Rick Riffs on Religion

Today, Texas Governor Rick Perry released a new campaign ad aimed at courting a particularly elusive segment of the voting population: the Religious Right.

In his typical ham-handed fashion, Governor Carhartt von Everyman establishes in just 30 seconds that:

• He’s a Christian.
• He’s not afraid to admit that he’s a Christian.
• Gay people can serve in the military.
• Children can’t openly celebrate Christmas.
• Children can’t pray in school.
• President Obama is waging war on religion.
• Liberals are attacking our religious heritage.
• We have a religious heritage.

Wait, what? Is this just a series of random thoughts? Rick riffs on religion? Let’s unpack this a little.

Obviously any serious candidate for the Republican nomination is going to be a Christian (except for Romney, depending on whom you ask), so it makes sense that he says it up front. Let the values voters know they’re dealing with a serious god-fearing man.

But then he decided while he was in the neighborhood, to cover some hot topics like Gays “endangering” the integrity of the military, the “War”on Christmas, and the heathen liberal assault on Christianity.

All this is red meat for the religious right.

But cold turkey for most everyone else.

President Obama’s waging a war on religion? Is this because he admitted–out loud–that there are secular people in this country and that they’re Americans, too?

The ad makes clear where Perry stands on the debatable assertion that America is a “Christian” nation (good luck with those Jewish voters).

But it is worth pointing out that children can, in fact, pray in school. Teachers cannot lead prayer and public schools cannot sponsor religious events but individual students are perfectly within their rights to bow their heads before eating or invoke whatever god they choose before a big exam.

For more info, check out Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Abington School District v. Schempp (1963). Also, the “Lemon Test.”

With Perry’s new religious relaunch of his campaign it would be tempting to offer the Governor a “Happy Winter Holidays!” but his poll numbers suggest that he may not have much to be happy about in the weeks ahead.