The national media refuses to consider Gov. Rick Perry’s motives as anything other than self serving, but it is difficult to see what he attempted to help happen this weekend as bad for America.
Strike that.
It is IMPOSSIBLE for anyone with even a worldly sense of fair play, to consider what Perry tried to accomplish as bad for America.
If it ends up being self serving for him as a politician, then let’s use the same consideration when every other politician does anything, from hosting a patriotic event to appearing on a TV show, from visiting a sick mom to spending time on a private boat with a woman who is not his wife.
Amazingly, there are worse things that politicians do with their time than to get together 30,000 Americans to offer up prayer for their nation.
As easy as it is for many Americans to be offended by that choice, it can be suggested that Gov. Perry was honestly trying to do something positive for OUR nation. His too.
According to the Associated Press account: “The state’s longest serving governor hosted what he called a national day of prayer, an event at Reliant Stadium that drew roughly 30,000 people and that was broadcast on cable Christian channels and the Internet nationwide, including in at least 1,000 churches.
“‘Father, our heart breaks for America,’ Perry said in 12 minutes of remarks that included prayer and Bible passages — but no direct mention of politics or his presidential plans. ‘We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government and, as a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us.’”
Then Perry did the unpardonable: “He asked Christians to turn to God for answers to the nation’s troubles, and asked the audience to pray for President Barack Obama as well as for the American troops killed in the weekend attack on a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan.”
The thing is, there are Americans who truly believe that prayer matters, that there is a reason for believers to go before God and to intercede for their nation and for their leaders. To them, what was done in Texas this past weekend is important.
Maybe we should give Gov. Perry the benefit of the doubt. After all, you don’t have to have faith to see that America needs help.
— Chuck Smith