Governor Perry and the Bible

Governor Rick Perry was designated a "Defender of Jerusalem" this week, a title that, no doubt unintentionally, places him in the company of those noble and valiant knights that fought so hard, so many years ago to defend and protect Jerusalem from the Muslim infidels. Granted, this an obscure award from an obscure group. Nevertheless, this is the sort of recognition Perry was seeking as he explores running for president in 2012. In his praise of Israel, Perry stated his biblical belief that God had given Israel exclusively and eternally to the Jews. I hope this does not mean that Perry also believes that the world was created in six days, Jonah was really swallowed by a whale, and Noah and his family, along with all flora and fauna, were preserved amidst a great flood aboard the Ark. As an avowed devout, and pious protestant, Perry presumably believes that one should not pick and choose which accounts in the Bible to accept literally and which to reject; which makes his statement all the more troubling. Unless Perry is seriously considering running for president as a fundamentalist Protestant, he should find some other basis for his support of Israel: unless he believes God was in cahoots with the U.N. That might be another idea which could cost him in the election.