From today’s TFN News Clips:
“The latest rumor I hear, and I don’t know if this is true or not, is that he’s used about 25 different Social Security numbers … YouTubes are infallible.”
– Texas state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, casting doubt on President Obama’s citizenship and citing an Internet source for his doubts.
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For everyone who thought the culture warriors on the religious right would take a back seat at the Texas Legislature during this once-a-generation budget crisis, ladies and gentlemen, we give you exhibit A:
During last week’s debate in the Texas Senate over the “sonogram bill” — legislation that would require a doctor show a sonogram and play the heartbeat of the fetus to women seeking an abortion — Senator Dan Patrick, R-Houston, offered a little nugget that makes it clear that his bill has less to do with “empowering women” with information (as he has claimed) than imposing his personal religious beliefs on women in the state.
While responding to a question from another senator, Patrick was briefly interrupted by a crying baby in the audience. Here’s what he said:
You know, so often in life we try to do things on our timing — there’s the hand of God right there, with the cry of a baby who says, ‘vote for this bill, let’s get it moving. Let’s get the 24 suspended, 21 votes suspended. But life is about God’s timing not our timing. This bill wasn’t right in 2007 and it obviously wasn’t right in 2009. This is God’s time to pass this bill.
You can also watch the video below.
TFN takes no position on this bill; we do not advocate on issues of reproductive rights. But we do have a position on politicians who see faith primarily as a weapon to attack those who disagree with them. We believe the cynical use of faith to advance a political agenda is both corrosive to democracy and shows profound disrespect toward the diversity of religious opinions in this state.
As with many self-righteous Texas politicians before him, Sen. Patrick has decided that appropriating God to score political points and smear his opponents is good politics. And maybe it will work in the short term. But we should all be nervous when the power of government is used to privilege the personal religious opinions of one person or group. That’s precisely why the Founders separated religion and government in this country in the first place.
Could it be that last week’s scathing indictment on Texas social studies curriculum standards by a conservative think tank will also be seen as an indictment on the leadership of current SBOE chairwoman Gail Lowe? It’s looking that way as legislators — including one who sits on the committee that will consider her re-nomination later in the legislative session — have begun to respond to the latest black eye on the Texas educational system.
In a letter to the Senate Nominations Committee, State Rep. and Chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, noted that the Fordham Institute gave the standards a grade of “D” for their “politicized distortion” of everything from the role slavery played in the in the Civil War, to the separation of church and state.
From Martinez Fischer:
As you know, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative policy center dedicated to conducting research on educational standards throughout the United States, has found that the Texas social studies curriculum is inadequate, inaccurate, and partisan.
The same day Martinez Fischer sent another letter, this one to Lowe, asking her to reevaluate the standards. Martinez Fischer was nice enough to copy the Nominations Committee on his letter to Lowe .
In his letter to Lowe, Martinez Fischer asks the chairwoman to “do right by Texas by reevaluating the curriculum.” So far, Lowe isn’t budging, which isn’t winning her any more fans on the Nominations Committee. Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, told the Houston Chronicle:
I don’t oppose Ms. Lowe because of what she believes or what I believe. I oppose her because she’s left this very important board with so little credibility that even some conservative groups are all-but flunking it.
Whether Lowe remains chairwoman is yet to be determined. But what is certain is that the Fordham Institute’s criticisms revived the outrage over the shenanigans at the SBOE. And Lowe’s stubborn, unflinching support of the now universally decried “D”-grade social studies standards may earn the chairwoman an “F” and cost her the chairmanship.
In case you missed it, last week The Daily Show ran a funny piece on the battle over the re-election of Joe Straus as speaker of the Texas House. The show poked fun at the “miracle” of electing a Jewish speaker in a famously Christian land like Texas. And predictably, they found plenty of religious discrimination and rank hypocrisy in Texas, only it was directed at another minority religious group — American Muslims.
When correspondent John Oliver went looking for a useful bigot, Dave Welch of the right-wing Houston Area Pastor Council proved himself more than happy to oblige. Oliver asked — tongue in cheek – “Can we at least agree that we don’t want a Muslim speaker?” To which a smug Welch replied:
“I would say right now, yes, for a variety of reasons. Again, we have deep concerns about the loyalty of Muslims to the Constitution.”
Wait a minute.
Last time I checked, the Constitution pretty clearly states “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” (Article VI, paragraph 3).
Somebody isn’t being loyal to the Constitution, alright. But it isn’t American Muslims.
Once again Texans are getting a lesson in how the religious right uses lies and distortions to promote fear and bigotry. The newest lesson revolves around the Mansfield school district’s decision to accept a five-year, $1.3 million federal grant that largely funds elective classes teaching Arabic (alongside current classes in the district that teach Spanish, German, French, Russian, Latin and Chinese). Right-wing groups have been screaming that the classes will lead to pro-Islamic indoctrination in classrooms. Some have also used the program to make the equally absurd claim that an overbearing federal government is “forcing” students at the local level to learn how to speak Arabic.
One of the loudest screechers has been Kelly Shackelford of Liberty Institute, the Texas affiliate of Focus on the Family. Last week Shackelford, who is a major supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, spoke on an Internet radio show about the Mansfield program, offering one distortion after another. The show’s host transcribed some of Shackelford’s comments here. Shackelford’s fear-mongering echoed bizarre complaints by other extremists on the right that Mansfield’s classes would lead to students learning about Islam:
“When you have requirements that not only teach the Arabic language, but the culture, the history, the traditions, the words that they use, you can’t help but teach Islam. Now you are going to be in a serious situation of how balanced or biased this is going to be.”
The so-called “Tea Party” movement has claimed the last couple of years to be focused on shrinking government. But often the intolerant rhetoric of its leaders betrays such claims as terribly disingenuous. Case in point: Dallas Tea Party leader Phillip Dennis’ televised attacks on the faith of President Obama and on Muslims this week.
MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews asked Dennis whether he thinks President Obama is a Muslim. Dennis apparently couldn’t help himself, replying, “I don’t know.”
Pressed further by Matthews, Dennis said:
“If he’s a Christian, I certainly don’t like the brand of Christianity he went to in Chicago for 20 years.”
Then he criticized the president for “reaching out to Muslims”:
“President Obama certainly has a soft spot in his heart for Islam.”
Dennis also attacked Islam, smearing all Muslims for the actions of extremists, before once again questioning the president’s clear and repeated statements that he is a Christian:
“I have a big problem with Islam. It calls itself the religion of peace when everyday it continues around the world to show itself to be anything but. So I think those people [who question President Obama's faith] have a right. Certainly it’s understandable that they might have a problem that our president might be Muslim. Absolutely.”
We have pointed out before that the Tea Party movement in Texas often marches alongside the intolerant religious right. Dennis’ disgraceful statements simply reinforce our point.
(Hat tip: Talking Points Memo)
Last month’s announcement by a prominent creationist group that it had decided not to seek state approval to sell instructional materials to Texas public schools was good news for supporters of sound science education. Now e-mails obtained by the Texas Freedom Network through a Texas Public Information Act request reveal just how bad the materials from Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE) would have been.
