Too often we see public officials in Texas use faith as a political weapon against their opponents. Just as appalling is that so many of those officials seemingly dismiss the reality that their diverse constituencies include people from many different faith traditions. But some officials do show real respect for faith and the religious freedom […]
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
Deconstructing David Barton
David Barton‘s much talked about appearance on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart is not going away, with lots of keystrokes and time being devoted to analyzing the faux historian’s comments and assertions. One of those doing some analyzing is Prof. John Fea. Prof. Fea’s analysis is particularly interesting because of his own résumé. Fea […]
Sharia Hysteria: Dancing with Bigots
As we have reported, an Arizona attorney and white supremacist who traffics in anti-Muslim and anti-black bigotry created the model legislation for House Bill 911, an anti-Sharia bill that passed the Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee last week. And who is supporting HB 911? One supporter testifying in favor of state Rep. Leo […]
The Man Behind the Sharia Hysteria
So who is really behind House Bill 911, the proposed Texas legislation that supporters say will stop the mythical threat of Sharia law from being imposed on Texas? As we’ve said before, scratch the surface of the anti-Muslim hate and hysteria promoted by far-right pressure groups in this country and you’ll sniff the familiar stench […]
Hysterics on Display
We’re following up on last week’s hearing in the Texas House on the so-called anti-Sharia bills. Take a look at this clip from the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee which took testimony on HB 911 by state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, and HB 3027 by state Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rODFnmnCOs0&w=480&h=390] […]
