In an editorial in The Dallas Morning News, the author claims that Governor Rick Perry's upcoming prayer rally is too exclusionary and political. The prayer rally is to be held on August 6th in Houston, where thousands of attendees will "pray for America".
The author feels that by Gov. Perry hosting the rally and his office recruiting evangelicals to help lead the event, he is partaking in matters that intentionally exclude non-christian religions. Also, with rumors of possibly running for president in 2012, the author speculates that the governor is using the rally to gain political support from people being featured on August 6th. The author validates their belief by stating that extreme evangelical pastors will lead the event, and the American Family Association is funding the event. Both of whom have a strong political influence and promote conservative christian values.
The intended audience for an editorial like this would be anyone interested in the affairs of Governor Rick Perry. Most likely people trying to stay up to date on current events, especially those interested in politics. Like all opinionated articles, it's just bringing to light one side of the argument, so even people who don't agree with the author would still read it for the point-of-view.
The author's name is not provided, and therefore his/her credibility could not be fully determined. However, The Dallas Morning News has been in circulation for over a hundred years, and they have won several Pulitzer Prizes among other awards. For those reasons I would doubt that they would hire anyone less than credible, nor publish an editorial with false information.
I feel that the prayer rally should still go on, but without Gov. Rick Perry being so closely tied to it. By only inviting leaders in the christian religion to help lead the rally, he chose to exclude all other religions. No governor nor any other leader, should ever sell out another group to further his own political agenda.
No comments:
Post a Comment