Shameful. That’s really the only way to describe Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s hyperbolic rhetoric in Dallas yesterday, when he used faith as a weapon to divide Texans in this election year. Gov. Perry was speaking at an event hosted by the far-right Texas Eagle Forum on the eve of the Texas Republican Party convention in the same city.
Gov. Perry “painted the upcoming election as a religious crusade to take back the soul of the country,” the Dallas Morning News reported:
“We will raise our voices in defense of our values and in defiance of the hollow precepts and shameful self-interests that guide our opponents on the left,” Perry said to the receptive audience.
He said the November election is bigger than “red states and blue states, conservatives or liberals, stimulus or budget cuts.”
“We are in a struggle for the heart and soul of our nation,” Perry said.
“That’s the question: Who do you worship? Do you believe in the primacy of unrestrained federal government? Or do you worship the God of the universe, placing our trust in him?”
Excuse us? That’s the choice? If people don’t worship God then they must worship “the primacy of unrestrained federal government” instead? It’s hard to imagine a more cynical and arrogant attack on the faith of people who don’t share Gov. Perry’s political views.
Which office does Rick Perry think he holds, that of governor or pope? While he decides, perhaps he will do Texans a favor and refrain from divisive “for us or against us” rhetoric when it comes to matters of faith.
