Religious Right Has Good Year At Capitol

It should come as no surprise that the Religious Right has had a good year in the Texas Legislature:

Christian conservatives are counting their legislative blessings, and they are bountiful.

A premarital education bill. A ban on mandatory human papillomavirus vaccines. Posting “In God We Trust” in the House and Senate chambers.

It would be a record legislative session even if it ended today, they say. And they’ve still got half a dozen other religious expression and anti-abortion bills with a good shot at becoming law – including legislation on when doctors can end a terminal patient’s care and on adding “under God” to the Texas pledge of allegiance.

Today, the House is slated to consider a contentious bill to force Texas physicians to submit reports to the state on each abortion they perform. A second abortion bill – one requiring women seeking the procedure to first get a sonogram – should be up for House debate by Monday.

Scratch that. It should come as a surprise to us that the Religious Right has, for the third session in a row, managed to score such major moral victories while more human needs facing everyday Texans are ignored. Given that the GOP majority has dwindled, it should be harder for some of this stuff to get through. How this has become a “banner year” for the Religious Right and perhaps the biggest of the three “morals sessions” since 2003 is beyond me.

Remember in 2003 and 2005 the Religious Right had excellent sessions, too. Their best on record, until now.

How, when we have children who need healthcare, teachers who need a raise, and children being raped in state institutions, do we have the time to focus on such bullshit-nonsense legislation as pre-marital education, bible classes, and the like.

Check this from Wayne Christian, a Leininger 5-er:

“We’ve had bills on the floor, bills being considered in committee, bills being taken very seriously,” said Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center. “In general, the Legislature has been far more tolerant of Christian conservative issues” than in past sessions.

Again, how that’s happened with a larger, emboldened minority is beyond my comprehension. Wait, no it’s not: it’s because representatives know, regardless of party, that they can’t vote against 90 percent of the crap the religious right supports because they’ll be hit with “anti-Christian” attacks in their next campaigns.

Check this also:

Opponents see it as the opposite of tolerance: Lawmakers, they say, are putting their moral stamp on average Texans’ lives – by making couples pay higher marriage license fees if they don’t attend counseling, hoping required sonograms will make women rethink abortion, and giving children free rein to advertise their religious beliefs in school.

“There seems to be a real push this session from Christian conservative legislators to do more than just focus on the hot-button culture war issues,” said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which seeks to limit the influence of religion on government. “Instead, they’re trying to impose their own religious perspective on everybody else in the state.”

Texas has no business legislating Judeo-Christian values anymore than the Mexican government had the business of legislating Roman Catholic values 160 years ago. Remember that a major issue of the Texas Revolution in 1836 had to do with the issue of religion and the fact that everyone was required to practice the Roman Catholic faith.

Though the Religious Right hasn’t quite found a way to make Evangelical Christianity the official state religion under the Texas Constitution, they have essentially made things such that Christianity has become the de facto official state religion of Texas, and for political gain no less:

“We see religion and faith being used as a kind of tool for political gain,” she said. “This is a very strong push in the face of two electoral seasons of losses at the ballot box to promote their political and ideological agenda now, before it’s too late.”

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