Dan Patrick Co-Sponsored Merry Christmas Bill to Protect Texas Schools and Christians from Lawsuits

As Christmas nears, I am reminded of the work that Texas State Senator Dan Patrick has done to stand up for our Constitutional, religious rights and freedoms. Texas Lieutenant Governor Candidate Dan Patrick co-sponsored the Merry Christmas Bill that was passed in the 2013 Texas Legislative Session. My own State Senator Robert Nichols filed the bill in the Texas Senate.

The war on Christmas was forcing schools in Texas to fear even mentioning the word Christmas. Teachers and even students were threatened with lawsuits for having a Christmas tree or wearing the colors green and red. Atheist groups and other anti-Christian organizations do not like the fact that Christmas is based on the birth of Jesus Christ. These anti-Christians felt that any celebration of Christmas in schools violated their religions rights. They are dead wrong. They can be offended all they want about Christmas, but the Constitution does not guarantee them the right to not be offended. The Constitution only prohibits Congress from forcing everyone in America to believe in a certain religion by establishing a national church. The Constitution goes on to say that the Congress can also NOT prohibit the free practice of religion. In other words, if an Atheist feels offended by a nativity scene or by a Christmas tree then too bad for the Atheist. The Christmas tree does not force the Atheist to become a Christian. The Atheist can be an Atheist no matter how many Christmas trees they see in a school. The Atheist has the right to be an Atheist. The Atheist does NOT have the right to not be offended because something they see goes against their religion.

Anyways, these Atheists and other anti-Christian groups have been suing and threatening to sue school districts that allow Christmas decorations. Dan Patrick took a stand against this attack on Christmas. Patrick co-sponsored the Merry Christmas Bill that allows School Districts, Teachers and Students the right to celebrate Christmas without fear of lawsuits. The Bill passed and was signed by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Back when the Merry Christmas Bill was getting passed, Dan Patrick sat down and talked with Jonathan Saenz from Texas Values. They discussed Patrick's work to Stop Common Core and CSCOPE, but at the 8 minute mark into the interview they talked about the Merry Christmas Bill.

See interview video below:

Jonathan Saenz: Pflugerville ISD Power Grab Breaks Texas Same-Sex Marriage Constitutional Amendment

Op-Ed by Jonathan Saenz of Texas Values Published in the Statesman: 

The Pflugerville power grab

In Texas, government officials are not above the Texas Constitution. In addition to defining marriage as only a “union of one man and one woman,” the Texas Constitution states “this state, or a political subdivision of this state, may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.” Efforts by the government to legally recognize “domestic partnerships” are a clear violation of the Texas Constitution.

The Texas Marriage Amendment was passed in 2005 by an overwhelming majority of over 76 percent of Texas voters after having been passed by a bipartisan supermajority in the Texas Legislature. The reason was and still is as clear as the text of our Constitution itself: Texans support the definition of marriage as it has always been and reject all other legal statuses seeking to undermine our most basic and important social institution.

But that hasn’t kept the homosexual lobby and their enablers in various parts of government from trying. The most recent example: Pflugerville Independent School District Superintendent Charles Dupre made an executive policy change to create a “domestic partnership” category, similar to marriage in several ways, that will allow the district to provide benefits to same-sex partners. The district’s “affidavit of Domestic Partnership” requirements include not being married to someone, being at least 18 years of age and not a blood relative, to name a few.

Sound like marriage? This was done without the approval of the elected school board members, without any evidence of a financial impact analysis or without even a public hearing. This power grab by an unelected government official looks more like what we expect from Washington, D.C., than how things get done in Texas.

The people of Pflugerville were clearly not happy about being ignored and dismissed as irrelevant. Residents responded by overwhelming the next school board meeting, with outraged residents forced to stand as every seat was filled. One after another, members of the community showed up to voice their opposition to the substance and process of this anti-Constitution decision by Dupre. Is this how the government works in Pflugerville — govern by force and might, and shut the people out? Has Dupre forgotten that his salary is paid by the taxpayers?

With the outrage building, state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, has sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, requesting an opinion on whether the Texas Constitution’s definition of marriage precludes any governmental body in Texas from recognizing a domestic partnership legal status by allowing the government to provide benefits to same-sex partners. As Patrick stated, “The will and the respect of the Texas people is being trampled, and I cannot sit by and watch this any longer.” I agree.

This reckless and poorly planned decision is a prime example of why we must demand accountability from our government. If nothing else, government officials are at least expected to follow the law. And now that the Texas attorney general’s office is involved in investigating this matter, we expect this clear violation of the Texas Constitution to be exposed, laying blame squarely at the feet of Dupre. But the elected Pflugerville school board is also at fault. The people of Pflugerville had been emailing and calling the school board about this matter long before their meeting on Oct. 18th. In fact, the district was presented with a specific letter at the board meeting from state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa and House author of the Texas Marriage Amendment, on how this new policy violates the actual words and intent of our Texas Constitution.

The district’s refusal to address this matter, in light of the outcry of Pflugerville residents and the concerns about the constitutionality of this policy, shows they must approve and support the actions of Charles Dupre, the new King of Pflugerville.

Yes it’s true. It seems a monarchy has arrived in Pflugerville, and King Dupre is accountable to no one, except maybe to the ACLU and the homosexual lobby. Is this how we want our local government run — by Washington, D.C., groups and unaccountable government officials? I suspect that our elected attorney general and other state lawmakers will see this issue differently, and they should. And so should you, the Texas voter and taxpayer.