Category Archives for Texas Pastor Council

Lies from the Religious Right Target Abortion and Equality

Faith leaders teach that lying is a sin. So why do religious-righters distort the truth so shamelessly in pushing their extreme political agenda? You can see at least two big examples in Texas right now. One of the biggest falsehoods religious-right groups are pushing right now is the claim that Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood to help exterminate the […]

Also posted in abortion, Dave Welch, Houston Area Pastor Council, Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, Jonathan Saenz, Texas Values | 15 Comments

Redefining ‘Religious Liberty’ into Nothing?

Religious-righters are twisting and redefining “religious liberty” so much that the term itself is in danger of becoming almost meaningless. Fortunately, a growing number of mainstream religious leaders from around the state are calling out the nonsense. The latest battleground: public subsidies (such as vouchers) for religious schools. The rabidly anti-gay, religious-right group Houston Area Pastor Council, which also goes by […]

Also posted in Dave Welch, education, Houston Area Pastor Council, religious freedom, TFNEF, vouchers | 4 Comments

San Antonio Pastor Plays Constitutional Scholar, Social Scientist, Historian in Marriage Debate

It doesn’t take long before religious-right opponents of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples turn to fear-mongering about pedophilia and insist that civil laws be based on the Bible. Consider, for example, a “town hall” discussion Tuesday on San Antonio radio station KTSA. The discussion featured Daniel McNeel “Neel” Lane, the plaintiffs’ attorney in the […]

Also posted in Charles Flowers, LGBT issues, marriage equality, TFNEF | 5 Comments

How Did the Tea Party/Religious Right Lose So Badly on LGBT Discrimination in the Texas Legislature?

One of the most remarkable outcomes of the 2015 session of the Texas Legislature is the complete failure of the broadest legislative assault on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community anywhere in the country. It’s so remarkable in large part because Texas is deeply red state in which religious-right/tea party activists make up a powerful part of the […]

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, Dave Welch, Jonathan Saenz, LGBT issues, marriage equality, Texas Values, TFNEF | 5 Comments

Note to Religious-Righters: Opposing the Freedom to Marry Isn’t the Same as Opposing the Nazis

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are as evil as Nazis? That sure seems to be the message in an email on Thursday from two Texas-based, religious-right groups, Dave Welch’s Texas Pastor Council and Rick Scarborough’s Vision America. The email insists that “Christians must rally to defend Biblical marriage in Texas.” It then calls on readers to contact lawmakers in support of […]

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, LGBT issues, marriage equality, TFN, Vision America | 12 Comments

Texas Far-Right Group Directly Attacks Religious Faith of Elected Leaders Who Support Equality

Religious-right activists are now directly attacking the faith of elected city officials in Plano in an increasingly vitriolic campaign to repeal the North Texas city’s new anti-discrimination ordinance. The ordinance, passed in December, bars discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodations. Religious-right activists have been trying for weeks to frighten Plano residents by arguing that the ordinance will endanger […]

Also posted in Greg Abbott, Houston Area Pastor Council, LGBT issues, TFNEF | 4 Comments

Pflugerville Pastor Tells Congregants How God Wants Them to Vote in School Board Race

Who is behind efforts to toss out of office two Pflugerville Independent School District board members who support giving the domestic partners of district employees access to health insurance? Pflugerville is located in Travis County, and the school district includes parts of north Austin. Various religious-right groups and activists have criticized Pflugerville school board members […]

Also posted in education, LGBT issues, TFN | 13 Comments

Religious-Right Group Honors Texas AG Greg Abbott, Then Leader Prays for God to Destroy Marriage Equality Supporters

Just days after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott received an award on March 22 from the far-right Houston Area Pastor Council/Texas Pastor Council, the group’s executive director says supporters of marriage equality for gay and lesbian Americans are “enemies of God” and is calling on Christians to pray for their destruction. The Pastor Council’s Dave […]

Also posted in Dave Welch, Greg Abbott, Houston Area Pastor Council, LGBT issues, marriage, marriage equality, TFNEF | 10 Comments

Texas Attorney General Shouldn’t Stand with Extremists

We just sent out the following press release: The president of the Texas Freedom Network today called on Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to decline an award from an activist group whose leader says President Obama is “anti-Christian” and an “enemy” of America, compares the president and other Democratic leaders to Nazis, calls Houston’s twice-elected […]

Also posted in Dave Welch, Greg Abbott, Houston Area Pastor Council, Ken Starr, TFNEF | 3 Comments

Texas Attorney General, Baylor President Help Group That Says Obama ‘Anti-Christian’, Compares Democratic Leaders to Nazis, Calls Houston Mayor a ‘Sodomite’

No one could doubt that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Baylor University President Ken Starr are social conservatives. But do those two honestly think it’s a good thing to associate themselves with — and even aid — people who call the president of the United States “anti-Christian” and compare him and Democratic leaders to […]

Also posted in Dave Welch, Greg Abbott, Houston Area Pastor Council, Ken Starr, TFNEF | 8 Comments