Organizers: Rick Perry’s Prayer Summit Intended to Convert Non-Christians

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


I told you last week about Texas Governor Rick Perry’s plan to hold an all day prayer-and-fasting summit (called “The Response”) at Houston’s Reliant Stadium this August. The purpose of the event, according to Perry’s office, is to summon divine assistance to lift the United States out of its doldrums. Apparently the event organizers didn’t get the memo. Via Right Wing Watch, the spokesperson for The Response, Eric Bearse, told the American Family Association yesterday that the purpose of the summit is, in part, to convert non-Christians:

A lot of people want to criticize what we’re doing, as if we’re somehow being exclusive of other faiths. But anyone who comes to this solemn assembly regardless of their faith tradition or background, will feel the love, grace, and warmth of Jesus Christ in that assembly hall, in that arena. And that’s what we want to convey, that there’s acceptance and that there’s love and that there’s hope if people will seek out the living Christ. And that’s the message we want to spread on August 6th.

They’re not excluding people of other faiths! Quite the opposite: they’re hoping people of other faiths show up and find Christ. There’s a big difference, really. Perry has invited the governors of the 49 other states to attend his rally. So far, only one, Kansas’ Sam Brownback, has said he’ll be there. Given the context—it’s being co-hosted by the American Family Association, which is considered by the Southern Poverty Law Center an anti-gay “hate group”—and the now-stated intent to proselytize, it’s not hard to see why mainstream leaders are steering clear.

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate