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August 5th, 2011
09:35 PM ET
Perry prayer event hopes to pray away the malaiseBy Jim Acosta and Erika Dimmler, CNN Houston, Texas (CNN) – Rick Perry seems to believe in the power of mixing prayer and politics. The Texas governor has called on both Christians and politicians to attend his religious gathering, dubbed "The Response," in Houston this weekend. In a video posted on "The Response" web site, Perry said he hopes worshipers at the event will help kick-start the nation's sluggish economy. In other words: pray away the malaise. Read the full story at CNN's Political Ticker |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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For the most part this a political stunt by Perry to get votes. The way I see it, Perry has given up. He doesn't have any answers, therefore, suggests praying. Is this the type of person we want in the WH or running a state?
No
Peace...
Americans are stupid to mock Christianity when they are losing everything from honor to family to money. Americans don't really know what real crisis or sufferings are except the American missionaries and American soldiers. Even if there were troubles, those only made the media richer. Americans have been always in safety for most part. It's time to listen to godly figures nation-wide again.
@TruthMatters
Whaaaaaaat the heck are you thinkin' ...?
Peace...
What Godly figures? The yahoo in this article?
What if I believe Christianity is a false doctrine, and harmful more often than helpful? What then? I should still do what YOU say, because YOU believe it's true? Fake it till ya make it?
Most of those that was made slaves owed the person something and it was a way of relieving your depts . You can also use that as a metaphor for how we should be toward God, in a since, because he is our master.
As for praying though to the Lord, I was at one time very out spoken and against anything that had to do with church or God. I explored many different faiths and never found Him. One night I thought of all I have and didn't like what I saw in myself. I started to pray but nothing happened. I tried to read the bible and found it boring and dull. This went on for a few week but I continued to pray. Then one night while I prayed I didn't feal alone. This is truely hard to explain but I'll do my best. I felt surrounded but not threten it was conforting and peaceful. After I was done praying I was hungry for more and started to look for Him even harder. Then I met the woman who whould later become my wife. ( I asked her to take me to her church). She really didn't want me to go. She was afraid that they would scare me off. But there I found what I was looking for. God reveiled Himself to me. I went there a year was filled with the Holy Ghost and baptised in Jesus name. A few months later me and my future wife started to date and was married shortly after. I was 25 when I found the Lord. I'm 28 now and I thank God everyday from where he brought me from. He has truely blessed me and my family.
@a person of the Name
Thanks for sharing your experiences. While you and I may not be in agreement ideologically speaking, nevertheless, I certainly appreciate your heart-felt sharing of your experiences.
And most specifically... very happy for you that 'you' are happy, regardless as to what you attribute it to, self actualization, God, etc...
Wishing you and your wife years of happiness and success !
Respectfully,
Peace...
Prayer sounds like the best option to me........ If you don't believe that's fine, don't attend.
A better option than performing a rain dance? Why?
Curling up into the fetal position and weeping will achieve the same results.
@jmb2fly
So, your answer to our economic crisis is... prayer...?
I'm going with @Free's "rain dance" option.
Peace...
Let me get this straight- an American Governor, here in the 21st century, is appealing for people to PRAY to a supernatural deity (of their choice, I assume) to ask if he would kindly stop a heat wave from occurring. This is a state that teaches fairytales instead of real science at high school level, I take it. God knows no-one in that state has any brains to do something actually constructive. What the hell has happened to Americans in my generation? Regimes like China are taking over and they're busy writing letters to Santa Claus. Just look at the imbeciles they chose to represent them- Palin, Bush, a couple of Mor(m)ons… 300 millions of Americans and that's what they have to pull them out of their decline. What would Gibbon make of it?
http://www.tracesofevil.com
Well Texas does have a better economy than most of the rest of the US.
Let's see? Heat wave? That'd be Ra's jurisdiction, right?
Texas is not the only place in the country that is having a heat wave. Texas is usually hot anyways. Probably just a little hotter than usual this year.
George Bush called for a day of prayer before taking action after 911. The day was for the nation to reflect and ponder with God what our response should be. Congress shot it down and there was to be no day of prayer because some that do not pray would be offended.
Well we will now never know what could have happened. God could have shown us a better way than getting into IRAQ but we never gave it a chance.
As to Texas rain is on its way in the form of a drenching.
