Bray: The loud, harsh cry of a donkey.
Today's the day! It is the day of The Response, "an evangelical day of prayer and fasting seeking divine intervention for America."
Rick Perry, the jackass governor of Texas, has called this gathering. He has invited other governors of the various states to join him in this quite incredible violation of the United States Constitution. Perry wrote:
"I sincerely hope you'll join me in Houston on August 6th and take your place in Reliant Stadium with praying people asking God's forgiveness, wisdom and provision for our state and nation. There is hope for America. It lies in heaven, and we will find it on our knees."
No, you're not living in the 16th century. It just seems like it. Not a few people around the world have been "progressing" backward. God, heaven, prayer - all are aspects of a futile mythology that has ill-served the people of earth for untold generations! But the governor of the state of Texas doesn't get it. He's a "believer."
Not only so but this "call to prayer" is without question a "Christian" event. More than that, it is an "evangelical" Christian event. Mainstream Christians, Roman Catholics, Unitarians, and other "fringe" groups should stay home, thank you very much. Non-Christians? Fuggedaboudit!
And an event like this, of course, constitutes an "official" recognition of a religion by the state, which is expressly forbidden in the U.S. Constitution. Not that that makes any difference to the likes of Perry and his ilk. They are quite upfront about their desire and intention to remake the United States into their version of a "Christian" nation, the Constitution be damned!
Then, there's the question of the efficacy of prayer. Numerous studies have been done dealing with whether or not prayer is effective. The answer has been emphatically "No!" In fact, if sick people know they are being prayed for, they become even sicker. The evangelical right have been on their collective knees for years bemoaning what they consider the immoral and unchristian policies of these United States - the disallowing of prayer/evangelizing in public schools, their inability to erect copies of the Ten Commandments in courthouses, the legality of abortion, stem-cell research, the sale of contraceptives, blah, blah, blah. But nothing's happened! You would think they'd conclude that either God doesn't give a damn or he/she doesn't exist. Not so. The jackasses conclude they need to pray/bray harder. In public.
But another question also arises: why the hell does Perry care about any of this? He's not a lover of our nation. He doesn't much like our Constitution. He hates the federal government. He's even threatened to take his beloved Texas and secede from the Union!
It appears that Perry, like Palin and Bachmann and other stupid goofballs who are too dumb to know they are too dumb to hold any public office, thinks he has been sent by God to turn this country into a right-wing religious freakshow.
If there really were a god, Perry would have been struck down by a lightning bolt a long time ago!
It appears that Perry and his friends on the religious right either do not read their beloved New Testament or they read it, don't like what it says, and thus ignore it.
In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke), the writers have fancied and created a legendary Jesus much different than that proclaimed by the religious right or the politicians who claim to have Jesus on their side.
The Synoptic Gospels tell us of a Jesus who had nothing to say about homosexuality, capitalism, abortion, debt-ceilings, or balanced budgets, but who did make inflammatory and hateful comments like "feed the poor; love your neighbor; forgive your enemy; take care of the foreigner and the immigrant; visit those in prison, don't pray in public!" and this really reactionary and subversive command - "pay your taxes!"
So, in Houston on this August 6, 2011, we will have a large group of jackasses who don't want to follow Jesus, but rather, having recreated Jesus in their own image, gather in Reliant Stadium to pray to their imaginary Jesus in the hopes that Jesus/God will intervene to correct all the terrible mistakes these jackasses have made in his name so they don't have to get their own hands dirty by actually doing what Jesus said to do!
All of which means, we have, in Houston today, a large group of jackasses who have come together to bray!
Note: As of August 3, only 8,000 people had signed up online for this jackass event. The stadium holds over 50,000. Thus, it is not quite the response that Perry, the pompous, pious, jackass governor of Texas was hoping for.
But prayer isn't what this event is all about. It was planned in order to give Perry national exposure and make him credible as a GOP candidate for president among the teapot crackpots and other far-right christianist members of the Repugnican Party!
And here is a link to an article detailing the creepy religious folks who stand in the shadows of Perry and this event.
Update and correction: According to an article at the Huffington Post, about 30,000 people attended this Houston brayer event. The stadium seats over 71,000.
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