Lone Star State's religious expression bill goes into effect Sept. 1

[Soldier4Christ]

Lone Star State's religious expression bill goes into effect Sept. 1

Under a new law enacted earlier this summer and going into effect in a few weeks, public school students in Texas should feel less intimidated by the threat of legal action when sharing or expressing their personal faith on campus, whether it be verbally or in a class assignment.



The "Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act" (HB 3678), approved during the last legislative session and signed by Texas Governor Rick Perry in early June, gives public school districts across the Lone Star State until September 1 to adopt a policy designating school events where public forums will be available for students. Many say it will create more opportunities for students to express their religious views in public schools -- perhaps because the new law creates guidelines for student speakers at graduation ceremonies, football games, and other school-wide events, and also allows students to organize religious groups and activities.

Jonathan Saenz is with Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute, which helped draft the bill. He says the new law will protect the free-speech rights of students.

"This bill will give students confidence to be able to talk about what their beliefs are, just like students talk about all other kinds of topics and interests they have," Saenz explains. "They won't feel like they're second-class citizens because they actually talk about something that's religious or they happen to mention the name 'God' when they're in a public school -- something that our Supreme Court has said for years they're allowed to do."

Saenz argues that despite the high court's standing on the matter, many school districts have been guilty of violating students' freedom of speech. "It's been a pattern of cases and a number of cases, and just, really, the school districts showing their unwillingness to follow the law," he asserts.

"And so year after year, we see these things happen in Texas -- and we decided enough is enough," the attorney continues. "They're obviously not following the law as it's been brought down and decided by court cases, so we had to put it in state law so we can make absolutely clear to them what the law is."

The bill, which faced strong opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and teachers unions, was sponsored by Republican State Representative Charlie Howard from Sugar Land, a Houston suburb.

[Shammu]

The bill, which faced strong opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and teachers unions, was sponsored by Republican State Representative Charlie Howard from Sugar Land, a Houston suburb.

Why am I not surprised by the Anti Christian Law Union being against this bill.

[Debp]

Lone Star State's religious expression bill goes into effect Sept. 1

Under a new law enacted earlier this summer and going into effect in a few weeks, public school students in Texas should feel less intimidated by the threat of legal action when sharing or expressing their personal faith on campus, whether it be verbally or in a class assignment.



The "Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act" (HB 3678), approved during the last legislative session and signed by Texas Governor Rick Perry in early June, gives public school districts across the Lone Star State until September 1 to adopt a policy designating school events where public forums will be available for students. Many say it will create more opportunities for students to express their religious views in public schools -- perhaps because the new law creates guidelines for student speakers at graduation ceremonies, football games, and other school-wide events, and also allows students to organize religious groups and activities.

Jonathan Saenz is with Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute, which helped draft the bill. He says the new law will protect the free-speech rights of students.

"This bill will give students confidence to be able to talk about what their beliefs are, just like students talk about all other kinds of topics and interests they have," Saenz explains. "They won't feel like they're second-class citizens because they actually talk about something that's religious or they happen to mention the name 'God' when they're in a public school -- something that our Supreme Court has said for years they're allowed to do."

Saenz argues that despite the high court's standing on the matter, many school districts have been guilty of violating students' freedom of speech. "It's been a pattern of cases and a number of cases, and just, really, the school districts showing their unwillingness to follow the law," he asserts.

"And so year after year, we see these things happen in Texas -- and we decided enough is enough," the attorney continues. "They're obviously not following the law as it's been brought down and decided by court cases, so we had to put it in state law so we can make absolutely clear to them what the law is."

The bill, which faced strong opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and teachers unions, was sponsored by Republican State Representative Charlie Howard from Sugar Land, a Houston suburb.

It's wonderful to hear about this bill in Texas....I hope other states will do the same.