Just when you thought the State of Texas couldn’t possibly cram any more fundamentalism into our daily lives, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has entered the chat. Apparently, forcing public school classrooms to display “In God We Trust” posters, passing laws to post the Ten Commandments, inserting Bible lessons into elementary school curricula, and replacing qualified mental health counselors with unlicensed chaplains was merely the warm-up act. On Monday, Patrick unleashed a shiny new batch of interim legislative charges directing the Senate to figure out how to further infuse religion into every nook and cranny of public life.
Handed off to his newly minted “Religious Liberty Committee,” these directives instruct senators to review state and federal laws to see if state laws align with First Amendment clauses and determine if “additional protections” are needed. The committee is also tasked with launching a public education campaign to remind Texans of their right to practice religion everywhere from the workplace to healthcare settings, as well as auditing a 2025 law that lets kids skip class for off-campus religious instruction. Patrick, who openly rejects the separation of church and state—claiming it’s a fiction invented by the “anti-God left” to suppress people of faith—is taking his crusade straight to the legislative floor.
Of course, “religious liberty” in Texas politics has always carried a massive fine-print disclaimer. While Patrick’s committee preaches freedom of worship, his earlier interim charges specifically targeted “preventing Sharia law” in Texas, all while state GOP convention members recently attempted to purge Muslim participants from their own events. It’s a truly inspiring display of religious freedom, provided your religious freedom looks, acts, and votes exactly like Dan Patrick.
Because nothing says balanced governance quite like mixing state-sanctioned theology with administrative housekeeping, Patrick tucked these religious directives right alongside interim orders to study online ticket-scalping bots, divorce proceedings, and water levels in the Pecos River Basin.
Because if there’s one thing guaranteed to fix West Texas water shortages, predatory ticket brokers, and crumbling public infrastructure, it’s definitely a state-sponsored religion campaign run by politicians who treat the U.S. Constitution like a rough draft of the Old Testament.
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