The in-box is filled this morning with more news concerning Rick Perry's "day of prayer and fasting" in Houston next month -- you know, The Response. Let's begin with this: Several Friends of Unfair Park have forward a piece I first saw this morning on Startlegram great Bud Kennedy's Facebook feed: Sarah Posner's "The Real Story Behind Rick Perry's Secret Meetings with Pastors," which contains a link to this June 22 story from EthicsDaily.com concerning a meeting late last month at James Robison's LIFE Outreach International campus in Euless. Says the piece, 76 conservative Christian leaders attended the wingding, among them Robert Jeffress (because he won't be able to vote for Romney, no way).
Writes Brian Kaylor, this is the second such meeting convened by Robison, who calls Perry his "prayer partner," following a September confab at the Grand Hyatt DFW Hotel. But there is precedent:
In 1979, Robison led a similar secret meeting in Dallas to plot how to defeat then-President Jimmy Carter. That effort culminated in an August 1980 rally with Republican presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan that helped Reagan mobilize pastors for his presidential campaign.The bossman also sends this piece o' info from God Discussion, which, little-known fact, was the original name for Unfair Park: "If You Liked Jesus Camp, You'll Love TX Gov. Perry's Prayer Rally Led by Radical Christian Youth Ministries." Hey, I loved Jesus Camp. But I don't think that's the point of the piece, which connects The Response not only to the American Family Association, but the IHOP ... meaning, the International House of Prayer. Still, pancakes.
Following up on his September 2010 meeting, Robison held two conference calls in March with 35 conservative Christian leaders.
"As we discussed how to find common ground to address the serious challenges facing our nation, some asked that we seek God for very specific, meaningful direction," Robison wrote on his blog about the calls. "They wanted to know how to help focus the prayers of believers on specific issues, make wise suggestions and take positive action."