@fred
" Well we will now never know what could have happened. God could have shown us a better way than getting into IRAQ but we never gave it a chance. "
You mean to tell me that the reason we went into Iraq the way we did was because W. didn't get to order a national day of prayer en masse... ergo... that's why it didn't work...?
Hmmm... Well, thanks for clearing that one up, as I was wondering why it turned out to be such a cluster- f u c k.
But, hey... didn't it occur to you christians that you could 'all' just pray -anyway-, which if I were to guess, most 'all' of you did, and there ya' go... Same results.
So, no... not interested in insti-tutionalizing christian prayer for everyone.
Regards,
Peace...
@fred
"Well we will now never know what could have happened. God could have shown us a better way than getting into IRAQ but we never gave it a chance."
That's a really nice god you've got there.
I think the Iraq thing was for the most part GW bush's fault. He was the one that wanted to do it, although congress shouldnt have authorized it either.
@Keir: Actually no. It's not to the god of your choice. Perry and the other organizers of this farce have made it clear that only prayer to their Lord Jesus is acceptable.
And no I don't blieve the world is only 6000 years old. It's much older then that but truely what is time compared to God. A day to us may not be a day to him. There is a lot of proof that there was a great flood at some point in time and how would you explain why the human genome is so small? If we didn't come from a singular point not just once but twice.
The Christian God is an awesome God. Not just awesome, but awesome, dudical, gnarly, tubular, outrageous, and bodacious
The Christian God is a stupid stoned wannabe surfer from Southern California? That would explain why his religion is so fucked up.
Sounds like you need to come and hang ten with some Christians sometime.
No way. Jesus sends sharks to bite the arms off Christian surfers, because He loves and protects them.
I'll grant you, some of the things that YHWH does in the Bible are pretty 'outrageous', but not in any morally good way.
I can understand your view points. I was raised atheist but though prayer I found God and he spoke to me. Not in a physical sense mind you but in my heart. The bible has revealed many things to me since.
Slavery has never been ok and never will it be. Tell me where you seen that in the bible so I may clear that up for you.
"If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.' If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever." Exodus 21:2-6
"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment." Exodus 21:7-11
"When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property." Exodus 21:20-2
"However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way." Leviticus 25:44-4
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ." Ephesians 6:5
"Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them." 1 Timothy 6:1-2
Condoned, sanctioned and even regulated. The abolitionists didn't find their opposition to slavery by reading scripture, they found it in their conscience, and then linked that newfound morality to generally unrelated verses. It was the slave owners who had the Bible to back them up. Few Christians opposed slavery until the 19th century, with St. Patrick being one of those very few exceptions.
@a person of the Name
You Said: " God spoke to me. Not in a physical sense mind you but in my heart. "
I'm certainly not trying to diminish your experience. And, you do realize that what you just stated above is a total contradiction, yes...?
However, I am curious to hear about your experience, if you wouldn't mind elaborating a bit...?
Regards,
Peace...
I've read that statement so many times its funny. They base there findings off theory there is no proof. The bible is fact and has been proven though archeological finds.
obvious troll is obvious
@a person of the Name
You Said: " The bible is fact and has been proven though archeological finds. "
It is certainly possible that there 'may' be some correlation between some things written by man in the bible and some archaeological findings.
But, even if there is, that is a far cry from proving that there were talking snakes, earth is 6k years old, Noah & the ark, etc...
And, probably most important to the christians and your faith would be evidence that God wrote the bible, Yeshua actually lived and was/is the Son of God... lived, died on the cross, and was seen as a ghost walking around, and then ascending into heaven etc...
The bible cannot "prove" any of that, let alone through archaeological findings... at least not yet to my knowledge.
Regards,
Peace...
Hmm, how you figure? The bible holds many truths to those who seek His wisdom. I'll admit that before I found God I didn't understand a lot of it, but once I found Him it was easy to read and find meaning.
Do you mean that, once you took a leap of faith and came to believe that the Bible was inspired by God, then you came to assume that it must make 'sense' as well? However, didn't you learn to believe in God by reading the Bible? Kinda circular, your path to understanding, isn't it?
The bible says that slavery is ok. Did God tell you about that when he enlightened you?
Most politicians find God just before they join the Republican party.
Condemned prisoners always find Jesus too. Do you think Hitler "found" Jesus while he and Eva were in the Bunker waiting for the Russians to hang them? If he did, does that mean that HItler could actually be in Heaven with Jesus, while the 6 million men, women, and childrent that he murdered all burn in hell for eternity?
