Rick Perry

Sometimes you have to wonder if Rick Perry had any idea what he was getting into when he decided to organizer a massive public prayer rally with the bigoted American Family Association and then fill it with a bunch of Religious Right activists and self-proclaimed "prophets" and "apostles" who believe that Oprah is a forerunner to the Antichrist and the Statue of Liberty is a "demonic idol."

Because it sure seems like he doesn't have a clue at all:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that he doesn't necessarily subscribe to the beliefs of some of the ministers coming to his prayer summit next month.

"I'm sure that through my elections in the past that there have been some groups that have endorsed me publicly, that I appreciate their endorsements, but their endorsements of me doesn't mean I endorse what they believe in or what they say," Perry said.

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In his first discussion with reporters about some of the ministers associated with his call to pray for the nation, Perry indicated he is willing to associate with all of them even if he disagrees with some of their beliefs. He likened it to political endorsements.

"I appreciate anyone who's going to endorse me, whether it's on The Response, or whether it's on a potential run for the presidency of the United States," he said. "Just because you endorse me doesn't mean I endorse everything that you say or do."

Does he not recall what happened when John McCain accepted the endorsements of John Hagee and Rod Parsely?  He had to publicly reject them because of the radical things they had said and, in doing so, made clear that their views were "crazy and unacceptable" as well as "deeply offensive and indefensible" and stated that "there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America, and I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn't endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement."

Perry, by contrast, is including Hagee in his prayer rally, along with a variety of other fringe figures who have said equally outrageous things. And Perry is more than willing to publicly stand with every one of them while claiming that he is not responsible in any way.

This is not some prayer rally being organized by some other group at which he is simply going to be an attendee; this is Rick Perry's prayer event - he conceived it, he set it in motion, and he is its public face. 

And he is therefore responsible for the types of people he chooses to associate with at his event.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is working with yet another extreme organization ardently opposed to gay rights. The virulently anti-gay American Family Association is the host of Perry’s prayer rally, and another endorser of The Response is David Kubal of Intercessors for America, an organization which claims to helps Christians who recognize “the need for God to intervene in U.S. governmental and cultural issues” about current political and cultural issues.

Among the issues Intercessors For America focuses on include the threat of microchips implanted into humans, the so-called North American Union, and the supposed wrongdoings of the Obama Administration. Most recently, Intercessors for America asked members to be wary of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Washington, D.C.: “Pray that any occult spirits from the Dalai Lama and monks of Tibetan Buddhism will be bound and unable to bring harm to Washington, D.C. or the U.S.A. May they and those they seek to influence, or have influenced in the past, be set free from the power of darkness and come to know the light of life in Jesus Christ!”

Kubal’s Intercessors for America is also a harsh critic of gay equality and a vocal proponent of ex-gay reparative therapy. An endorser of the ex-gay group Exodus International, Intercessors For America hosted Bob Ragan, formerly of Exodus International, to give a speech on “Freedom From Homosexuality.” Furthermore, the group prayed to stop anti-bullying laws to protect LGBT and LGBT-perceived youth, warning they “can only lead to God’s judgment,” and that support for marriage equality “leads a soul to eternal damnation”:

Marriage equality in New York: By the signing of this measure into law it has opened the door by inviting the spiritually blind to walk in degradation, accepting a reduction in rank, dignity, standing, losing their honor of a sound reputation, accepting humiliation, and moral and intellectual decay which eventually leads a soul to eternal damnation unless they repent.

Ask the Heavenly Father to bind this edict from gaining acceptance in the hearts of the populace of New York. Ask the Lord to loose the power of His holy and eternal love to each of those who will turn back to God and denounce this unrighteous lifestyle.

Gay rights: Pray that this "homosexual" agenda initiated by an extremely small minority of individuals be exposed to the whole of our U.S. citizenry, and that a proper response and correction be made to this attempted corruption of our governmental principles. Ask the Lord to raise up leaders to bring this corrupt movement to a halt.

