Texas Prayer Day Stirs Debate, Includes Anti-Gay Pastors

A prayer day called "The Response" organized by Texas Gov. Rick Perry has stirred controversy -- not least because of the views of some of the pastors and organizations associated with it.

The co-organizer of the event is the anti-gay religious organization the American Family Association. Religious right pastors Jim Garlow and John Hagee are slated to attend, along with a number of others.

Garlow, pastor at Skyline Church in La Mesa, California, was a proponent of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that snatched the then-existing right to marry from gay and lesbian families in that state. Garlow was one of those who insisted that unless marriage rights were stripped from same-sex couples, people of faith would find their religious freedoms trampled.

Hagee, pastor of a Texas megachurch, is also a well-known anti-gay pastor. Hagee suggested on a radio broadcast that Hurricane Katrina was God's divine punishment for a New Orleans Pride parade.

Another pastor associated with the prayer event is C. Peter Wagner, who, as a posting at Right Wing Watch noted, has made the claim that natural and financial disasters in Japan are the direct result of the Emperor having had sexual relations with a demon known as "the Sun Goddess."

"Japan, as a nation, is one of the nations of the world which has consciously openly invited national demonization," Wagner declared. "The Sun Goddess visits him in person and has sexual intercourse with the Emperor. A very, very powerful thing -- so the Emperor becomes one flesh with the Sun Goddess, and that is an invitation for the Sun Goddess to continue to demonize the whole nation."

Wagner went on to claim, "Since the night that the present Emperor slept with the Sun Goddess, the stock market in Japan has gone down."

Since the comments in the video clip, above, were made, Wager has reiterated his claims, saying that the tsunami that ravaged part of Japan and led to a crisis at a nuclear power plant was the result of the Emperor's sexual escapades with the "Sun Goddess."

Such claims of calamity descending upon nations and peoples due to God's wrath or demonic intervention are hardly unusual among religious extremists. But the claims of another right wing pastor endorsing the seven-hour event, scheduled to take place on Aug. 6, place the blame for the suffering of African Americans squarely on gays.

Or rather, the claim -- made by Anti-pastor Willie Wooten -- is that African American political leaders have invited God's "curse" upon all African Americans by supporting GLBT protections and equality measures.

Wooten, Right Wing watch reported in a July 11 posting, has denied that the fight for legal and social parity for GLBTs and their families is a matter of civil rights. Rather, Wooten has argued, "[I]t's a moral issue. It is a deviant type of behavior and lifestyle."

Wooten boiled down all issues pertaining to LGBTs to a matter of sexual mechanics, saying, "How do they do it? It's too nasty."

"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," the Right Wing Watch article noted.

"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,' " the posting added.

"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," the posting adds, going on to quote from the anti-gay pastor's book.

"Increased numbers of young people were embracing homosexuality (the 'Down Low' bisexual lifestyle), prostitution, and all sorts of perversion," Wooten's book reads. "How could this be, knowing that we were raised in different environments? Now it is becoming clear. There is a curse on Black America."

"The Response" is billed as "a call to prayer for a nation in crisis," and purports to attempt to address the country's many problems through an appeal to God. The event is slated to take place at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

The fact that a public official is an organizer of the prayer event sparked a lawsuit from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a group of agnostics, atheists, and others. The group does not believe that Perry's role in "The Response" is constitutional because it seemingly brings governmental endorsement to a religious faith, the Associated Press reported on Aug. 14.

"The complaint alleges Perry violated the First Amendment's establishment clause by organizing, promoting and participating in the event," the AP story said.

"The answers for America's problems won't be found on our knees or in heaven, but by using our brains, our reason and in compassionate action," Freedom from Religion Foundation Co-Director Dan Barker said. "Gov. Perry's distasteful use of his civil office to plan and dictate a religious course of action to 'all citizens' is deeply offensive to many citizens, as well as to our secular form of government."

"This kind of legal harassment is no surprise, but we will vigorously defend the right of Americans to assemble and pray and we will win," responded event spokesperson Eric Bearse.

"Given the trials that beset our nation and world, from the global economic downturn to natural disasters, the lingering danger of terrorism and continued debasement of our culture, I believe it is time to convene the leaders from each of our United States in a day of prayer and fasting, like that described in the book of Joel," the governor said in his open invitation to the prayer event.

"The event is being sponsored by several evangelical Christian groups, including the American Family Association, which has been criticized by civil rights groups for promoting anti-homosexual and anti-Islamic positions on the roughly 200 radio stations it operates," the AP article noted.

The same group has sued the Obama Administration for the National Day of Prayer, a complaint that an appellate court threw out.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation was not the only group to oppose "The Response." A Houston faith organization also spoke out against the event, and voiced similar concerns about the constitutionality of Perry's role.

"We believe in a healthy boundary between church and state," the Houston Clergy Council said in a June 13 letter. "Out of respect for the state, we believe that it should represent all citizens equally and without preference for religious or philosophical tradition.

"Out of respect for religious communities, we believe that they should foster faithful ways of living without favoring one political party over another.

"Keeping the church and state separate allows each to thrive and upholds our proud national tradition of empowering citizens to worship freely and vote conscientiously. We are concerned that our governor has crossed the line by organizing and leading a religious event rather than focusing on the people's business in Austin.

"We also express concern that the day of prayer and fasting at Reliant Stadium is not an inclusive event," the letter added, referencing the fact that "The Response" has been billed as a Christians-only event.

"As clergy leaders in the nation's fourth largest city, we take pride in Houston's vibrant and diverse religious landscape," the letter continued. "Our religious communities include Bahais, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Unitarian Universalists, and many other faith traditions. Our city is also home to committed agnostics and atheists, with whom we share common cause as fellow Houstonians."

The group cited the anti-gay stance of the American Family Association in the course of the letter.

"Our deepest concern, however, lies in the fact that funding for this event appears to come from the American Family Association, an organization labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"The American Family Association and its leadership have a long track record of anti-gay speech and have actively worked to discriminate against the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community," the letter noted.

"The American Family Association and its leadership have also been stridently anti-Muslim, going so far as to question the rights of Muslim Americans to freely organize and practice their faith. We believe it is inappropriate for our governor to organize a religious event funded by a group known for its discriminatory stances."