerns about this hate rally with Reliant:

http://www.reliantpark.com/contact

More details to come…

Exactly WHY are we picketing this prayer event? Good question! Here are FOUR reasons:

~~First, the event itself is being promoted by Gov. Perry in his official capacity as an elected official, starting at his official Gov’s website.
He’s also invited the governors from the other 49 states to come to this event, and take part. Obviously this will be a VERY government-related and promoted event. The promotion is already well underway.

~~Second, Gov. Perry has repeatedly and proudly violated church/state separation on several issues, all throughout his time as our governor. Recently he’s done this in the form of two religious proclamations, one asking Texans to pray for rain, and the other asking Americans to pray. He’s also worked tirelessly against public education, and it seems more than obvious that he’s doing all that work to benefit religion. Whenever a public school has to close or cut down on the number of enrolled students for some reason, private schools in the area get new customers. Most private schools are religious schools and most of them are run by mainstream religious denominations. If anyone is the winner in all of this education slashing, it’s Perry and Christianity in general.

~~Third, the prayer event is being put on by the American Family Association, which is considered to be a hate group, by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Lately the AFA has thrown out so much hate speech against gays and state/church separationists, that we’ve had enough, and we’re not going to take it anymore.

~~Fourth, I don’t believe that any of the other 49 states’ governors are as devoted to flaunting their disregard for the diversity in their respective states’ populations. This is while our state budget is in a mess, public education is underfunded, and our most popular politicians are riding on a wave of popularity, such that they can easily avoid any responsibility for explaining themselves and their actions to the public. So they don’t. On August 6, we will.

Yes we will have some Christians on our side, picketing the prayer event as well, because lots of Christians support state/church separation, and also understand that Gov. Perry is not a good governor for Texas.

POSTER IDEAS:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Perry-Prayer-Protest-Posters/229708753706430?sk=wall

CARPOOL INFO:
Austin – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Austin-carpool-requests-for-Perry-protest/207130679328643?sk=info
Corpus Christi – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Corpus-Christi-carpool-requests-for-Perry-protest/228975047129291?sk=info
Dallas/Fort Worth – http://www.facebook.com/pages/DFW-carpool-requests-for-Perry-protest/124711427609937?sk=info
Houston – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Houston-area-carpool-requests-for-Perry-protest/231422123536797
Northeast TX – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northeast-TX-carpool-requests-for-Perry-protest/227804173897005?sk=info
San Antonio – http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Antonio-carpool-requests-for-Perry-protest/219101911441786?sk=info
Southeast TX – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Southeast-TX-carpool-requests-for-Perry-protest/188487367867141?sk=info
West TX – http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-TX-carpool-requests-for-Perry-protest/173623399363859?sk=info

Media reports about this picket:

Rick Perry’s Prayerapalooza: Protests Start To Simmer

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2011/06/rick_perrys_prayerapalooza_pro.php

Perry’s proclamation draws national attention, incites criticism from non-Christians

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2011/06/09/perry%E2%80%99s-proclamation-draws-national-attention-incites-criticism-non-christians

Church/State groups ask Texas governor to stop promoting religious events

http://www.examiner.com/atheism-in-los-angeles/church-state-groups-ask-texas-governor-to-stop-promoting-religious-events

Church-state separation, LGBT-rights groups respond to Gov. Perry’s ‘The Response’

http://www.americanindependent.com/187278/church-state-separation-lgbt-rights-groups-respond-to-gov-perrys-the-response

Texas Governor Rick Perry cozies up to the AFA

http://www.towleroad.com/2011/06/rick-perry.html

What’s Brewing: Gov. Perry’s Day of Prayer linked to Uganda bill calling for execution of gays

http://www.dallasvoice.com/brewing-hrc-ties-perrys-day-prayer-ugandas-death-gays-legislation-1079199.html

   
_______________
By the way, this is what we missed, even though I did a very good phone interview with one of their reporters:
 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/politics/12prayer.html?_r=2&emc=eta1
 
Joe

She's Back!

It has happened again…

Another miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary has been reported, this time in Brian, Texas at the home of one Salvador Pachuca . Mr. Pachuca, who suffered an unidentified accident three months ago, states that the image of the Holy Mother of Jesus Christ appeared in the outlines of, well, bird droppings on his pick-up truck.

“I told my brothers come over here and see what this is and they say it is the Virgin,” he informed reporters.

Cristal Pachuca took photos which were promptly circulated. Since then, a steady stream the faithful have found their way to the Pachuca home; many seem convinced that this is a miraculous event, and that the outline and colors clearly resemble artistic renderings of the Virgin of Guadaloupe.

One is very much tempted to laugh heartily and indulge in the finest sarcastic humor. Reports of such apparitions are widespread and quite similar. The deities often appear on common household objects;  image of Jesus and/or his mom have been reported in surprising numbers, from taco shells and a kitchen cabinet in Phoenix, Arizona to a urine stain in the Mexico City subway and on the side of an office building in Florida. Many atheists and skeptics delight in such frivolous demonstrations of the alleged existence of supernatural deities — why not? — but to established religions, especially the Roman Catholic Church, they are a temporary embarrassment.

Think about it, however. Are bird doo-doo images of Mary really all that different from other stories of religious miracles which the church endorses? The Shroud of Turin is likely a fake, as are myriad pieces of the “Cross of Christ.” Other claims may be just as absurd. If it is foolishness and credulity to believe that Mr. Pachucas pick-up was the scene of a miracle bring hope to people, what about the tales of miracle cures at Lourdes Why believe that Jesus walked on water and multiplied loves and fishes, as is reported in the Bible?

Lessons abound here, yes, even in the smeared outlines of bird pooh. Just as with the recent apocalypse implosion of Harold Camping, where select texts from the Bible supposed prophesied the end of the world for last month, human beings often “see what we wish to see” if it is part of a deeply-held belief system. The Texas apparition supposedly occurred on on May 12, the anniversary day of the visit from the Virgin of Guadalupe. A family member says that they feel “protected,” and that this is a “blessing to our family.”

It may be; but if you were the Son of God or the Mother of Jesus, why choose such a peculiar way of bestowing blessings to help humanity?

If the image of the Virgin included a chemical formula for, say, a cancer cure, I’d be more receptive.

What are some of the Jesus-Mary-Joseph-God apparitions you’re familiar with? Which is the most absurd?

And, oh yes, if any of you are near Brian, Texas, why not drop in on the Pachuca household and ask to inspect the truck. Take photos, and send this blog a report. Be sure to bring an umbrella along — you never know who or what might drop in!