Anti-LGBT bullying: Ask God to help us to speak the truth in love to young people who are being affected by the "LGBT" lifestyle. Ask the Lord to protect those “bullied” by any corrupt government effort to promote sinful sexual practice among our youth. Ask the Lord to help our citizenry to stand courageously against these misguided “bullying” efforts which can only lead to God's judgment!

Student Non-Discrimination Act: (H.R.998 & S.555) These parallel bills both prohibit public school students from being excluded from participating in, or subject to discrimination under, any federally-assisted educational program on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or that of their associates. S.555 Bill Summary & Status 112th Congress (2011 - 2012) Legal experts believe that, if passed, this bill will actually empower the homosexual community to dictate curriculum in all our schools, public and private. As a result, our schools may become a form of "indoctrination centers" for the gay lifestyle. (Contributors: Library of Congress, Capitol Hill Prayer Partners)

Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world! Ask the Lord to forgive the sponsors of these bills for they know not what they do.

We are starting to get the impression that Gov. Rick Perry and those organizing his massive public prayer event have not really put much thought into how it might look.

Response spokesperson Eric Bearse actually admitted that no one is vetting the endorsers of the event, to which we can only reply "well, no duh!"

And now Perry and organizers are trying to defend the event by insisting that it is entirely non-political:

Perry spoke to pastors from around the country in a conference call regarding The Response, a daylong prayer and fasting event planned for Aug 6 at Reliant Stadium.

"I know there are people, critics, that say this is just some political event," Perry said. "Well it's not that. This event is not about supporting some organization...It's going to be very simple...It's just a time to call out to god and that's it and lift Jesus’ name up on high."

Event organizers on the call stressed that the event is designed to be religious in nature. They said attendees will be encouraged not to wear political shirts or bring political signs to the event.

"This is not an issue of who's going to be our president...It absolutely has nothing to do with that at all. it's about making Jesus king...," said Jim Garlow, a California Pastor.

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Garlow said Perry’s involvement in the event is key to its historic

"We have not seen historically a governor call other governors to a national prayer before that I'm aware of," Garlow said. "Even if only 1 or 2 other governors respond, at least this governor had the courage to ask other governors to respond. That's critical."

Perry conceded some assume there are "other motivations" behind the event. Perry is widely expected to announce whether he’s running for president soon after the event.

"I can't control that," Perry said. "We can't control that. We're just going to pray. We're just going to get on our knees and pray right there in Reliant Stadium."

Rick Perry is a sitting governor and likely presidential candidate who is partnering with an extremely powerful Religious Right political organization in order to organize a event that features a variety of Religious Right political activists, all for the purpose of seeking God's help in solving the nation's "economic, political, and military" problems.

But the event is entirely non-political.

Whatever.

And frankly, the political nature of Perry's event is really the least of his problems.

Last night Rachel Maddow looked into the radical views of the preachers and activists that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is partnering with to put on his The Response prayer rally. Utilizing research from People For the American Way’s Right Wing Watch, Maddow featured video of Mike Bickle, John Hagee, Bryan Fischer, Cindy Jacobs, John Benefiel and C. Peter Wagner, and discussed Perry’s attempts to win support from the Religious Right as he weighs a run for the presidency.

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As we've been reporting on Right Wing Watch, Texas Governor Rick Perry is working a number of radical preachers to plan his upcoming Christians-only prayer rally. Perry's partners in the event include extremists who believe that tolerance for homosexuality caused the September 11th attacks, Oprah Winfrey is the harbinger of the Antichrist, the deadly Japanese earthquake was caused by the country’s Emperor having sex with a demon, the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell caused bird deaths in Arkansas and violence should be considered to overthrow President Obama, among many other extreme beliefs.

