The Republican Party in the nation’s most populous state controlled by that party has a new platform that invokes the name of God 17 times, calls for special privilege for Christians and demands that Christian prayers, Bible reading and the Ten Commandments be returned to public schools.
The official platform of the Texas GOP also asserts that Joe Biden is not the legitimate president of the United States, calls for repeal of nearly all gun control laws, declares homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice,” and urges repeal of the 16th Amendment that created the federal income tax. It also wants to require that Texas school children “learn about the humanity of the preborn child,” in part by listening to ultrasounds of fetuses.
In a raucous state party meeting over the weekend, participants booed elected officials from their own party who have sought even the barest compromise on gun control in the days after 19 children and two teachers were gunned down in a South Texas elementary school.
Although official party platforms are notoriously loaded with idealistic language, they also serve as a bellwether of key issues likely to surface in campaigns. And because of the size and influence of Texas, the state GOP’s platform is likely to inspire similar language in other state party documents and perhaps in the national party platform.
Faith-soaked document
National media quickly homed in on the most controversial aspects of the Texas GOP platform. Often missing from that coverage, though, was an explanation of the interweaving of Christian identity with desired public policy.
The document begins with an affirmation of belief in God before quoting a phrase from the Declaration of Independence to say, “We still hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
The Republican Party of Texas strives “to preserve the freedom given to us by God, implemented by our Founding Fathers, and embodied in the Constitution,” the document declares.
The Republican Party of Texas strives “to preserve the freedom given to us by God, implemented by our Founding Fathers, and embodied in the Constitution,” the document declares.
The first two principles articulated in the platform also invoke the name of God, citing belief in “the laws of nature and nature’s God,” as embodied in “strict adherence to the original language and intent of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutions of the United States and of Texas.”
Second, the platform is predicated on belief in “the sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God, which should be equally protected from fertilization to natural death.”
Public education
The platform pays particular attention to public education, supporting private and charter schools. It asserts that “American identity” includes rejection of Critical Race Theory “as a post-Marxist ideology that seeks to undermine the system of law and order itself and to reduce individuals to their group identity alone.”
Further, schools “should have the options to display the national motto ‘In God We Trust.’” Although that phrase first appears on coins in 1864, it is not original to the founders or the Constitution. It became the national motto when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a law in 1956.
The platform states: “We support prayer, the Bible and the Ten Commandments being returned to our schools, courthouses and other government buildings.”
Elaine Wilmore of Cleburne, Texas, poses for a photo with Tex, a longhorn, at a display for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller during the first day of the Republican Party of Texas convention at George R. Brown Convention Center on Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Houston. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
While believing the Ten Commandments should be posted in public schools, Texas Republicans also say Confederate monuments should be preserved.
“We believe that all historical war memorials, including Confederate monuments, in Texas shall be protected from future removal or defacement, and we believe that those monuments that have been removed should be restored to their historical locations.”
Texas Republicans want to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and allow “all educators” to carry a concealed firearm on the premises of pre-K through 12th grade schools “for security and protection purposes.”
Much attention also is paid to parental rights, including “the fundamental constitutional rights of parents to raise and educate their children, including their rights to direct the care, custody, control, upbringing, moral and religious training, and medical care of their children. … Parents have the God-given right and responsibility to direct and guide their children’s care and moral upbringing.”
‘One nation under God’
At several points, the platform calls for special concessions for Christianity as a preferred religion. In a section on religious freedom of speech and practice, it asserts: “As America is ‘one nation under God,’ founded on Judeo-Christian principles, we affirm the constitutional right of all individuals to worship as they choose.”
Among subpoints of this idea, the state GOP calls for:
- Repeal of the Johnson Amendment, “which assaults the free speech of pastors and religious organizations.” The Johnson Amendment says charities that receive tax-exempt status from the government may not endorse candidates or campaign for specific candidates.
- “Protection of the First Amendment rights of any citizen to practice their religion and exercise their right to free speech in the public square, as well as in religious organization affiliations. That Texas judges and legislators uphold and defend our God-given unalienable rights of religious liberty and freedom of speech, and we oppose any effort to intimidate and prevent Christians and other people of faith from exercising these rights which the civil government is required, by the First Amendment, to protect.”
- “Acknowledgement that the church is a God-ordained institution with a sphere of authority separate from that of civil government, and thus the church is not to be regulated, controlled or taxed by any level of civil government. Nor shall services or other church functions ever again be shut down or suspended by over-reaching civil authorities under any pretext whatever.”
Other key issues
The platform takes a hard line against same-sex marriage and transgender identity, predicating its stances as motivated by conservative Christian theology.
“We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral covenant only between one biological man and one biological woman.”
For example: “We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral covenant only between one biological man and one biological woman.”
The platform also calls for “prohibition of a Palestinian state within the historical borders of Israel, as it would jeopardize Israel’s security and it would force Israel to give up land that God gave to the Jewish people as referenced in Genesis.”
The party voices opposition to any form of gun control as “a violation of the Second Amendment and our God-given rights.”
While granting the church special privileges, the platform does call for the church to take up a particular responsibility Texas Republicans believe is not the state’s business: Welfare.
“We support the abolition of all federal welfare programs, as they are not an appropriate role of the federal government. Until such time, welfare reform should encourage partnerships with faith-based institutions, community and business organizations to assist individuals in need.”
Related articles:
Texas Baptist Congressman attacks public school advocacy group on Twitter
In reelection year, Texas governor proposes statewide voucher program for private schools
Texas officials’ new attack on transgender care called a ‘political ploy’ at the expense of children
Houston pastor voted off local school board by angry parents who called him a Black liberal racist