AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry has never been hesitant about proclaiming his deep devotion to God and the lifelong "walk of faith" that has carried him from his boyhood on a West Texas tenant farm to the state's highest office.
He attends an evangelical Christian church in the hills of west Austin, sometimes laces speeches with Scripture, and has called on Texans to pray for rain to end the state's devastating drought. His religious views also influence his conservative governing philosophy, exemplified by his longtime opposition to abortion and same-sex marriages.
Even some of his sharpest critics don't dispute the sincerity of Perry's beliefs. But they say the Republican governor has gone too far with his leadership role in behalf of The Response, a seven-hour gathering of prayer and fasting expected to draw about 8,000 participants to Houston's Reliant Stadium on Saturday.
The event, which is attracting national attention as Perry moves toward a possible presidential run, will include several high-profile religious leaders active in conservative Christian politics.
The Texas Freedom Network, which monitors the Christian right, sent Perry an open letter with more than 10,000 signatures Thursday, attacking "extremist" views by some of the participants and urging him to open the Christian-oriented assembly to other faiths.
Freedom Network President Kathy Miller also suggested that Perry's involvement with the gathering - he is expected to be present throughout the event - is more about presidential politics than faith.
"I think Gov. Perry is a very religious man. I have no doubt about that," she said. "But I also know that he's a very astute politician and every day the likelihood that he's running for president seems to grow. The timing doesn't seem coincidental to the average onlooker."
But Thomas Tweed, professor of religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin, said Perry is "part of a long tradition of American political leaders appealing to moral values and religious commitment in the public arena.
"People may disagree with the sentiment expressed," he said, "but some Americans disagree with every rally. The great American experiment in free speech says that politicians have a right to appeal to the electorate in the way they want."
The uproar over The Response isn't the first time that Perry has been accused of blurring the lines between church and state.
At one point, Mr. Perry asked those in the audience to pray for the president. He said: “Father, we pray for our president, that you impart your wisdom upon him, that you would guard his family.”
Mr. Perry addressed the crowd nine days after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against him by a national group of atheists arguing that his participation in the rally in his official capacity as governor violated the First Amendment’s requirement of separation of church and state.
Members and supporters of that group, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, protested outside. They waved picket signs that read “In reason we trust” and played marching-band-style music.
The atheists were some of the dozens of people who protested outside, including gay activists who criticized Mr. Perry for supporting the American Family Association, which organized and financed the rally. The association is a conservative evangelical group based in Mississippi that is listed as an anti-gay group by the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center.
A number of Texas political and religious leaders were noticeably absent.
Mr. Perry’s two Austin pastors — one from Tarrytown United Methodist Church, where he has been a longtime member, and the other from Lake Hills Church, an evangelical church that he has been visiting more regularly — were not at the rally. Neither was the leader of Houston’s biggest congregation, Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church, who was holding his own worship service in Chicago on Saturday.
Mr. Perry had invited his fellow governors to join him, but only Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a Republican, attended. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida made a video statement that was played in the stadium.
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