Please feel free to invite friends and family & directions are as follows:
http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/cso/directions.html
PLEASE BE AWARE: This Facebook group page is NOT intended to be a showcase for hate. If your hateful post or your hateful comment gets deleted, you shouldn't have spewed hate-speech here. We are protesting hate, not promoting it. Haters are fully warned.
It's the same with disinformation. If you're posting and commenting here, and your words amount to disinformation about this picket, expect your posts and comments to be deleted. Before you post or comment, it's best to read this entire info box. Liars are fully warned.
This is a peaceful demonstration to protest "The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis," an event initiated, endorsed, and promoted by Texas Governor Rick Perry and the American Family Association
http://www.afa.net/
For those who are not yet aware of the AFA's attitude on gays, please experience this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysR0Tdz5SaM
The prayer event is scheduled to take place at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX on August 6th 2011 from 10am-6pm with an early morning worship service starting at 8:30am. Please visit
http://theresponseusa.com/ for more details of Perry's event.
Anyone who values the separation of Church and State is welcome to join-- non-theists, non-Christians, Christians. Please be aware that we are NOT trying to convert or mock anybody's religion. We are also not trying to prevent the prayer event from happening. If it doesn't happen, we will have no picket. This is about a picket, not an effort to stop an event from happening.
If you cannot attend this event but would like to have your voice heard, please visit the governor's comment page on his official website:
http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/
To express your concerns about this hate rally with Reliant:
http://www.reliantpark.com/contact
Exactly WHY are we picketing this prayer event? Good question! Here are FOUR reasons:
1. The event itself is being promoted by Gov. Perry in his official capacity as an elected official, starting at his official Gov's website. He's also invited the governors from the other 49 states to come to this event, and take part. Obviously this will be a VERY government-related and promoted event. The promotion is already well underway.
2. Gov. Perry has repeatedly and proudly violated church/state separation on several issues, all throughout his time as our governor. Recently he's done this in the form of two religious proclamations, one asking Texans to pray for rain, and the other asking Americans to pray. He's also worked tirelessly against public education, and it seems more than obvious that he's doing all that work to benefit religion. Whenever a public school has to close or cut down on the number of enrolled students for some reason, private schools in the area get new customers. Most private schools are religious schools and most of them are run by mainstream religious denominations. If anyone is the winner in all of this education slashing, it's Perry and Christianity in general.
3. The prayer event is being put on by the American Family Association, which is considered to be a hate group. Lately the AFA has thrown out so much hate speech against gays and state/church separationists, that we've had enough, and we're not going to take it anymore.
4. I don't believe that any of the other 49 states' governors are as devoted to flaunting their disregard for the diversity in their respective states' populations. This is while our state budget is in a mess, public education is underfunded, and our most popular politicians are riding on a wave of popularity, such that they can easily avoid any responsibility for explaining themselves and their actions to the public. So they don't. On August 6, we will.
Media reports about this picket:
Rick Perry's Prayerapalooza: Protests Start To Simmer
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2011/06/rick_perrys_prayerapalooza_pro.php
Perry’s proclamation draws national attention, incites criticism from non-Christians
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2011/06/09/perry%E2%80%99s-proclamation-draws-national-attention-incites-criticism-non-christians
Church/State groups ask Texas governor to stop promoting religious events
http://www.examiner.com/atheism-in-los-angeles/church-state-groups-ask-texas-governor-to-stop-promoting-religious-events
Church-state separation, LGBT-rights groups respond to Gov. Perry’s ‘The Response’
http://www.americanindependent.com/187278/church-state-separation-lgbt-rights-groups-respond-to-gov-perrys-the-response
Texas Governor Rick Perry cozies up to the AFA
http://www.towleroad.com/2011/06/rick-perry.html
What’s Brewing: Gov. Perry’s Day of Prayer linked to Uganda bill calling for execution of gays
http://www.dallasvoice.com/brewing-hrc-ties-perrys-day-prayer-ugandas-death-gays-legislation-1079199.html
