National Geographic

UPDATE: The video has been yanked.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be staging an official state day of prayer at which ALL faiths will be welcome. So long as you're ready to welcome the love of Jeebus into your heart. So sez Perry's spokesman.

"I believe that we will have to give an account [to God] as Christians in America for the leaders we have selected over time and the direction they have taken us."

Yesterday Florida's GOP-dominated state Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that effectively eliminates the separation of church and state.

SJR 1218, which was sponsored by Sen. Thad Altman (R-Melbourne) and endorsed by the entire Republican caucus, would delete a constitutional provision that bars Florida from spending public revenues on sectarian religious organizations. Supporters of the bill claim that prohibiting government from funding religious groups discriminates against religious groups. [snip] There are many reasons why Republicans want to repeal the “no aid” provision of Florida’s constitution, known as the Blaine Amendment. Their reasons include their desire to include sectarian religious education in our public schools and their desire to fund specific favored religious organizations while defunding public organizations that benefit all Floridians.

"This sends a clear message to all these government departments and agencies that it’s all right to put up the motto on our buildings and in our classrooms. And I think it will stop the tide of the chilling effect over the past several years. We’re not forcing anybody to do anything. But at the same time, we want to stand there to protect people who want to say God in a public building. And we don’t want some government agency telling them that they can’t put the national motto in their buildings or classrooms." - Tea Party-backed GOP Rep. Randy Forbes (VA), on his bill to force the placement of "In God We Trust" on all public buildings.

Forbes' bill was approved last week by the House Judiciary Committee. According to a spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, he "supports the intent" of the bill and expects a vote by the full House within several weeks. "In God We Trust" was adopted as the official national motto in 1956 by a unanimous vote of both chambers of Congress.

Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee approved the bill requiring the placement of "In God We Trust" on all "public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions." The bill was introduced by Tea Party-backed GOP Rep. Randy Forbes (VA), who in recent years introduced bills demanding that the federal government "recognize the Holy Bible as the inerrant word of God." Forbes' bill has a good shot of passage in the full House.

"It’s time to think out of the box, and we can succeed. Just this past year, we notched a huge victory in Iowa against the three judges that superseded the will of the people by imposing their own agenda upon the Constitution. Christians have a warrior in Bob Vander Plaats, who led the fight that resulted in sending three judges home after they grossly overreached their constitutional role in redefining marriage. We must show other judges who have forgotten the constitutional constraints that there are consequences for their actions. Make your voice heard. Watch your email for our ReAL Action Alert. We’re going to tell the Ninth Circuit that their services are no longer required." -Rick Tyler, chairman of Newt Gingrich's Renewing American Leadership, saying his group will somehow eliminate the entire Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Christianist blogosphere is roiling with anger this week over the Ninth Circuit Court's ruling that San Diego's Mt. Soledad Cross violates the separation of church and state. The status of the cross has been the subject of lawsuits for decades. In 2007, the California Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutional for the city to transfer the land under the cross to the federal government. This week the Ninth Circuit overturned that decision.

CORRECTION: In the first version of this post, I wrongly attributed the above quote to Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, who is part of Gingrich's group. In fact, Garlow will be leading the planned protest against the Ninth Circuit Court's decision. My apologies.