The Texas Republican Party's agenda contains everything on conservative Christians' wishlist

May 27, 2024

On Saturday afternoon, delegates for the Republican Party of Texas voted in favor of a platform that functions as a far-right wishlist. If they got their way, Democrats would effectively be shut out of all statewide offices, Confederate generals would be honored at military bases, and sex education (beyond abstinence) would be banned in schools.

The platform is expected to be finalized by Wednesday.

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A lot of the items in here are performative more than anything. They function as more of a MAGA calling card than anything else.

But still. The items concerning religion are truly disturbing. They go far beyond the repeated references to the Christian God. Here are some of the lowlights from the 50-page document:

Christianity would be pushed in government buildings, including public schools: The document supports “affirmation of God, including prayer, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments being returned to our schools, courthouses, and other government buildings.”

This is one way for Texas Republicans to let Jews, Muslims, atheists, and other non-Christians know that there’s no place for them in the state. It’s also bizarre to force these ideas in a courthouse when our entire system of justice is (theoretically) dependent on facts and the rule of law, not archaic religious rules.

The only reason these Christians need their God affirmed in public spaces is because their faith is incredibly weak. If they don’t see constant reinforcement of their religion, it hurts their feelings.

Christianity and Christian chaplains would be forced upon students. The document calls on the state legislature to “require instruction on the Bible, servant leadership, and Christian self-governance.” It also demands that Christian chaplains in schools “give guidance from a traditional biblical perspective based on Judeo-Christian principles with the informed consent of a parent.”

When Texas passed a law last year to allow public schools to replace trained social workers with chaplains, church/state separation advocates tried to sound the alarm that this was nothing more than an attempt to shove Jesus in public schools and would only contribute to the worsening of the teen mental health crisis. Those concerns were proven right when even one of the law’s architects said in an interview that “chaplains represent God in government.”

Now Republicans are done with the pretense of helping all students. They’re demanding “instruction on the Bible” in school (without specifics about what that would entail) and they want chaplains to offer biblical guidance (which could be a complete disaster for LGBTQ students as well as students questioning their faith).

Saying that this would occur only with parental consent is meaningless. Students who may be struggling the most are often the same ones who can’t turn to their parents for help. If you’re gay, for example, and your parents find out and want you to speak to a pastor, at least a school counselor may have been a safe haven for you. Now, your parents may demand you speak with a Christian chaplain at school because no trained professionals are on staff.

That said, shoving the Bible into public schools may be the fastest way to drive kids away from Christianity. Nothing will make children ditch their faith in God more than actually reading that book.

Evolution and climate change would be watered down, if taught at all. The document calls for educators to “discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these theories openly.” Those topics are specifically referred to as “challengeable.”

While science is always improving—because that’s how it works—the document suggests there are valid scientific debates about the basic principles behind evolution and climate change. There are not. Any debates about them are at the margins and not about the fundamentals. The whole idea of discussing the “strengths and weaknesses” may sound nice, but it’s a euphemism that has been pushed by Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents for years.

History classes would be dictated by the whims of Christian pseudo-historian David Barton. The document calls for more weight to be placed on “original founding documents” that include Thomas Jefferson’s “Letter to the Danbury Baptist

This one’s just plain bizarre. A good history curriculum is always going to include a study of these kinds of documents, because they’re one of several ways we can understand our history. But placing special emphasis on them likely means prioritizing some founders over others and short-changing the various ways their ideas have transformed over the years. Interpreting their writings and putting them in proper context is arguably more important than the documents themselves. It’s like reading the Bible. You can do it, sure, but most people need a filter (like a pastor) to make sense of it all. Texas Republicans want to control the filters.

Consider the “Letter to the Danbury Baptists.” That’s the letter in which Jefferson called for a separation of church and state… which makes it a strange addition to the GOP platform. However, its inclusion isn’t weird at all when you consider how Barton has twisted its meaning to his audiences over the years. In his view, Jefferson was calling for that wall to operate in only one direction: The state needed to avoid meddling in the church, but the church is always allowed to meddle in the affairs of the state.

So how would Texas Republicans want that letter taught to students? The answer isn’t stated, but it’s not hard to guess.

Churches would become arms of the Republican Party and vectors for spreading diseases. The document calls for a repeal of the Johnson Amendment and immunity for churches when it comes to public health measures that might restrict public gatherings.

The Johnson Amendment prohibits non-profit groups, including houses of worship, from endorsing political candidates. If they break the rule, they could lose their non-profit, tax-exempt status. While this law is almost never enforced by the IRS, many churches have dared the IRS to come after them by telling their congregations to vote for Republican candidates in federal and local elections as well as school board races. If the Johnson Amendment were ever officially repealed, you can bet many conservative churches would just become tools of the Republican Party rather than places meant to spread the Gospel message.

It’s also very troubling that the Texas Republicans are demanding that no churches can be “shut down or suspended” for any reason. In 2020, as COVID ravaged the world and it became clear that it was an airborne disease, it became essential to restrict public gatherings, especially large ones where strangers would get together, in close proximity, to chat and sing. The rules put in place by many states applied to houses of worship as well as secular gatherings… but right-wing, science-ignorant zealots refused to understand why several people could go inside a grocery store but not church. (Answer: Food is essential and you can’t always get it online, you don’t go to a grocery store to chat with strangers, etc.)

This plank in the GOP platform basically says that even in the event of a life-threatening pandemic, churches should be allowed to do whatever they want, even if that means contributing to the spread of a disease. It’s absolutely irresponsible and threatens the health and safety of the entire population.

The silver lining to all this is that this document serves only as a theoretical agenda. It’s symbolic. It’s what the party stands for and where they want to go. But Texas Republicans already have a super-majority in the Texas legislature and there are damn good reasons they haven’t adopted the most extreme elements of this platform: Even they know the items are either blatantly unconstitutional or wildly unpopular.

But their audience for this document isn’t the average Texan. It’s the sort of nutballs who belong to the Texas GOP and who run as their candidates. The only good thing that may come from the platform is that it also serves as a warning to Texans who don’t agree with parts of it—and there are so many objectionable, thoughtless, and cruel elements in it.

The people who claim to be the biggest patriots are the ones who want to torch the Constitution and replace it with their preferred holy book.

If you think this document goes too far, then the best way to push back is to vote for Democrats at every level of government this November. While it may not make a difference at the state level, a Democratic president and Senate could install better Supreme Court justices who would have authority over the Texas legislature’s insanity. Speaking of the Senate, there’s a perfectly decent Democrat, Colin Allred, running against the odious Ted Cruz. Texans who are sick of the GOP’s religious extremism could vote accordingly and make them regret it.