Texas Gov. Perry issues proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas

[Xen Tricks]

We're in a really bad drought right now, so obviously this is the best path our legislators could have possibly taken

[quote]TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME:

WHEREAS, the state of Texas is in the midst of an exceptional drought, with some parts of the state receiving no significant rainfall for almost three months, matching rainfall deficit records dating back to the 1930s; and

WHEREAS, a combination of higher than normal temperatures, low precipitation and low relative humidity has caused an extreme fire danger over most of the State, sparking more than 8,000 wildfires which have cost several lives, engulfed more than 1.8 million acres of land and destroyed almost 400 homes, causing me to issue an ongoing disaster declaration since December of last year; and

WHEREAS, these dire conditions have caused agricultural crops to fail, lake and reservoir levels to fall and cattle and livestock to struggle under intense stress, imposing a tremendous financial and emotional toll on our land and our people; and

WHEREAS, throughout our history, both as a state and as individuals, Texans have been strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer; it seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join together in prayer to humbly seek an end to this devastating drought and these dangerous wildfires;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal way of life.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto signed my name and have officially caused the Seal of State to be affixed at my Office in the City of Austin, Texas, this the 21st day of April, 2011.

RICK PERRY
Governor of Texas
[/quote]
[url]http://governor.state.tx.us/news/proclamation/16038/[/url]

so worthless...

[Zackin5]

Got a source?

[Winsanity]

What happen to separation of Church and State?

[Xen Tricks]

[QUOTE=Zackin5;29360372]Got a source?[/QUOTE]

Oops, sorry, added.

[ken188]

[QUOTE=winsanity;29360390]What happen to separation of Church and State?[/QUOTE]

No such thing is mentioned in the US Constitution. Also to all you religion hating 13 year olds, look it up before rating me box.

[jeimizu]

I hate my state so much.

This is a much better solution than using some of the 9 billion dollar rainy day fund on firefighting...

[Jiyoon]

[QUOTE=ken188;29360410]No such thing is mentioned in the US Constitution. Also to all you religion hating 13 year olds, look it up before rating me box.[/QUOTE]

[quote=The constitution]Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.[/quote]

[Nachoman17]

[QUOTE=ken188;29360410]No such thing is mentioned in the US Constitution. Also to all you religion hating 13 year olds, look it up before rating me box.[/QUOTE]
Read article 11 bro
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/TreatyofTripoli.gif[/img]

[cjone2]

Guess god is punishing them for being so dumb

[ken188]

[QUOTE=Jiyoon;29360471][/QUOTE]

Nobody's making any laws about "establishment of religion" or "prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Try again.

[jeimizu]

[QUOTE=Nachoman17;29360486]Read article 11 bro
[img_thumb]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/TreatyofTripoli.gif[/img_thumb][/QUOTE]
He said the Constitution, not the treaty of Tripoli.
Doesn't matter really, Perry got around issues of separation of church and state by using the very vague "Texans of all faiths and traditions"

[ken188]

[QUOTE=Nachoman17;29360486]Read article 11 bro
[img_thumb]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/TreatyofTripoli.gif[/img_thumb][/QUOTE]

Treaty of Tripoli isn't anything that has precedence over Texas making this law. You're trolling right?

[HumanAbyss]

[QUOTE=ken188;29360410]No such thing is mentioned in the US Constitution. Also to all you religion hating 13 year olds, look it up before rating me box.[/QUOTE]

Hey, another conservative who hasn't read the constitution

let me, a canadian, educate you on your own official documents.

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tripoli[/url]

[quote]As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.[/quote]

[editline]22nd April 2011[/editline]

[QUOTE=ken188;29360527]Treaty of Tripoli isn't anything that has precedence over Texas making this law. You're trolling right?[/QUOTE]

You're one of the 51 states. All states go by federal rule especially on the constitution. You're trolling right

[Turnips5]

The only bit I like is this :

[quote]Texans of all faiths and traditions[/quote]

Otherwise, this is medieval thinking.

[ken188]

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;29360531]Hey, another conservative who hasn't read the constitution

let me, a canadian, educate you on your own official documents.

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tripoli[/url]

[/QUOTE]

Try again bro.

[dragon1972]

[QUOTE=ken188;29360509]Nobody's making any laws about "establishment of religion" or "prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Try again.[/QUOTE]

"Congress shall make no law [b]respecting[/b] an establishment of religion" Good job reading.

[HumanAbyss]

[QUOTE=ken188;29360509]Nobody's making any laws about "establishment of religion" or "prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Try again.[/QUOTE]

I see you don't actually know what those words mean...

