When right-wing activist Peter Morrison promoted (unsuccessful) efforts to have state Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, removed as speaker of the Texas House in late 2010 and early 2011, he noted that other speaker candidates were “Christians and true conservatives.” Straus is Jewish, which Morrison made sure readers of his anti-Straus emails knew. Morrison, who […]
Religious Right Watch
The religious right strategically uses religion and religious language, combined with patriotic symbols, to push a political agenda that has little connection to the values of mainstream people of faith. It is, in short, a political rather than religious movement. The Texas Freedom Network has monitored the religious right in Texas since 1995.
Resources
- The Rise of the Religious Right in Texas (2006 Report)
- The Religious Right and the State Board of Education (2008 Report)
- The Religious Right and Sex Education
- The Bible and Public Schools
- How the Religious Right Hijacked the National Day of Prayer (2005 Report)
- The Texas Restoration Project
- David Barton Watch
2012 Texas GOP Platform: Turning Back the Clock
Since the religious right took control of the Texas Republican Party back in the early 1990s, writing the state GOP’s platform has been an exercise in promoting extremism every two years. This year wasn’t any different. A Texas Freedom Network analysis shows how the 2012 Texas Republican Party turns back the clock by seeking to […]
Defeated Lawmaker Promotes Creationist for Texas Education Commissioner
It’s bad enough that the State Board of Education has become a heavily politicized, dysfunctional embarrassment for Texas. Now religious-righters want control of the Texas Education Agency as well. State Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, wants Gov. Rick Perry to appoint SBOE member Charlie Garza, R-El Paso, as the state’s education commissioner and head of TEA. […]
Texan Faces Anti-Muslim Civil Rights Charge
He’s too old to have been in school when the Texas State Board of Education passed its 2010 resolution attacking Islam and falsely claiming that history textbooks have an anti-Christian and pro-Muslim bias. But a 24-year-old Texas man has been charged with violating the civil rights of members of a Tennessee mosque. Talking Points Memo […]
An Anti-Gay Voice from the (Recent) Past at the Southern Baptist Convention
When Southern Baptists reaffirmed their hostility to equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans this week in New Orleans, a leading anti-gay voice there was a Texas pastor who has promoted Texas Gov. Rick Perry to conservative evangelicals in the past. Southern Baptists meeting at their denomination’s annual convention overwhelmingly passed a resolution attacking marriage […]
