HOUSTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry led about 30,000 people in prayer here on Saturday, triggering a debate over how his leading role in a religious event would affect his expected bid for the Republican presidential nomination. After months of controversy over his promotion of the event, dubbed “The Response: A call to prayer for a nation in crisis,” Perry took the stage only briefly, reading from scripture and steering clear of politics in his remarks.
“(God’s) agenda is not a political agenda, his agenda is a salvation agenda,” Perry told the crowd, which greeted him with a standing ovation. “He is a wise, wise guy, and he is wise enough to not be affiliated with any political party.”
Explaining the purpose of the event, Perry said, “We see discord at home, we see fear in the marketplace, we see anger in the halls of government. As a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us. ”
Perry also asked the crowd to pray for the nation’s leaders — including President Obama.
While news reports this week anticipated the event would be a bust, with just 8,000 people registering on the website, the crowd filled nearly half of the football stadium at Reliant Park, home to the NFL’s Houston Texans.
The event drew complaints from secular groups, who saw it as blurring the lines between church and state, and religious groups, who criticized its emphasis on Christianity over other religions. Detractors also assailed the event’s organizer, the American Family Foundation, as anti-Muslim and anti-gay. A few dozen protestors showed up outside the event, holding signs that read, “Keep church and state separate” and “Pastor Perry must resign.”
“We’re here protesting Rick Perry promoting this event in his official capacity as governor of this state,” Curt Loose, a protester wearing a Houston Atheists t-shirt said.
During the daylong event, people could be seen hoisting their arms in the air, dancing, singing along to spiritual music, and quietly praying.
Ken Eldred came to the event from Montrose, Colo.
“See that man on his knees?” Eldred said, pointing to another attendee who was kneeling on the ground, slouched over, with his face planted on the seat of a folding chair. “That’s what this is all about. It’s just Americans praying, asking God to come and help us in these difficult times. We have a debt crisis, we have an interest rate crisis, our debt has been downgraded. And we have no answers. We need answers.”
Back during the 2000 presidential campaign, then-candidate George W. Bush was widely mocked for describing Jesus Christ as his favorite political philosopher, but it’s now regarded as a savvy political decision that helped him bond with evangelical Christians, a key Republican voting bloc.
Perry’s political strategist, Dave Carney, dismissed the debate over whether the event would help Perry among social conservatives in key primary states, or alternatively, turn off moderates in a general election. The event planning began in December, well before Perry was considered a possible presidential candidate, he said.
“There’s more things that matter to people in the world than politics and posturing,” Carney said. “The media is sort of slobbering over the fact that millions of Americans have faith and that they express their faith in many, many different ways.”
