Kraichgauer wrote:
Back to the original topic -
Perry had of course had his prayer meeting at - what was it? - the super dome? - in which he packed in a bunch of evangelicals for an old fashion revival! Needless to say, as this was a purely evangelical type thingee, he didn't seem to be bothered that not only would non-Christians be offended by the state governor establishing and taking part in sectarian worship, it clearly wasn't geared for non-evangelical, Mainline Protestant or Catholic consumption, either.
And then there's the people who had convinced him to do such a thing, and who were the primary speakers. They belonged to what's called the New Apostolic Reformation; a group that believes they must take over the family, business, entertainment, and government in order usher in the rapture. If you think that's insane, wait for it..., wait for it..., their ministers and on-the-air personalities have claimed among other things that the Statue Of Liberty is a pagan idol sent to America by French Freemasons, that Japan is in a financial slump because the emperor had had sex with a sun demon, and that non-Christians should not be allowed to hold office in America. That's only the start! They had approached Perry with the good news that he, and Texas would play an important role in the end times.
Sure, Rick Perry has the absolute right to believe anything he wants; but if we're going to be critical of the lunatic fringe in Islamic countries taking political power, I think we need to be just as critical of crazy people like Perry and his brand of evangelicalism attempting to alter the political landscape here.
-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer
Yikes! There's a fine line between believer and batsh*t and I think Perry's crossed the line.
On a somewhat related note, the Pope just issued a statement demanding greater ethics in economic policy.
Quote:
"The economy doesn't function with market self-regulation but needs an ethical reason to work for mankind," he told reporters traveling aboard the papal plane. "Man must be at the center of the economy, and the economy cannot be measured only by maximization of profit but rather according to the common good."
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/n ... y.html?c=r
That's not to say I'm a big fan of the Pope, or even religion per se, but I think it's glaringly obvious that profit motivations are often at odds with ethical ones. The current balance strongly favors profit and this has caused a lot of human suffering.
16 Aug 2011, 9:42 am