Reiteration is great for the learning process. As is reading and rational thinking followed by conclusions based on all of it.
A response to the "Response":
The Apostles' Creed 2011: (updated by yours truly and based on the studies of historians and theologians during the past 200 years)
I might believe in a god whose existence cannot be proven
and said god if he/she/it exists resides in an unproven,
human-created, spirit state of bliss called heaven.
I believe there was a 1st century CE, Jewish, simple,
preacher-man who was conceived by a Jewish carpenter
named Joseph living in Nazareth and born of a young Jewish
girl named Mary. (Some say he was a mamzer.)
Jesus was summarily crucified for being a temple rabble-rouser by
the Roman troops in Jerusalem serving under Pontius Pilate,
He was buried in an unmarked grave and still lies
a-mouldering in the ground somewhere outside of
Jerusalem.
Said Jesus' story was embellished and "mythicized" by
many semi-fiction writers. A descent into Hell, a bodily resurrection
and ascension stories were promulgated to compete with the
Caesar myths. Said stories were so popular that they
grew into a religion known today as Catholicism/Christianity
and featuring dark-age, daily wine to blood and bread to body rituals
called the eucharistic sacrifice of the non-atoning Jesus.
Amen
=================================================================
@ LinCa you've said that to me before.@ Han Prayer does work, its worked many times for me and the people I love. It has worked for friends as well as family. You should try and seek God and try it for yourself.
@a person of the Name
You said "@ LinCa you've said that to me before."
I know, but it is worth repeating.
How do you explain the fact that the likelihood of prayers being answered are EXACTLY the same as the odds of pure chance? What about all those that pray in earnest and are devout Christians and they are not answered?
I fully agree with the thought of prayer. God answers prayers for those who pray in ernest but I also think you have to put the work in for as well. God helps those who meet Him half way. We have a long way to go until this country gets to where it needs to be. To any of you who think that being a Christian automaticly makes you against anything that's not, remember well that its the non-beleivers that's making a fuss over anything that has to do with any god. I fully believe that my Lord and Savior died on the cross so that we might live. So get away from the hate. What we need may not be a Christian because the Lord know that not all those who claim to be Christian live a Christian life but what we do need is someone who's not greedy and underhanded. Someone that holds true to what they say and meets the needs of the people not just a select few. I will be praying for this country but we also need someone in office to put forth the effort.
@a person of the Name
You said "I will be praying for this country..."
Prayer has been shown to have no effect. If instead, you recycle a single sheet of paper, you will have done more for your country than all prayer for it combined.
*************************************************************FeatherKnife! What are you babling about?*************************************************************************
I should have made it clear, I have no objections to a Christian in the WH, but they need to be strong and make good decisions.
Good decisions for Christians, or for all Americans?
Good decisions for Christians are good decisions for Americans since Christians created America to be godly.
TruthMatters
The Founding Fathers created this country, and they originally made decisions to benefit white males. I think we've moved beyond that limited vision, eh?
We Have a Christian in the WH-we have had a Christian in the WH since practically the beginning of this country, with the possible exception of the first few, since many of the Founding Fathers were Deists. Prayer rallies, etc. have no place in politics. It has only EVER caused strife, upheaval, and calamities the like of which this nation has yet to experience, but seems determined to bring down upon itself.
Faith belongs in the home, where individuals should individually embrace better habits and behaviors according to their own beliefs, and then bring those behaviors into their personal and public life. The only way for a society to become 'better' is if the individuals in it become 'better', from the inside out.
Free Will, the ultimate Divine gift-screaming for help when you make the wrong choices does not mean help is forthcoming-Free Will means you get to use the same shovel to dig out that you used to dig too deep.
Remember, the Supreme Being sees the smallest sparrow fall, and lets it fall...
Also a Christian.
Pam! WHAT? GMAB. All chiefs w/big egos hiring indians w/big egos. Want the country out of this fiasco? Hire humble Christians who actually read the Bible and revere God who is awesome and taught them His wisdom.
They will then roll up their sleeves and get what needs to be done in the righteous way they were taught.
Amen.
Both of you sound like you are crazy. If you have really read the bible then you can not be a moral person.
HeavenSent
And you are basing this on what? Your experience of what a bunch of volunteers can do by donating their time and 10% of their earnings so that their minister can dress in expensive silk suits? Are you seriously suggesting that there is no profiteering, incompetence, decadence or excess within the Christian world? Get real!
