From media mavens to grassroots activists, conservative Christian leaders are heaping praise on presidential candidate Rick Perry, an early but important show of support from a vital GOP constituency.
Initially unimpressed with the 2012 presidential field, some of these evangelicals now herald Perry’s late entry as the second coming of Ronald Reagan.
On today’s episode Heather visits with Madison Prewett Troutt to discuss dating, waiting, and falling in love. You may recognize Madison from season 24 of The Bachelor, where she was a finalist. Madison made national news when she shared on the show that she was a virgin and saving herself for marriage. She later eliminated herself from the competition. Fans fell in love with Madison and her commitment to her Christian faith. Now she has written a book about dating and singleness to encourage other women. The Love Everybody Wants: What You're Looking For Is Already Yours is available wherever you buy Christian books.
This week Heather also debuts a new segment that will run all month called Friends in the Kitchen, featuring celebrity chef Danielle Kartes. Heather and Danielle connected at a conference last year and became fast friends. You may recognize Danielle from her regular appearances on The Kelly Clarkson Show. If you do, you’ll know why there’s no one better to talk recipes, friendship, and current events with than this spirited woman. As for why she’s doing a food segment on Viral Jesus? Heather says she started cooking regularly over the Christmas break and discovered how much she loves it. She also knows that food and food photography is a popular subject among the creators and influencers out here in the land of Instagram and TikTok. So get your taste buds ready! If you like this segment, make sure to email us at HellotoHeather@gmail.com and let us know you’d like us to bring you more recipes and more of Danielle.
Danielle’s Hibachi Bowls
On today’s show, Danielle says a great thing to make if you want to gain confidence in the kitchen are Hibachi Bowls. Here is Danielle’s recipe.
Hibachi Bowls:
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
Serves 4
4-6 servings cooked Calrose rice
1 1/2 pounds XL shrimp (can also do veggies, steak, or chicken)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo chili pepper or paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 zucchinis
5-8 mushrooms
1 cup pea pods, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Soy sauce to taste
Sesame seeds to garnish
Sriracha Mayo
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup sriracha
Juice of a lime
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1. Cook rice according to package instructions.
2. Fry shrimp 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat in olive oil and seasonings. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Fry sliced veggies and a handful of green onions in the same pan over high heat. This is a quick cook. If the pan gets too hot, decrease heat.
4. Once veggies are crisp tender, around 5 minutes, add shrimp and garlic, then season with a touch of soy sauce. Stir fry 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat.
5. In a bowl whisk together mayo, sriracha, lime juice, and green onions.
6. Assemble the bowl and enjoy!
You can find more from Danielle by getting her latest cookbook, Butter, Flour, Sugar, Joy.
Guest Bio
Madison Prewett Troutt first stood out for her stance on relationships during her season on The Bachelor. Since completing the program, young women have continued to turn to Madi for relationship advice, which she talks about frequently on her social channels (3.2 million social followers). She was single as she started writing The Love Everybody Wants and married her husband Grant Troutt last fall as she finished the manuscript. Although she shares for the first time some of their love story, her book isn’t a manual for how to get a boyfriend or a manifesto for getting married. It’s about understanding the foundations of love and your self-worth.
Host Bio
Heather Thompson Day is an associate professor of communication at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. She is the author of eight books, including I’ll See You Tomorrow and It’s Not Your Turn. Reach out to Heather on X, the app formerly known as Twitter at @HeatherTDay and on Instagram @heatherthompsonday. Receive Heather’s weekly inspirational email every Friday at 7pm EST; sign up at www.heatherthompsonday.com/links.
Viral Jesus is a production of Christianity Today
Host and creator: Heather Thompson Day
Executive Producer: Ed Gilbreath
Producer: Loren Joseph
Mix Engineer: Alex Carter
Director of CT Podcasts: Mike Cosper
Like Reagan, they say, Perry is a big-state governor, a staunch conservative and, significantly, a fellow Christian.
Perry, in turn, has suffused his campaign with religion, building on strategies honed for years in Texas politics.