One self-described ‘Apostle’ who has signed on as an official endorser to Perry's The Response prayer rally is John Benefiel of the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network, a group affiliated with the New Apostolic Reformation with ties to other The Response endorsers including Cindy Jacobs, C. Peter Wagner and Jay Swallow. In a sermon last August, Benefiel argued that America is under a curse from God because the country possesses monuments to pagan idols and that Americans needs to renounce those idols if not destroy them. Benefiel claims that the Statue of Liberty is in fact a “demonic idol” because it represents a “false goddess.”

Watch:

Libertas is also called the Freedom Goddess, Lady Freedom, the Goddess of Liberty. You know there’s a statue in New York harbor called the Statue of Liberty. You know where we got it from? French Free Masons. Listen folks that is an idol, a demonic idol, right there in New York harbor. People say, ‘well no it’s patriotic.’ What makes it patriotic? Why is it? It’s a statue of a false goddess, the Queen of Heaven. We don’t get liberty from a false goddess folks, we get our liberty from Jesus Christ and that Statue of Liberty in no way glorifies Jesus Christ. There is no connection whatsoever. So I’m just telling you we practice idolatry in America in ways that we don’t even recognize.

Willie Wooten of is one of the latest official endorsers of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s The Response prayer rally. Wooten, of the New Orleans-based Gideon International Christian Fellowship, is a self-proclaimed Apostle who claims to have “had a positive influence in the governmental arena and has been instrumental in preventing ungodly laws from being enacted within the state of Louisiana and also throughout our nation.”

A critic of gay rights, Wooten has compared being gay to polygamy and incest and argued that “homosexual marriage is not a civil rights issue; it’s a moral issue. It is a deviant type of behavior and lifestyle. How do they do it? It’s too nasty.” Wooten feverishly works against legislation in Louisiana that would grant gay and lesbian couples legal rights and protect gays and lesbians from employment discrimination and school bullying. Wooten claims that because black legislators have oftentimes proposed such legislation, the black community faces a curse from God. According to an article from the Louisiana newspaper The Advocate:

"We call on our lawmakers -- and especially the Black Caucus members -- to be strong and courageous as you give priority to this matter and do all that is in your power to protect historic marriage," Wooten said.

Disasters "heaped upon" Louisiana's black community occur because "a lot of our legislators are not on the side of God and His moral laws,"

In fact, Wooten wrote an entire book about how the African American community is under a curse from God because black leaders have promoted liberalism and the Democratic Party. In Breaking The Curse Off Black America, Wooten blames African American political and religious leaders for crossing God through “immorality,” making God punish African Americans, which in turn leads to the curses of “adultery, incest, children from incestuous union, children born out-of-wedlock, destroyed virginity, bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism.” Wooten says that African Americans beget God’s punishment by voting for Democratic candidates and tolerating homosexuality, and only through Wooten’s brand of ultraconservative politics and spiritual warfare can Black America be redeemed:

Increased numbers of young people were embracing homosexuality (the “Down Low” bisexual lifestyle), prostitution, and all sorts of perversion. How could this be, knowing that we were raised in different environments? Now it is becoming clear. There is a curse on Black America. As I could see this truth being realized, God began pouring an abundance of revelations into my heart (p. 19).

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The result of a curse brings regret, mourning, and grief. For example, if the sin is sexual, it could bring adultery, incest, children from incestuous union, children born out-of-wedlock, destroyed virginity, bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism, and sodomy. Other curses can be activated through rebellion against God and His words; parents, pastors, rulers and authorities, turning away from God, idolatry, pride, fleshly practices, and touching and harming God’s anointed (p. 64).

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A dark cloud appears to hover over Black America, even with our measure of achievements, we are engulfed in a culture of sin. Our leadership has led people to agree with sin, leading them into a political party and boldly chiding them if they attempt to go any another way. That party, the Democratic party, is consistently on the wrong side of moral issues. The party led the way for proabortion and homosexuality legislation. Ninety percent of voting Black America have been steadfast in voting democrat. They have not voted issues, they have voted the party and the party has used them. Blacks have been crying out for the same issues and problems to be addressed. Still the masses have voted for ungodly laws. Blacks are on the wrong side of moral issues nationwide (p. 82).

