An Excess of Religion

Here is something that might cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand straight up:  apparently, Rick Perry is on a mission from God to take back the White House.  This might merely sound like another opinion-based blog geared toward maintaining a separation of church and state – and, to be fair, the initial framing is certainly a subjective response to new information – but a recent report from CNN’s Dan Gilgoff entitled “Rick Perry’slong faith journey culminates in presidential run,” indicates that the candidate does actually believe he is carrying out a divine undertaking.  Kelly Shackelford is quoted in the article, who was present as the presidential hopeful was discussing the topic with a group of “religious activists.”  She claims that “He didn’t want to [run for office], but he felt the Lord was calling him.” 

For Perry, religion, indeed Christianity, ought to be in the public sphere.  Gilgoff’s article’s article clearly indicates this, and not through a series of vague assertions meant to denigrate the candidate in the eyes of Democrats.  He uses clear quotations from Perry’s book, On My Honor, as well as quotes from his speeches to characterize his candidacy, and it takes little critical thinking to ascertain that his candidacy has overtly religious undertones.  In his book, Perry makes the following assertion:  “The life of a secular humanist has a depressing end.  All their possessions will be left behind, and the only thing that will matter is what God thinks of their life in the face of eternity.”  He is making a personal value judgment based on the religion of others, and his conclusion is something that he hopes to convert to public policy.

His stance on abortion is one instance in which his policy has been influenced almost entirely on religious ideology, and not necessarily on rationality.  The pro-life stance that he takes on a more general level, one could argue, can be articulated in rational terms.  Yet the policies he supports to almost blindly follow his faith-based initiative do not always stand up to sound reason.  One example includes his backing of Texas State legislation that cut funding from Planned Parenthood; the funding that was cut, however, was not to be used for abortions in the first place.  Governor Perry volunteered to promote the legislation, which needed no extra backing, despite this fact.

Last August, describes Gilgoff, Perry organized a massive prayer rally at the Texans’ Stadium in Houston, Texas.  Perry also, as an elected official, “proclaimed three days of prayer for rain” in the drought-ridden state.  Moreover, he is staunch critic of the reasonable and scientifically-based theory known as evolution.  (Yes, the previous sentence includes a few extra qualifying adjectives meant to spin the observation in a particular way.) 

Americans should be allowed to believe whatever they wish.  However, if an issue falls into the realm of public policy, then it is my opinion that it should be addressed with a solution based in rationality, never faith.  Governor Perry’s campaign promises indicate that this will not be the case if he is elected.