No Texan's faith should decide whether they can serve in office. At the state Republican convention on June 12, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said US Senate candidate James Talarico, a fellow Christian, will "go to hell" for how he reads the Bible. An elected official does not get to decide who is saved and who is damned.
This is the same official who put the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom and hung "In God We Trust" over the Senate dais. He has used his office for years to promote one version of faith. Now he uses it to condemn an opponent.
President Trump runs the same play, treating people who disagree with him as enemies of God and country. That message tells millions of Texans of other faiths, and of no faith, that they do not fully belong here.
Texas leaders should represent every Texan. Say publicly that faith is not a qualification for office, reject Lt. Gov. Patrick's "go to hell" rhetoric, and refuse to govern by religious test.
