Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry spoke Saturday in Houston, Texas, at his Christians-only, separation of church and state violation prayer rally, quoting the Bible, often, and claiming it was a religious, not a political event. The free to the public event, named, “The Response,” was co-hosted and created by Governor Perry, and paid for by the anti-gay SPLC-certified hate group, American Family Association, to the tune of, reportedly, a million dollars.
Regular readers of The New Civil Rights Movement know well Bryan Fischer, the public voice of the American Family Association.
The event, held in Reliant Stadium, which seats 71,000, drew an estimated 30,000 attendees, according to several news sources, although only 8,000 had officially RSVP’d.
Right Wing Watch — which has an excellent detailed report of all of the group and individuals associated with “The Response” — reports:
“The Response is powered by politically active Religious Right individuals and groups who are dedicated to bringing far-right religious view, including degrading views of gays and lesbians and non-Christians, into American politics.
“In fact, a spokesman for The Response has said that while non-Christians will be welcomed at the rally, they will be urged to ‘seek out the living Christ.’ Allan Parker, a right-wing activist who participated in an organizing conference call for the event, declared in an email bearing the official Response logo that including non-Christians in the event ‘would be idolatry of the worst sort.’
“Perry told James Dobson that the rally was necessary because Americans have ‘turned away from God’.â€
Â