He has huddled with social conservatives at a Texas retreat, hosted a high-profile Christian prayer rally in Houston and recited his prodigal-son spiritual testimony at the late Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.
On Tuesday (Sept. 20), Perry said his Christian faith includes a “clear directive” to support Israel, a view shared by many evangelicals, who believe God gave the land to the Jewish people.
Early returns suggest the Texas governor’s efforts are paying off, particularly among elder evangelical statesmen:
– Donald E. Wildmon, founder and former head of the American Family Association, is endorsing Perry. The Mississippi-based AFA organized and spent $600,000 to finance Perry’s prayer rally, called “The Response,” and later directed its 30,000 participants to a new Christian
voter-registration campaign.
“I think the overwhelming majority of what’s often called the `religious right’ will support the governor,” said Wildmon, whose organization boasts a mailing list of 60,000 pastors and operates 180 radio stations. “I’m going to do whatever I can to help the man get
elected.”
– Former Focus on the Family head James Dobson has gushed over Perry on his new radio show, calling him a “deeply committed Christian” and a courageous leader. Dobson was a co-organizer of The Response and will reportedly appear with Perry at an event in Orlando next month.
– Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. has mused that Perry could be another Reagan and called him “one of the most pro-life governors in American history.” Falwell also said he admires the governor’s “guts” for suggesting that Texas could secede from the union.
– Evangelical historian and activist David Barton, a longtime Perry ally, has circulated a 14-point defense of the governor’s record on economic, social and immigration issues.
– Southern Baptist leader Richard Land has penned an op-ed that portrays Perry as shrewd, deeply conservative and a lifelong evangelical of “genuine” faith. (Perry’s account differs slightly. He says spiritually lost as young man before turning to God at age 27.)
– Grassroots activist David Lane, who organized “pastor policy briefings” featuring Perry during his 2006 campaign for governor, is reportedly planning similar events in battleground states, including one in Florida next month. Lane was finance chairman of “The Response.”
“I’d be very surprised if the emergence of David Lane’s projects in several states was about anything other than supporting Gov. Perry,” said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, a watchdog group that has monitored Perry’s ties to conservatives for years.
– Florida Prayer Network founder and veteran GOP activist Pam Olsen will co-chair Perry’s strategy at Florida’s debate and straw poll this weekend (Sept. 24-25).
In addition, Perry has been invited to appear with Dobson and Barton at a Nov. 12 event called “One Nation Under God” that aims to teach Christians to see “history and current events in light of God’s Word, and how to take action that aligns with his truth.”
Conservative evangelical leaders desperately want to deny President Obama a second term, said Doug Wead, a veteran GOP strategist and senior adviser to Ron Paul’s presidential campaign. “And they decided early that Perry is their best shot,” he said.
The conservative Christian movement is less top-down than many in the media suspect, said John C. Green, an expert on religion and politics at the University of Akron in Ohio. But grassroots activists take note when evangelical eminences like Dobson praise a particular
candidate.
“Lots of conservative Christians still take cues from these individuals,” Green said. If they unite behind a candidate, evangelicals can have a huge electoral impact, especially in key states like Iowa and South Carolina, where they constitute nearly half of all GOP voters, said Green.
Perry’s very public “I once was lost, but now I’m found” spiritual speech at Liberty University last week got the media’s attention, but it was his confab at a secluded Texas ranch in August that impressed the religious right heavyweights, said Land.
More than 200 social conservatives were there – from black Pentecostals to conservative Catholics to Latino evangelicals, according to Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
“The general feeling people came away with is that this guy is the real deal,” said Land, who attended. “I don’t see how the meeting could have gone any better for Perry.”
Mark DeMoss, who heads a Christian public relations agency and advises Mitt Romney’s rival campaign, said he is not surprised that many evangelical leaders back Perry.
“A significant number of evangelicals have always wanted above anything else in their candidate, someone who shares their Christian faith and theology, and apparently Gov. Perry does,” DeMoss said.
However, DeMoss added, it is too early in the campaign to declare Perry the GOP’s Chosen One.
“Gov. Perry is only just beginning to be vetted on the national stage,” DeMoss said. “The dynamics are changing almost weekly.”
