Is Rick Perry dumb?

WayneH wrote: Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

"To discriminate against a thoroughly upright citizen because he belongs to some particular church, or because, like Abraham Lincoln, he has not avowed his allegiance to any church, is an outrage against the liberty of conscience, which is one of the foundations of American life." - Roosevelt's letter on religious liberty.

Heard a PaulBot on the radio a couple nights ago claiming that Gov. Perry was very reluctant to veto any spending, so we might have "W" all over again if he becomes the new President.

Then again, a Republican spendthrift would have a hard time keeping up with POTUS Obama.

jmc wrote:

PrintSmith wrote: What, praying? No right thinking person believes in the power of prayer? Come now jmc, even you have prayed in your lifetime, haven't you?

No , I am a logic/science kind of guy. Never believed in wishful thinking or myths. ( Grew up Catholic)

Somehow I can't believe you haven't voiced a hope, even silently in your own mind only, that someone got home safe in a storm, that someone you cared for who was going through difficult times would find their way made easier, or that the vet wouldn't find something wrong with a furry loved one. You might not have directly invoked the Creator for intercession as an adult, but that doesn't mean you haven't offered up a silent prayer as one that He might have heard.

Belief in the existence, or the absence, of a Creator is just that - a belief. Ain't none of us getting out of here alive, and by the time we find out whether or not the Divine exists it will be too late for us to share that knowledge with anyone else. Best we can do is stumble along as best we can and live our lives such that the Creator will be pleased with us if He does exist and that we have at the very least made a positive difference in the lives of others during our time here if He doesn't.

If indeed your belief in this matter is correct, then no harm is done when others pray to a nonexistent entity that others will find comfort, or relief from their sufferings, or that a parched earth will soon be visited by rain. I find the lack of tolerance evidenced by you for such people a curious thing. It is a reflection of the same sense of superiority and hypocrisy that you find so distasteful in them at its core, isn't it?

Wise people think all they say, fools say all they think.

It's enlightening what liberals think about a veteran of our armed services - a pilot who served his country.

For a minute there, I thought you were giving a nod of approval to Kerry for his service.

But as I remember, you were criticizing and belittling him during the campaign.

PrintSmith wrote:

jmc wrote:

PrintSmith wrote: What, praying? No right thinking person believes in the power of prayer? Come now jmc, even you have prayed in your lifetime, haven't you?

No , I am a logic/science kind of guy. Never believed in wishful thinking or myths. ( Grew up Catholic)

Somehow I can't believe you haven't voiced a hope, even silently in your own mind only, that someone got home safe in a storm, that someone you cared for who was going through difficult times would find their way made easier, or that the vet wouldn't find something wrong with a furry loved one. You might not have directly invoked the Creator for intercession as an adult, but that doesn't mean you haven't offered up a silent prayer as one that He might have heard.

Belief in the existence, or the absence, of a Creator is just that - a belief. Ain't none of us getting out of here alive, and by the time we find out whether or not the Divine exists it will be too late for us to share that knowledge with anyone else. Best we can do is stumble along as best we can and live our lives such that the Creator will be pleased with us if He does exist and that we have at the very least made a positive difference in the lives of others during our time here if He doesn't.

If indeed your belief in this matter is correct, then no harm is done when others pray to a nonexistent entity that others will find comfort, or relief from their sufferings, or that a parched earth will soon be visited by rain. I find the lack of tolerance evidenced by you for such people a curious thing. It is a reflection of the same sense of superiority and hypocrisy that you find so distasteful in them at its core, isn't it?

PS ,you make a good point, I am not an atheist because it is a belief that I cannot prove. I am agnostic. I look at the behavior of religious organizations and that is all I need to decide they are crap.
If people pray, I have no problem, if my elected officials pray instead of dealing with reality, I have a big problem. Our issues will not be solved by praying for divine help. It is up to us. Isn't that the right wing way?

Even our current president recognizes that certain things are above his pay grade. Perry can't make rain fall from the sky to ease the difficulties the lack of rain is causing - that is a reality he recognizes quite readily. All that he can do about that problem is pray that it doesn't continue for much longer and that rain will end the drought. What other course of action is there for him to take jmc? What would you have him do from a logic/science perspective to solve the problem of no rain falling from the sky on the soil of Texas? Has science provide a means of causing it to rain in a specific area and I missed it being reported in the news?

PrintSmith wrote: Even our current president recognizes that certain things are above his pay grade. Perry can't make rain fall from the sky to ease the difficulties the lack of rain is causing - that is a reality he recognizes quite readily. All that he can do about that problem is pray that it doesn't continue for much longer and that rain will end the drought. What other course of action is there for him to take jmc? What would you have him do from a logic/science perspective to solve the problem of no rain falling from the sky on the soil of Texas? Has science provide a means of causing it to rain in a specific area and I missed it being reported in the news?

Try not fooling people into thinking prayer will solve a natural disaster! It is disingenuous for a public official to engage in that nonsense. PS , you know that is wrong.

You forget jmc, I'm one of the ones who thinks the power of prayer can work miracles. Given the reality that the natural disaster is of such a nature that mankind has no hope of solving it, the only thing that we can do is pray that Nature's God will solve it. It might not help in the final analysis, but it surely can't hurt.