Heaven Sent: "Hire humble Christians"
Ah, the 'humble' Christian ones... who like to leave religious tracts on coworkers' desks and car windshields, and preach in the lunchroom and any other place that they get a chance?
I_get_it
He wants 'humble' Christians to get involved in the politics of running the nation. I doubt that he'd find any who are interested. Those who are sure won't be very humble. That's not a criticism against Christians, it's a criticism against politicians.
Although a Christian, I would not vote for Perry, not because he is a Christian, but because I do not believe he could make the tough decisions. I believe he would be much like Bush, whom I voted for, but I was very disapointed with.him. He made many decisions that I could not agree with, one in particular was stem cell research. I was never in complete harmony with him on the war in Iraq. I'm not in agreement with the war in libya either. Another thing, Bush was willing to send troops to a foregin country to die "in the defence of our country", but he would not defend our boarders. Even though others disagree with me, to me that was treason! Because he sowre an oath to defend this country and he did not.
@Bo
Hey there -Bo... What's shakin' ?
Looks like we are in basic agreement. Especially regarding your comments about President Bush, Jr.
Regarding Gov. Perry, I would just add that 'one' of the reasons I wouldn't vote for him is because I don't think he is 'competent' in making decisions reflective of the POTUS.
And... he seems to also be a pretty fundamental christian which doesn't help his case, for a lot of us... IMO.
Regards,
Peace...
Bo it doesn't sound like he didn't make tough decisions.....He just didn't decide the way YOU thought he should. .....Big difference.
Pray the gay away!!! And my wrinkles!
Cretins who think prayers produce some kind of result are distressing.
Good for Gov. Perry. If we had a Christian in the WH, perhaps this country would not be in such a bad shape. The U.S. credit rating was downgraded today. The greatest nation in the world??? Used to be. More and more unemployment, more and more murders, robberies, homeless children, empty homes, etc. God help us all.
A Catholic who thinks this prayer rally needs to happen in every state of this nation, and often.
@John Kindle
Do you really believe that the answers to our economic crisis is having a "Christian in the WH"...?
That's your answer...?
Your right, our country 'really' is in trouble with people that think that a particular brand of religion is the answer.
Regards,
Peace...
@John Kindle
Oh, and BTW- We already have a "Christian" in the WH, dude.
Peace...
When Al Gore, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton used the pulpit in (primarily black) churches for political purposes there wasn't a peep out of the press! Why all the fuss over Rick Perry in Houston?
Oh ......god is mad at us I guess. Elected somebody he doesn't like! Seriously, are you even aware of how completely ridiculous that sounds/is? God has set it up so that every single human dies anyway. He is going to send a whole lot of us to hell to suffer horribly forever. He must really hate our guts. Either that or he is the most narcissistic, unfair, psychopath supreme being ever. Or................................................................religion is the worst kind of self deception, and humanity is waaaaaaay better off without it. The last thing we need is political leaders who actually believe this stuff..............or pretend that they do.
The trouble began with the previous WH Christian. Why should it matter anyway? Prayer is powerful. God answers prayers. Then again God has a plan and she is going to follow her plan regardless of our prayers. Right? Or maybe if the readout on the prayer meeter is high enough then she will change her plan?
I AM LIKE A KID WITH CANDY ITS ABOUT TIME SOMEONE IN THE BIG HOUSE REFLECTED ON THE "IN GOD WE TRUST" WATCH GOD MOVE!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU ARE ASHAMED OF ME I WILL BE ASHAMED OF YOU INFRONT OF MY FATHER..HE SAYS GO RICK.... I AM DEMOCRATIC BUT YOU PULLED ME TO YOU
You seem demented and moderately ret@rded. Please don't reproduce.
Wasn't the previous occupant of the oval office the most visibly Christian president since Reagan? How did that work for the country?
American Presidents have been mostly Christians for all time from the start to the last. It's the last few decades the American public became openly perv and the secularists started oppressing Christians on American soil. The Jews killed their Messiah; Americans silence those who follow the Founders. Sicko injustice is common in the human societies, the reason there is the Judgment Day from God.
Anti-Christian Americans should not be allowed to live in USA. They should go live in China, their atheist ally, and pay off the debts.
TruthMatters
Until relatively recently almost all Americans were Christian, and we allowed immigrants mostly from Christian parts of the world. Times have changed. There are sizeable populations of citizens who are not Christian, and their president has a duty to look after their interests too.