Here are some of the week’s most notable quotes culled from news reports from across Texas, and beyond.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, poking fun at himself and his much-publicized debate gaffe on David Letterman’s talk show.
Actually, there were three reasons I messed up last night: 1) was the nerves and 2) was the headache and 3) um…uh…oops.
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Amelia Perry, mother of Gov. Rick Perry, interrupting a sermon at her church when the pastor made a general statement that politicians lie.
John, my son is the governor of the great state of Texas. And he is not a liar.
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Comedian Stephen Colbert, in his mock defense of state Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, who last week made headlines when he used an ethnic slur during a public hearing.
Get off his back, media.
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Phil Bryant, the Republican lieutenant governor of Mississippi and co-chair of the Yes on 26 campaign.
. . . the evil dark side that exists in this world is taking hold. And they’re saying, what we want you to be able to do is continue to extinguish innocent life. You see, if we could do that, Satan wins.
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David P. Gushee, distinguished professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University in Georgia, on religion in politics.
Precisely as a Christian, I call for my fellow Christians to try an experiment. For lack of a better term, let’s normalize, even secularize, our approach to the next election. Ask all candidates to drop the God talk. Recognize and reject all forms of religious pandering. Punish candidates who make base appeals to religious tribalism. Evaluate candidates according to their past performance and current policy proposals related to the major challenges facing our nation. Read the Declaration of Independence and Constitution for a refresher. Pastors, stay home and preach the Gospel rather than being precinct captains. If you want to engage in relevant political reflection, wrestle in your sermons with how constitutional democracy and broad Christian moral principles relate to each other.
As a non-Christian (Yes, Virginia, there are people who are not Christians) I applaud what David P. Gushee wrote. There is a time and a place to express one’s religious convictions: In a house of worship or in one’s own home. Nothing steams me more than to go to a secular event and have some cretin stand up and ask the attendees to “bow our heads and ask our Lord and Savior to be with us… Christians DO NOT READ THEIR BIBLES else they would obey what their guy said in Matthew 6:6. He told them NOT TO PRAY IN PUBLIC! If a political candidate cannot even obey their own deity, then how in the hell can anyone trust them to do what is right when they’re in power? As far as I’m concerned, I will not vote for ANY person who pounds his/her chest and says what a great Christian they are. They cannot be trusted!
Y’know, the Obama administration is the CLEANEST administration that I can recall and he has never, to my recall, has ever pushed his religious beliefs. Compare the lack of “dirt” in his administration with the lack of religiosity he expresses.
The Obama’s are a Christian family, a family that I can fully appreciate. If the Republicans were not so intent on making him a one-term president, there is no telling how much more he could achieve.
Speaking of Republicans, it is my opinion that is beginning to spread that they are un-American because instead of doing the work for which they were sent to do, they block every bill that the Obama administration has proposed has been filibustered or voted down DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE BILLS THEY REFUSE TO PASS ARE PREVENTING PEOPLE FROM GETTING BACK TO WORK AND REPAIRING THE BUSH RECESSION.
Oh, but they’re such FINE Christians, just ask them. Fine Christians are not supposed to help others, not hurt them. It is about as un-Christian a thing to sit back and watch families being tossed out of their homes, and see families going to sleep hungry only to wake up hungry.
Mind you, I am not lambasting all Christians, just those who are Republicans; they have much to be ashamed about.
Thank you, Dr. Guthee, for reaffirming that God is NOT a republican. Which begs the question, shouldn’t churches lose their 501c3 status if they preach politics from the pulpit?
It is amazing how many Christians do things that the Bible says not to do. Is there some grand conspiracy all of us atheists gag Bibles?