Reuters/Houston
Republican Rick Perry, expected to enter the race for the White House within weeks, offered a prayer for America yesterday at a controversial religious rally aimed at a nation “in crisis.”The Texas governor, who has made his deep Christian faith a big part of his public image, urged an enthusiastic crowd at the seven-hour gathering to pray for President Barack Obama and other US leaders.Perry, who called for the rally and in recent weeks has brushed off heavy criticism of it, offered a prayer before a crowd estimated by organisers at more than 30,000 people.“We see discord at home, we see fear in the marketplace, we see anger in the halls of government. As a nation, we have forgotten who made us,” he said.The event gave Perry a prominent national platform to sharpen his appeal to religious conservatives, who play a big role in the Republican nominating process and have been unhappy with the current crop of contenders.But critics condemned the event for excluding non-Christian faiths, blurring the boundary between church and state and affiliating with a variety of controversial fringe religious groups and leaders.Perry is poised to enter the 2012 Republican presidential race in the next few weeks. He has already shot into the top tier of contenders in opinion polls, offering a blend of executive experience and conservative and religious beliefs.