I guess there's nothing specifically forbidding politicians from trying to pray away the nation's problems. It's a nice gesture, right? Every president has been keen to share how much they talk to Jesus. Makes them likable. Relatable. Especially to those millions of Americans who would rather watch the country burn than follow an atheist president--or, for some, even a president they've decided is Muslim based on a few sweeping generalizations as to what Christians look like and the kinds of names they have. But hey, just because a lot of American Christians are a smidge misinformed doesn't mean it's wrong to pray it out every now and again.

Well, unless your prayer session costs more than a decent home these days, and the American Family Association is picking up the bill. You remember the AFA. They're the Mississippi kids who like to make sure no one is blaming anyone but the gays for this country's problems. Some of their ilk have even claimed that Hitler was gay and that the Nazis were no more than a group of homosexuals out to get everybody. Don't you just love when adults with money and power sound just like a gaggle of 12-year-olds hurling insults at strangers on the internet? 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be renting out a football stadium for a seven-hour prayer jam. The event will be free to the public and has cost the AFA about half a million dollars. Why is Perry doing this now? I'll admit the country's in a place where it could benefit from a little collective prayer, even if it's nothing more than forcing everybody in Washington to close their eyes and meditate for a minimum of two minutes. And praying for "a nation in crisis", as Perry puts it, is certainly a nice gesture.

But he's a little vague on the specifics of our crisis, instead seemingly riding the tide of "everything is horrible and it's all the Democrats' fault." "We're going to pray for the president of the United States, to have God's wisdom poured out over him, to have his eyes opened," Perry said. Eyes opened? To what? Are you just praying for the president and not for all the politicians who have been acting like schoolchildren ever since he took office? Is being a Democrat something you can pray away, just like the gay?

Or maybe this is strictly politics. Perry is expected to announce a bid for the presidential race any day now. Gathering thousands of voters to pray with him would be a decent method of imprinting. People, especially Texan Christians, are probably more likely to vote for a man that they've personally prayed with. It would be like voting for a member of your own congregation--or at least that seems to be the emotional memory Perry seeks to forge. Perry has assured the media that the rally will be apolitical, but I'm a little unsure as to how one can pray for the president without thinking of politics at least a little bit. He seems to be keenly aware of the controversy, perhaps even wanting the mainstream media to scoff at his stunt so that he can perpetuate the persecuted Christian mentality. There are few better ways to rally voters on the religious right than to make them think their beliefs are being threatened, even when it's usually them doing the threatening. Or maybe this is really just an old-fashioned get-together between Texans in celebration of Jesus. What do you think?