It looks like Rick Perry was able to rustle up a decent crowd of 20,000-30,000 people for his prayerfest in Texas, though still well below the 71,000 stadium capacity. One other governor, Sam Brownback of Kansas, also showed up. The event “was Perry’s idea and was financed by the American Family Association, a Tupelo, Miss., group that opposes abortion and gay rights and believes that the First Amendment freedom of religion applies only to Christians.”
No doubt Perry will look for signs from god whether he should run for president. The fact that the crowd beat early expectations could be taken as a sign that god wants him to run. Or the less-than-capacity crowd might be a sign that god wants him to merely stick to praying. Religious people are good at finding signs from god that tell them to do what they had decided to do anyway.
Interesting post, Mano. I’m always curious about the financing of events such as these. Who pays for these things? I wondered … were tickets sold? A brief internet search showed that the event was free, but there was a $15.00 charge for parking.
(See bottom of this page: http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/atx-08-03-11-trailblazers-set-out-to-intelligently-bash-rick-perry-day-of-prayer-a-response-to-the-response/)
The Response website claimed there were 30,000 people in attendance. If half the people paid for parking, that’s $225,000. Plus, the event was from 10 am -- 5 p.m. Texas is having a heat wave. I bet a large amount of $$$ was spent on food concessions, especially drinks. Who get the money from the food and drink sales?
I also wonder … did the stadium charge the group rent? Were the speakers paid? Were the speakers allowed to sell their books, CD’s and other merchandise?
It has been said that the business of America is business. I find this especially true in religion. I doubt that the American Family Association (http://www.afa.net/) has deep enough pockets to sponsor this event at a loss.
Alas, these questions are rarely discussed in the mainstream media.
I pray that Rick Perry will find the right answer for this big question of whether to run for president or not..