Texas state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, thinks he’s somehow qualified to tell local school districts and teachers what instructional materials they can use in their classrooms, but he doesn’t have a very good understanding of the basics of American constitutional freedoms. Speaking at the Mims Baptist Church in Conroe this past weekend, the Houston Press reports, Patrick informed congregants:
“There is no separation of church and state. It was not in the constitution.”
That declaration is unlikely to persuade a U.S. Supreme Court that has issued numerous rulings upholding separation of church and state under the U.S. Constitution over the span of many decades. Moreover, 68 percent of likely Texas voters responding to a poll conducted for the TFN Education Fund in May 2010 agreed that “separation of church and state is a key principle of our Constitution.”
Of course, it’s hardly surprising that Sen. Patrick would say such a thing. He has already announced his campaign for lieutenant governor, and pandering to religious-right voters who also oppose separation of church and state seems like a natural strategy for him.
If there is no separation then which religion shall the state impose and when will the religious police begin enforcement?
Of course it will be mine.
They all assume it will be theirs—until they day it no longer is. Then they squeal like stuck pigs.
You get it Charles.
Those who do not learn from history…
Vote them out! Religious right wing nut jobs. Merry Christmas 2014
I declare this bastard unamerican.
Patrick sounds like one of those Christianists who think the government can’t meddle in church affairs, but must submit when the Church and its adherents, armed or not, demand concessions and exceptions to the law for their sake. Such people are enemies of America and of liberty, and should not be confronted without ready weaponry.
Time to rid ourselves of the maniacs.
Does Patrick reject the Holy Trinity? It’s not in the Bible. “The Separation of Church and State” is shorthand — just like “Holy Trinity” — for the relevant words of the Constitution and all the rulings of courts since then. Thomas Jefferson used the term.
I’d like Patrick to consider what happens when a religion he doesn’t like gains control and implements its religious agenda as he is doing with his. Islamic Sharia law anyone?
The words “Holy Trinity” are not anywhere in the Bible either, so by the same idiot logic I suppose IT does not exist either? What a bunch of morons.
Holy Trinity in Texas: Rick Perry, Greg Abbott, and take your pick from these folks: Dan Patrick, Stockman, Bohnert, Dewhurst, Patterson… This list could get long and my hands are getting tired.
He would prefer a theocracy.
American Taliban
Another embodiment of the dangerous combination of arrogance and ignorance.
Does anybody doubt what this crafty weasel is up to? He takes this position because he can. How can anyone not see what this piece of human I-do-not-want-to-say-what wants? He wants to rape public schools so they can raise a cadre of ignorant white voters (Remember what that his butt buddy Greg Abbott did after the Supreme Court Decision on the Voting Rights Act). We do not have to be paranoid about Nazis hiding among us. They are here and they are not hiding.
He is also a hired gun for the hedge fund managers that paid millions of dollars for him to privatize our public schools, our retirement system, and likely our curriculum is well. He is as rotten as they get, and I am surprised he can walk in to a church without catching on fire.
what hypocrisy
I simply love this cartoon. The ‘no separation’ crowds always forget that the shoe could be on the other foot.
Sorry, I do not know how to embed the image directly.
I wish someone would find an old picture of Patrick in his sportscaster’s big foam rubber Stetson, and publish it widely. I’ve looked, but haven’t been able to find one.
They are the Texas Taliban – they have come to strip us of our rights under the Constitution of the United States and place us under their religious rule.
“There is no separation of church and state.”
… in Vatican City, Dan, but here in America there is. Hell, there’s even separation of church and state here in Texas, yer angry bishopship! All of your public tantrums (tantra?) will not change that Daniel, so come on out of the lion’s den before that cat kills ya. The pipes are callin’, Danny-boy, for you to stop imposing your clannish culture on civilized Texans. So Keep a-movin’ Dan,
don’t you listen to ol’ Dan,
He’s a devil not a man
and he spreads the gospel of burning sand with watered down public education.
-with apologies to music lovers everywhere
Thomas Jefferson would challenge him to a duel.
Dan Patrick needs to go back to school. Anyone who doubts that church-state separation is a fundamental part of our constitutional heritage should read John Ragosta’s new book “Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s Creed” (University of Virginia Press, 2013). — Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty (arlinc.org?)
Thanks Edd. I’m now struggling w/ 21st century and 18th century radicalization of political/religious views; I feel that they’re different (and gerrymandering has something to do w/ it). In any case, I welcome reviews (in journals or on Amazon).