Christianity,  Politics

Rick Perry Dances and Prays with Rabbis

From The Washington Post: “Lots of people are talking about a recently-undug clip of Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) dancing with a group of rabbis at a 2010 Hanukkah lighting ceremony. Perry gets his groove on around the five minute mark.”

Politics aside. As a Christian, I’m much less concerned with the dancing than I am with the praying and the “Thank, you brother” that Perry adds at the end. There has to be a better way for a Christian politician to serve and to be respectful of all of one’s constituents without falling into syncretistic play-acting.

22 Comments

  • debbie mosley

    its better than dancing with the muslims like obama is doing.

    I hope you keep up with DR Jeffress series on sunday nites Twilights Last Gleaming.

  • Dillion

    Sensitive subject. Most Presidents, sometime during their terms on a foreign visit, will kneel at an altar of a molded image. Bush knelt to a buddha. How does one react to that? I have a fairly hard time with say that goes with the Presidency, which I suppose it does, but for a born again Christian? I’m truly not trying to start an argument or be difficult, just pointing it out.

  • Denny Burk

    Hey, Andrew. I thought that might be the case myself, and you may very well be right. It’s just that it all looks very bad after saying a prayer with the Rabbis. As I said, there has to be a better way to serve and respect constituents of different faiths. What is on display here does not seem to be a faithful, Christian way of doing it.

    • Linda

      Why do you say he prayed with them? I don’t think he knew what they were saying. He was very respectful of them. He is their Gov. also. It is a difficult place to be put in and perhaps he had no idea of being “trapped” in worship that is not his own.

  • Don Johnson

    Jesus was Jewish and so were all the first followers of Him. There are indications in the gospels that Hanukkah was celebrated by them if you know what to look for (feast of dedication), certainly all the Biblical festivals were.

    Joh 10:22 And the dedication in Jerusalem came, and it was winter,
    Joh 10:23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the porch of Solomon,
    Joh 10:24 the Jews, therefore, came round about him, and said to him, `Till when our soul dost thou hold in suspense? if thou art the Christ, tell us freely.’

    This is similar to saying today that a Christian came out of a church on Christmas day. The working assumption would be that he had visited the church for the ceremonies.

    So it is not syncretistic at all.

    • Goh Blahkmun

      Well, considering they reject Jesus as Messiah, they should recognize that Christians see their faith as false. They do not worship the God of Abraham but rather a God that they themselves created–a false god.

  • Barry Applewhite

    Dr. Burk, as I have said before, Rick Perry is the master of being “all things to all men,” but not in the cause of winning people to Christ. He wants to win them to Rick Perry.

    We have seen this in Texas for too many years. It would have been far better for us to have Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as our governor. At least she would be here trying to help us through the drought and wildfire crisis. But Perry kept evading the newspaper editorial boards and saying his familiar mantra about jobs. So, he beat Hutchison like a red-headed step-child. The Tea Party candidate kept trying to call him on it, but she did not have enough horsepower to overcome voter familiarity with Perry.

    Now Perry is off courting his future and leaving Texans to fend for themselves.

    -Barry

  • Tim R

    I read the title of this post too fast and thought it said, “Rick Perry Dances and Prays with Rabbits.” I was like, “Yo, I want to see him dance with rabbits!” Imagine my disappointment.

  • Daryl Little

    I don’t get why people think that praying with Muslims would be worse.

    Both are false religions, as is every non-Protestant-Christian religion.

  • Paula

    This is a little late, but there are believers in Messiah celebrating the high holidays this month – Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot – who don’t think that such celebrations are syncretistic play acting but a real and meaningful expression of their faith and even moreso following the Lord’s commandments to celebrate these festivals. I agree with Mr. Johnson’s comment that celebrating Hannukah is not syncretistic at all but that the syncretism comes with the celebration of Christmas and Easter in which many of the traditions such as decorating a tree, giving gifts, and hunting for eggs originated from pagan customs.

    • Christiane

      gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh

      a star

      an angel comes

      shepherds in their fields . . . by night

      a woman gives birth . . .

      Oh come, let us adore Him

      Pagan Holiday ? I don’t think so.

    • Don Johnson

      Yes, it is almost out of a Twilight Zone episode, those considered by some to be scholars of what is commonly called the New Testament have an understanding of it that is out of alignment with what it actually says.

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