…

The man of God could not have his testicles damaged or defective. This speaks of his inability to procreate. There is an inability by far too many black leaders to produce sons of God who are truly spiritual people. Consequently, there is a great lack of discipleship, and also, there is an out-of-control sexual appetite among too many pastors and church leaders. God does not and never will accept the black leaders’ mantra of “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” or “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” or “touch not mine anointed.” There is too much immorality in the Black Church, namely greed, pedophilia, homosexuality, lesbianism, adultery, and fornication (p. 107).

Last week, Time's Amy Sullivan reported that dozens of Religious Right leaders gathered for "a conference call to discuss their dissatisfaction with the current GOP presidential field, and agreed that Rick Perry would be their preferred candidate if he entered the race."

Brian Kaylor of EthicsDaily.com had reported on the same thing a few weeks back, noting that the effort was being organized by James Robison.

Last Friday, Robison wrote a post on his blog in which explained that he had called these gatherings in September of 2010 and June of 2011 because "there is an insidious attack on God, faith, family and freedom" and that God was planning on using this group of "national leaders to help inspire a spiritual awakening, a return to sanity and a restoration of freedom’s foundation."

And he also conveniently posted a list of every person who had participated:

• Tony Perkins wants it known that, contrary to reports, he was not on the Religious Right's Rick Perry conference call.
• It is apparently unfair for Rep. Keith Ellison to point out that his opponent is an intolerant anti-Islam right wing activist.
• I never fails to amuse me when Religious Right groups best known for hating gays decide to speak out on foreign policy issues.
• It looks like Sally Kern will be promoting her new book on AFA Radio and with Concerned Women for America, so we have that to look forward to.
• Finally, Peter LaBarbera says "Christians and all defenders of sexual normalcy ... no other choice but to fight back against the emerging liberal homo-fascism."

Right Wing Watch has documented the close ties between Gov. Rick Perry’s The Response prayer rally and the International House of Prayer (IHOP), not the least of which is that IHOP’s affiliated The Call rallies appear to serve as a model for The Response. Mike Bickle, the founder and executive director of IHOP -- who along with Lou Engle made IHOP a prominent force in the Religious Right – is also an official endorser of The Response. Like Engle, Bickle is a radical who pushes extraordinary End Times prophesies.

In an undated GOD TV video about the End Times, Bickle claims that Oprah Winfrey will be one of the principal “pastors” of the “Harlot Babylon,” which he says is the precursor to the coming of the Antichrist. Bickle predicts that progressive Christians and humanitarian activists will work with Winfrey to create a unified one-world religion based on tolerance that will ultimately be used by the Antichrist to take global power and introduce demon-worship. Bickle goes on to argue that the End Times will see marriage outlawed due to the legalization of same-sex marriage: “Marriage as an institution will be forbidden in parts of the earth, as one of the signs of the times, the gay marriage agenda, which is rooted in the depths of hell, this is not about love, this is deception.”

Bickle: The Harlot Babylon is preparing the nations to receive the Antichrist. The Harlot Babylon will be a religion of affirmation, toleration, no absolutes, a counterfeit justice movement. They will feed the poor, have humanitarian projects, inspire acts of compassion for all the wrong reasons. They won’t know it, beloved they will be sincere, many of them, but their sincerity will not in any way lessen the impact of their deception. The fact that they are sincere does not make their deception less damaging. I believe that one of the main pastors, as a forerunner to the Harlot movement, it’s not the Harlot movement yet, is Oprah. She is winsome, she is kind, she is reasonable, she is utterly deceived, utterly deceived. A classy woman, a cool woman, a charming woman, but has a spirit of deception and she is one of the clear pastors, forerunners to the Harlot movement.