Intrade - Rick Perry to be Republican Presidential Nominee in 2012 is 32.8% probable

Intrade - Rick Perry to be Republican Presidential Nominee in 2012 is 32.8% probable

Apparently the perceived likelihood that Rick Perry will win the Republican nomination has shot way up. You can see a blow-up of the chart here. This is no doubt due to his recent victory in a poll in Florida.

By far he seems to be the most offensive on social issues. In his book, On My Honor, according to the Wikipedia article cited above he states that in his opinion government shouldn't espouse a particular faith, but that we shouldn't allow a small minority of atheists to "sanitize" our political discourse.

On this last point I would like to make a few comments. I concur that government should indeed not officially espouse a particular religious point of view. I also think that our political discourse should not be sanitized by any group whether they are a majority or a minority, regardless of size. I think that the atheists are off base when they want to challenge his call for prayer on the basis that this supposedly violates the constitution. He is entitled to make whatever statements about religion that he likes.

Where I would draw the line is when these statements are official proclamations of the government. That has no place in our country. A statement that "we" believe in God is a form of bigotry directed at atheists. This isn't sanitizing our public discourse, it's making sure that when we make statements about who "we" are that we don't exclude this group or that.

Now as for whatever personal statements and calls to pray he wants to issue, he is free to do that just like everyone else. However, he should be aware that when he makes statements of this sort that he brings this into the public discourse, and as such makes it open to criticism just like any other public statement.

If Rick Perry wants to make public statements about his faith to make a political point, then anyone who disagrees with his religious views is free to argue that voters should reject him on the basis of those views. Rick Perry claims that he believes in intelligent design. Point out that that position is completely untenable, unscientific and shows poor judgement on his part. Point out how his conservative Christian views have led him to blatant discrimination towards gays and lesbians, even going so far as to suggest that their personal conduct should be prohibited by law. If Rick Perry wants to make politics about values, don't back down from the fight.

Rick Perry's religious views are likely to adversely effect the policies that he is likely to support. The way of responding to this is not to say that religion should be kept out of politics, but to take the issue by the horns. Don't object to politics being about values. Tell him that we don't want his kind of values telling people how they should be living their lives.