Texans love to say, “As Texas goes, so goes America.” I would argue that what happens in Texas affects the world.
In many ways, that has been true in the fight for religious liberty for the last 70 years. A new battle over religious liberty is brewing in the race to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate. And so far, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his team are on the wrong side of it.
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Just a few days ago, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) released a list of five highly respected faith leaders from across Texas who now make up the senator’s Faith Advisory Council.
Cornyn’s opponent in the Republican primary, Paxton, and his team have chosen to respond to this announcement by attacking its pastors, including Dr. Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, who used to be Paxton’s own pastor. In what universe did Paxton and his team believe this was the morally or politically correct response?
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For a Republican candidate to engage in an all-out assault on conservative pastors and faith leaders is repugnant. It is also a sign of a desperate candidate and campaign resorting to desperate measures. Instead of seeking to destroy faith leaders associated with Cornyn, wouldn’t it make more sense for Paxton to simply produce his own list of pastors whom he goes to for advice? We all need wise counselors in our lives. But it is also incumbent on those in positions of leadership to heed the wise counsel they receive. By now, the list of Paxton’s indiscretions is increasingly public and tragically long. If Paxton has not been in recent communication with as many Christian leaders as he once was, now would be the perfect time to renew those relationships.
President Ronald Reagan once told a gathering of pastors in Dallas in 1984, “Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.” I couldn’t agree more. Texas needs more of God in the public square. Not less. I applaud President Donald Trump for finally setting religious voices on equal footing with the rest of the country via the new IRS ruling lifting restrictions on religious leaders weighing in on political matters.
I applaud Cornyn for responding to the new IRS rules by ushering godly voices into the public square. And I especially applaud Dr. Graham of Prestonwood, Max Lucado of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Dr. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church Dallas, Dr. Gus Reyes, board member of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and Dr. Phil Schubert, President of Abilene Christian University, for showing courage and taking action. Texas needs their voices now more than ever. May more leaders of the faith from across Texas and beyond be inspired in the weeks to come to join their ranks.
At a time when intimidation keeps people of faith out of the political process, Christians should be embracing these rare leaders. In my estimation, Paxton and his team’s persecution of their fellow believers is destructive to the process and extraordinarily hypocritical. These attacks are grounded in the age-old spiritual battle that seizes every opportunity to create confusion among Christians. Any believer who doesn’t understand unity ultimately can be used as a tool for evil.
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These leaders of the faith understand that their ministry doesn’t stop at the church house door. Unfortunately, Paxton and his team seem to believe that the spiritual and political spheres should be mutually exclusive.
In my reading of Scripture, this is “cherry picking” the truth to fit their own interests. I pray that Paxton and his team seek godly voices of their own rather than seek to destroy godly counselors like Cornyn’s Faith Advisory Council.
Charles Perry is a Texas state senator.
