Florida voters don’t seem to be buying into a proposed constitutional amendments that would fling open the door to public funding for religious institutions. The defeat of that amendment, which is on the November ballot, could discourage efforts to pass similar measures in other states, including Texas. A Suffolk University/7NEWS(WSVN-Miami) poll found that just 28 […]
Religious Freedom
The Texas Freedom Network supports the constitutional guarantee of the separation of church and state, which protects the right of all Americans to practice the faith of their choice, or none at all, free of government interference.
Unfortunately, efforts to knock down that wall are a constant in Texas. Politicians and extremists continually work to impose their views on others, especially around issues like abortion, access to contraception, and LGBTQIA+ equality. And in a distortion of the principle of religious freedom, far-right groups have supported legislative efforts to allow people to use religion as an excuse to ignore laws they might not like and even as a weapon to discriminate against others.
Resources
- Prayer in Public Schools: A Primer (2001 report)
- The Texas Faith-Based Initiative (2002 report)
- The National Day of Prayer Task Force: Turning a Day of Faith into a Rally for the Christian Right (2005 Report)
- A Report on The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (2005 report)
- Reading, Writing & Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools (2006 report)
- Reading, Writing & Religion II (2013 report)
- Can This Class Be Saved? The ‘Hobby Lobby’ Public School Bible Curriculum (2014 report)
- Turning Texas Public Schools into Sunday Schools? A Review of the State’s Proposed K-5 Reading Curriculum (2024 report) | Executive Summary
Austin Interfaith Group Hosts Event on Thursday: ‘Religion and State: Drawing the Line’
The following guest post is by Tom Spencer, CEO of Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT). “Satan runs across the world with his doubts and with his untruths and what have you, and one of the untruths out there that is driven is that people of faith should not be involved in the public arena.” […]
Groups Set Symposium on Stem Cell Research for Oct. 19 in Austin
The Texas Freedom Network supports stem cell research, which offers hope to millions of people struggling with serious medical conditions like cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. But each legislative session religious-right groups try to ban one of the most promising form of this research — embryonic stem cell research — in Texas. […]
Church/State: Religious Banners Spark Controversy at Texas High School; Gov. Perry Cites ‘Spiritual Warfare’
The following post by Joe Deshotel is cross-posted from Burnt Orange Report. Deshotel is a BOR staff writer. His post notes two recent incidents — a dispute at a public school district and remarks by Texas Gov. Rick Perry in a conference call with pastors – that illustrate the continuing efforts by some to blur […]
El Paso Church Goes Political
Churches and religious organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. The above is from the Internal Revenue Service’s Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations. Pretty straight-forward. So how does that jibe with […]
