It’s been clear to observers over the last year that opponents of LGBT equality have cynically shifted their rhetoric from attacking same-sex marriage to promoting “religious liberty” as an excuse to discriminate. Now the website Five Thirty Eight details this shift. […]
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)NDOP_Report_2005_Revised
- 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)
Texas Senate Hearing Today Was Really about Justifying Discrimination against LGBT People
Today’s hearing of the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee was billed as an examination of how to protect religious liberty, but it was really about what we expected it would be: justifying discrimination against LGBT people. In fact, halfway through the hearing, it became clear that religious-right activists and committee members were especially interested in relitigating […]
Religious, Civil Liberties Groups Tell Texas Senators: Discrimination Doesn’t Protect Religious Freedom
Advocates at State Affairs Hearing Push Back Against Arguments That Anti-Discrimination Laws Threaten Religious Liberty FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUSTIN – Religious and civil liberties groups today warned Texas senators that religious freedom has never meant the right to use faith as a weapon to discriminate against others or to ignore laws that everyone else must […]
So Is Ted Cruz Running for President or Priest?
Here is Heidi Cruz on Wednesday, putting husband Ted Cruz’s race for president in, well, godly terms: “When I thought about doing it for our country, it became very clear to me that our family must be in this race. We are at a cultural crossroads in our country, and if we can be in this […]
Far-Right Texas Pastor Jeffress: Obama Is ‘Defender-in-Chief of Islam’
Robert Jeffress, the far-right Dallas pastor who thinks President Obama is paving the way for the Antichrist, is troubled that the president visited a Baltimore mosque this week to express his opposition to bigotry and discrimination targeting Muslim Americans. After Jeffress spoke on Fox News today, the network tweeted some of his comments, including: .@robertjeffress: Pres. […]
