Responding to claims that tradition justifies Gov. Perry calling for Day of Prayer

In Ms. Nuckols letter “Day of prayer one of Texas’ oldest public traditions” she makes the argument that because we’ve always done it that way we can keep on doing it. That’s really odd for someone in the Republican Party which prides itself on being the party of emancipation. After all slavery was an accepted practice for nearly all of recorded history and amongst Christians and Jews alike.

Tradition doesn’t make something right, if it did Nuckols wouldn’t have the right to vote just because she’s a woman. Of course if we really want to operate on the premise that we should do things the same way we’ve always done them then we should take “In God We Trust” off our paper money because it was only added in 1957 during the height of the Red Scare.

The problem with Gov. Perry’s prayer shindig is that it isn’t just exclusively Christian in nature; it’s only for certain types of Christians. The event’s most prominent sponsor, the American Family Association, is well known for slinging extreme anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric. The AFA is also known for blaming gays and lesbians for the Holocaust and for Hurricane Katrina. And there’s Dr. John Benefiel of the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network in Oklahoma City. Benefiel’s views are so outside the mainstream that he believes the Statue of Liberty is “a demonic idol”.

Our governor should be working to make all Texans feel included whether they are a member of his religious tradition or not.