The Texas Senate State Affairs Committee today heard testimony on yet another of the 17 proposed bills that would allow the use of religion to discriminate against LGBT Texans. But the bill is so broad that it would allow public officials to discriminate against virtually anyone. We just sent out the following press release: […]
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
Avalanche of Proposed Bills Would Allow the Use of Religion to Discriminate in Texas
The fight over using religion to discriminate is heating up at the Texas Capitol. We just had a press conference with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. Following is the press release we sent out. […]
TFN Statement: Proposed Bills Radically Redefine ‘Religious Freedom’ to Mean Using Religion to Discriminate
Statement in Response to Texas Capitol Press Conference by Anti-LGBT Group Touting Religious Refusals Bills […]
Anti-Muslim Hysteria Continues at the Texas Capitol
Admitted Muslim-hater Molly White, a Belton Republican, failed to win reelection to the Texas House last year, but it seems like the Legislature will have at least one other anti-Muslim fanatic to replace her: freshman state Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg. […]
A Simple Request
I am a rabbi in Tyler, Texas, and my three children proudly attend our local public schools. At the invitation of our local superintendent, I was recently honored to share a presentation on religious diversity with all of the principals in our school district. This invitation did not come out of nowhere. It was part […]