[ken188]

[QUOTE=dragon1972;29360549]"Congress shall make no law [b]respecting[/b] an establishment of religion" Good job reading.[/QUOTE]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an [B]establishment [/B]of religion" Good job reading.

[Mr. Sun]

This is nice. Gives people hope.

And its not like its forcing you to do anything. Its basically just saying "hey guys, I'm the mayor, lets pray for rain should we?

Can we all just shut up about this argument? FYI in the bible it says to exude church from state any way!

[dragon1972]

[QUOTE=Mr. Sun;29360591]This is nice. Gives people hope.

And its not like its forcing you to do anything. Its basically just saying "hey guys, I'm the mayor, lets pray for rain should we?[/QUOTE]

Instead of giving people false hope, why doesn't he actually do something about the drought?

[jeimizu]

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;29360531]Hey, another conservative who hasn't read the constitution

let me, a canadian, educate you on your own official documents.

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tripoli[/url][/quote]

You can read the Constitution as many times as you want, and you wont find it there, because the Treaty of Tripoli and the Constitution are two completely separate documents.

The only mentions of religion in the Constitution are the first amendment, and Article 6 (No religious tests for government officials)

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;29360531]

You're one of the[B] 51 states. [/B]All states go by federal rule especially on the constitution. You're trolling right[/QUOTE]

You're trolling right?

[NO ONE]

Why pray when you can raindance?

[Nachoman17]

[QUOTE=ken188;29360527]Treaty of Tripoli isn't anything that has precedence over Texas making this law. You're trolling right?[/QUOTE]
you're the only troll I see
prayer is religious practice and it's in the first fucking amendment and the treaty of tripoli.
Kindly :frog:

[Dori]

[QUOTE=jeimizu;29360612]You're trolling right?[/QUOTE]

[quote=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51st_state]The 51st state, in United States political discourse, is a phrase that refers to areas either seriously or derisively considered candidates for addition to the 50 states already part of the United States. Before 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii joined the U.S., the term "the 49th state" was used. Most commonly, the possibility of Puerto Rico becoming 51st state was discussed as a possible outcome of a proposed series of referendums to decide a change to that island's political organization[/quote]

[Nachoman17]

[QUOTE=dragon1972;29360609]Instead of giving people false hope, why doesn't he actually do something about the drought?[/QUOTE]
Irrigation perhaps?

[ken188]

[QUOTE=Nachoman17;29360731]you're the only troll I see
prayer is religious practice and it's in the first fucking amendment and the treaty of tripoli.
Kindly :frog:[/QUOTE]

Learn to Lemon Test bros.

[editline]22nd April 2011[/editline]

[quote]The Lemon test was formulated by Chief Justice Warren Burger in the majority opinion in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971). Lemon dealt with Rhode Island and Pennsylvania programs that supplemented the salaries of teachers in religiously based, private schools for teaching secular subjects. The Court struck down both programs as violating the establishment clause.

The purpose of the Lemon test is to determine when a law has the effect of establishing religion. The test has served as the foundation for many of the Court's post-1971 establishment clause rulings. As articulated by Chief Justice Burger, the test has three parts:

First, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion; finally, the statute must not foster "an excessive government entanglement with religion."

According to separationist scholars Barry Lynn, Marc Stern, and Oliver Thomas, the fact that a law may have a "religious purpose or be motivated by religion does not mean it is unconstitutional as long as it also has a bona fide secular or civic purpose" (The Right to Religious Liberty, p. 3). Similarly, "a law that has a remote or incidental effect of advancing religion is not unconstitutional as long as the effect is not a 'primary' effect" (p. 3). Finally, the Court has allowed some entanglement between church and state, as long as this entanglement is not "excessive" (p. 3). Hence, the Court has built some leeway into the test so as not to invalidate laws that have only remote connections to religious practice. This is not, in other words, the work of a Court that was hostile to religion. On the contrary, Justice Burger, a Nixon appointee, is generally reckoned as a conservative on social issues. [/quote]

[Zeke129]

While a government official proclaiming a "day of prayer" is overstepping his bounds I don't see why people are getting upset

If he passed a law saying you [i]have[/i] to pray then by all means, but that isn't the case

[Jiyoon]

[QUOTE=ken188;29360586]"Congress shall make no law respecting an [B]establishment [/B]of religion" Good job reading.[/QUOTE]

Perhaps establishment is a noun and not a verb as in: Congress shall make no law relating to a religious establishment"

[jeimizu]

[QUOTE=Sanius;29360746][/QUOTE]

The fact that those could become states in the distant future doesn't change the fact that we currently have 50.

[ken188]

[QUOTE=Jiyoon;29360890]Perhaps establishment is a noun and not a verb as in: Congress shall make no law relating to a religious establishment"[/QUOTE]

Establishment is always a noun.