In a now-closed thread, poster "Puli" gave a gracious, sorta damnin'-by-faint-praise nod of the good ol' boy 10-gallon hat to a doodle of mine zingin' Guv'ner Rick Perry for his holier-than-thou-and-how prayerfest recently held in hoodwinked Houston, Texas:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,301752,301752#msg-301752


Observes "Puli":

"Seems to me, you pegged Mr. Perry fairly well.

[NOTE: Here's the cartoon, at: http://www.creators.com/modules/thumb/thumb.php?img=/editorial_cartoons/14/20897_thumb.gif&w=900&h=313]


"Puli" proceeds:

"He did organize a very public prayer meeting (sponsored by some of the most right-wing, bigotted 'Christian' organizations around) held at a statium in Houston to decide whether or not he should run for the presidency. As I recall, the event was essentially by invitation only (more or less)."

['NUTHER NOTE: Yup, he done did that and yers truly was well aware of that there Pious Perry Pray-In down Texas way. In fact, the "fairly well" cartoon to which "Puli" gives a tepid think-wink showed up a few weeks ago outside that same Houston arena in the form of a gawd-awful mobile billboard lampoonin' the Godly Guv for his obnoxious swoonin,' just a stone's throw from Guv'ner Perry's humdinger of a hoo-rah halo. It was used thusly: "FFRF, a state/church watchdog with more than 16,600 members nationwide, filed suit July 13 on behalf of its 700 Texas members. . . . FFRF’s federal lawsuit landed in the courtroom of Judge Gray Miller, a recent conservative Bush appointee. On July 28, Miller dismissed the lawsuit and request for a restraining order, ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing. FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor, who attended the hearing in Houston, commented: 'Nobody would have trouble seeing the injury if a governor aligned himself with a radical Muslim group and used his office to call all citizens to a daylong prayer to Allah rally. This event is no different.' Foiled in court, FFRF responded by protesting at the event. Every billboard company in the area refused to lease a billboard to FFRF for a message critical of Perry’s involvement. So FFRF negotiated for a mobile billboard to circulate at the stadium all day with the message, 'Beware Prayer by Pious Politicians — Get Off Your Knees and Get to Work!'" See a scrollin' photo essay 'bout the on-scene protests by the Freedom from Religion faithless faction at: http://www.ffrf.org/publications/freethought-today/articles/ffrf-sues-protests-gov.-perrys-prayer-rally/]


Puli continues:

"I have to be careful here not to become too political in violation of the board's rules. I would say, however, that I think your cartoon is on the mild side compared with some of what I've seen (and agree with) over at Slate Magazine.

http://cartoonbox.slate.com/hottopic/?image=41&topicid=537";
_____


Well, since "Puli" done dared mention the site and its cartoons, then here ya go, pardner--from that very cartoon corral--kickin' a bit more pre-Puli, aw-shucks pious Perry patootie for ya'all. Saddle up fer the Savior now, ya hear? Yeehaw!:

http://cartoonbox.slate.com/hottopic/?image=42&topicid=537



Edited 26 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2011 08:20PM by steve benson.

The governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, did the same thing:

"For the safety of our firefighters and our communities and the well-being of our crops and livestock, this state needs the current drought to come to an end. The power of prayer is a wonderful thing, and I would ask every Oklahoman to look to a greater power this weekend and ask for rain."

And:

'“I think if we have a lot of people praying, it moves the heart of God,” Fallin told CBS News.'
http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/07/18/271658/climate-denying-oklahoma-governor-tells-residents-to-pray-for-rain/

In both states the drought worsened.

It is wrong to bring religion into state office; magical thinking does not equate with real world solutions, and religion makes bad policy where church, and state are supposed to be separate.

The religious have done this to the poor for years i.e. justified ignoring, punishing, killing them, etc., because a) they think the poor deserve it, because many xstians think wealth is a reward for righteousness, or b) they think gawd will answer their prayers somehow, and so on.

I have said this about LD$, but it is true with all religions to some degree or another. They do not look at the real cause, and effect of problems, and let magical thinking, and set dogma dictate their responses. Poverty has many causes, but xstians often attribute it to lack of divine favor as a result of not being righteous enough - sin. If the people “reasoning” like this are governing your country or state, this translates into bad policies that do not address the actual problems. They gladly let people suffer.

It is the same with Gov. Perry. He chose magic over the best reasonable solutions. A month later they voted to cut $34 million from the Texas Forest Service, and rural fire departments. I agree he has plenty of bull to offer just like LD$, and their very own, wholly owned legislature.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2011 07:00PM by atheist&happy:-).

"It rains on the just as well as the unjust."