Rally Raises Anew Question of the Boundaries of Perry’s Faith

[struggle4progress]

August 5, 2011

AUSTIN, Tex. — In April, as Texas reeled from wildfires and a drought, Gov. Rick Perry sought assistance from the federal government, but also from a higher power. He asked the state to pray for rain, issuing an official proclamation that “I, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas.”

One Sunday in 2005, Mr. Perry signed legislation requiring that women under the age of 18 get parental consent before having an abortion. The signing took place during a ceremony at a Fort Worth school run by an evangelical Christian church.

Five weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Perry bowed his head and said “amen” as a Baptist pastor led a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. The prayer was noteworthy not for what it said, but for where it was said: at a student assembly in a public middle school in East Texas. Afterward, Mr. Perry said he had no problem ignoring the Supreme Court’s landmark 1962 ruling that barred organized prayer in public schools.

On Saturday in Houston, thousands of people are expected to gather at Reliant Stadium for a Christian-themed prayer service that Mr. Perry created and promoted ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/06/us/politics/06perry.html?_r=1