Churches and religious organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. The above is from the Internal Revenue Service’s Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations. Pretty straight-forward. So how does that jibe with [...]
This Friday we’ll be monitoring a state senate photo op committee hearing here in Austin on one of the longstanding pet causes for the far right: school vouchers. Yes, vouchers are back. Again. After failing to pass voucher legislation at each legislative session since 1995, the far right seems poised to try, try again next [...]
Social conservatives have long pointed to the constitutional bar on government-sponsored prayer in public schools as the source of many of society’s ills. Just last week, when a gunman opened fire in a crowded movie theater, some trotted out the “If only we had prayer in schools” argument as a solution for preventing such tragedies. [...]
Here they go again — another effort to drag churches into partisan politics. This fall Vision America, a religious-right group based in Texas, is sponsoring “40 Days to Save America” — which calls on Americans to pray, fast and repent for “our national and and personal sins against the God of Heaven.” Rick Scarborough, Vision [...]
The Alliance Defense Fund is rallying far-right pastors around an effort to overturn a more than 60-year-old federal law that limits houses of worship and other tax-exempt nonprofits from participating in partisan election campaigns. ADF and pastors like Steve Riggle of Houston and Jim Garlow of San Diego are calling on clergy to protest the [...]
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, will present the keynote address at a First Amendment Day Celebration on Saturday in San Antonio. Texas Freedom Network staff members will be at the event as well — so come by our booth to say hello. AU’s San Antonio [...]
A new Christian-themed specialty license plate, approved by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles board last December, went on sale this week. Here’s what we told Fox News about our concerns: “I think you want to be very careful when you give government the authority to favor a particular religion in an official way such [...]
On Saturday our Houston friends from Americans United for Separation of Church and State are screening an award-winning documentary about a landmark First Amendment case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948. The Lord is Not on Trial Here Today tells the compelling personal story of the late Vashti McCollum and how her efforts [...]
Rick Perry is so determined to pander to religious-right voters in the Republican presidential primaries that he wants to gut the First Amendment, one of the most important protections for religious freedom in America. See the partial transcript below from Gov. Perry’s interview on Fox News Sunday this past weekend. Let’s be clear: Gov. Perry [...]
