Is God Hanging Up When Rick Perry Calls?

I'm not a fan of bringing prayer into American political life- according to the Constitution religion is supposed to be divided from public policy. According to a recent internet witticism, religion is like your male private-part: it's nice to have one, but it's bad manners to go waving it around on the street, and for crying out loud, don't go sticking it down kid's throats.

But even if you disagree with any of those points, Rick Perry's record of bringing religion, and specifically prayer, into play as a state policy tool is worth looking at. As Timothy Egan points out in today's New York Times, in April Perry declared a three-day state-sponsored pray-in for rain to stop the Texas drought. It hasn't rained since, and the drought is now the worst in state history. Earlier this month he sponsored a weekend-long prayerfest at a large Texas stadium, where he prayed for God to lift the country out of its economic malaise. Two days later the stock market dropped 635 points.

Earlier in the spring the Texas governor and soon-to-be candidate for the Presidency gave us all a glimpse of how he'd run the country in times of crisis- “I think it’s time for us to just hand it over to God, and say, ‘God: You’re going to have to fix this," is what he said.

That may or may not be true. Personally, I'd opt for a more pragmatic, hands-on approach, but even if you believe that your politicians should be out there, praying for good things to happen, as Egan points out- God does not appear to pay much attention to Rick Perry.

Just sayin'...

Here's the NYT piece