Texas GOP: separation of church and state is a myth

Texas GOP: No church-state split
Party's platform calls U.S. ?'Christian nation'
By Marni Goldberg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON?-When the Texas Republican Party adopted its platform recently, party leaders left no question as to the importance it placed on religion.

The platform calls America a "Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian principles," and that has drawn a frustrated reaction from Jewish groups that consider the language exclusionary.

Another portion of the platform has stirred additional concerns. "We pledge to exert our influence toward a return to the original intent of the 1st Amendment and dispel the myth of the separation between church and state," the document reads.

In Texas and elsewhere, debates on social and cultural issues have blurred the line between faith and politics. Fights over gay marriage, abortion and school prayer reflect and exacerbate the rift between religious conservatives and the more secular-minded.

In recent days, Republicans in the House announced their "American Values Agenda," a package of legislation that among other things would preserve the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance and protect state and local officials from paying damages if they are sued for public expressions of religion. And last week, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) issued a call to his own party, urging a more open dialogue on the subject of faith to counter a perception of progressives as secular snobs.

Such appeals are part of politics, said John Green, a senior fellow with the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. But there is also a real dispute, he said, between Christian conservatives and traditionally secular groups over whether the Constitution prescribes a true separation of church and state.

Many Christian conservatives insist the Founding Fathers intended to prevent the establishment of a state religion but never meant to remove religion in government.

"We are a country that is based on Judeo-Christian principles and that has allowed us to have far more freedom than countries based on other religious principles," said Tina Benkiser, chairwoman of the Texas Republican Party.

Groups that support the confluence of faith and politics, such as the Traditional Values Coalition, note that no language in the Constitution specifically mandates a "wall of separation."

Green said the language used in the Texas Republican platform emanates from Christian conservatives' concern that a misinterpretation of the 1st Amendment is driving a push to remove religious symbols from the public domain.

"What we see is that secular forces today want to deny our past, they want to rewrite our history and they want to purge God from the public square," Benkiser said.

Many advocates of strict church-state separation do not deny that religion has an important place in America. But keeping a healthy distance is necessary, according to Robert Boston, spokesman for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

With the statements in their platform, he said, Republican Party leaders in Texas are "attacking a core principle of the American democracy."

Another group, the Texas Freedom Network, advocates religious and individual freedom, and according to its president, Kathy Miller, the separation of church and state is a critical way to ensure that each faith is respected and honored.

But she added that there is a difference between allowing religious views to inform your position on issues and using religion as a political weapon. She senses the latter in the Texas Republican Party.

"The line is crossed when politicians use religion as a prop in their campaigns … . That's when the separation of church and state is at risk," Miller said.

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