Lieutenant Governor Dan of Texas Governor Dan Patrick wants to become a minister after his political career ends.
“I want to be the first elected official, not the first pastor to become an elected official,” Patrick said last week. praisea Christian talk show on the Trinity Broadcast Network.
Patrick is already a pastor, and you could argue that his supporter is a Texas state senator. There, he says, he has passed numerous bills influenced by his Christian faith.
Politics has long been a bastion of religious expression and activism, but Patrick sees room and need for more. The debate over how religion and government should blend has raged since America’s founding, even as polls show American church attendance is steadily declining. Patrick believes Christianity is an essential guide to Texas’ approach to legislators and governance.
“We Christians shouldn’t be afraid to talk about politics,” Patrick said last Monday. praise, where he joined television personality Phil McGraw and show host Matt Crouch. “People in politics should not be afraid to talk about their faith.”
On the show, Patrick made legislation targeting transgender Texans a central part of his political campaign. In Congress last year, she spearheaded a bill that would ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youth seeking gender-affirming care. Lawmakers also restricted the college sports teams that trans athletes can participate in. Another bill would outlaw some drag shows by banning sexually explicit performances in front of children.
“We have to stand up and resist because there are real groups out there who are trying to push God away and undermine our families,” he said on the show.
State Rep. James Talarico welcomes the expansion of religion in politics, but the Austin Democrat believes Patrick has the wrong view of Christian principles in the legislative arena.
“It would be great to see more Christians in public office who actually put Christian values into practice, such as healing the sick, liberating the poor, and caring for God’s creation,” Talarico said. “That’s not what I’ve seen with Lieutenant Governor Patrick.”
Talarico, a former middle school teacher, is pursuing a master’s degree in divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
He said Patrick’s campaign for legislation targeting transgender Texans is about “love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your soul” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” He said that it does not conform to Christ’s two greatest commandments.
“There were no exceptions to the second commandment,” Talarico said. “He didn’t say love all your neighbors, except gays, transgenders, and the poor. There were no exceptions. It meant loving your neighbors regardless of their race, class, gender, or culture. That was it.”
Talarico added: “I think it’s ironic that Dan Patrick is on a Christian show and he’s bullying transgender kids.”
Patrick said he’s not bullying transgender Texans, he’s protecting children and society. He said a failed 2017 bill requiring transgender residents to use the restroom corresponding to the gender assigned to them at birth was intended to protect people from criminals and perverts. Ta. He said the ban on gender-affirming childcare was aimed at protecting children who “would never have thought of going down that path.”
Opponents argue that transgender and other LGBTQ people are suffering and that laws targeting them will not help.
A 2022 study by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicide prevention organization, found that LGBTQ youth in Texas experience suicidal thoughts at higher rates than their peers in the larger state and are less likely to seek mental health care. has proved more difficult to access. Roughly two in three Texans surveyed by The Trevor Project said they need mental health care but don’t have access to it. Almost half, 47%, said they had considered suicide, and 16% said they had attempted suicide.
Some LGBTQ advocates said political rhetoric against LGBTQ residents is contributing to suicidal thoughts.
In 2017, then-Republican House Speaker Joe Straus recalled: dallas morning news The editorial board opposed Patrick’s push for a bathroom bill.
“I can tell the lieutenant governor that I have no compunction about the suicide of a single Texan,” he said.
At the time, Patrick described Strauss as “a man standing alone.”
upon praise, Patrick said he was on the right side of the toilet charge. And he defended supporters of transgender legislation against critics who say such laws are unnecessary and draconian.
“We want to be inclusive and we want to provide opportunities for everyone in America,” Patrick said. “We don’t want our kids to be bullied, and as Christians we love everyone, but… there are moments when you have to say, ‘Wait a minute.’ I have a cause that I support, and this is not right. ”
Patrick said some critics are promoting anti-Christian policies.
“I think there’s a strong movement in this country that tries to remove God from society,” Patrick said. “They want to break up the nuclear family. I think that’s part of the transgender issue.”
He relied on his religious beliefs to finish his argument.
“We are born in the image of God,” he said. “And when you say you have the right to change the image of God, that’s a very powerful statement.”
Talarico claimed that Patrick was intolerant of transgender issues.
“My concern is politicians who claim to be Christians but don’t actually practice Christian values while in office,” Talarico said.
Transgender policy isn’t the only area where Patrick says a Christian approach could be used.
upon praise, Patrick said “God’s principles” include law and order, border security, small government, school choice and other topics popular with Republicans in Congress. Texas also has some of the most aggressive abortion regulations in the country.
Patrick said lawmakers plan to require schools to teach Bible stories and examine the Roman Empire through a Christian lens.
“We are currently in the process of creating a curriculum in Texas to get back to teaching the stories of the Bible, not necessarily the Bible itself,” Patrick said. “The story of Esther could have a very powerful impact.”
According to the Bible, Esther was a Hebrew woman who married King Ahasuerus of Persia to thwart the king’s grand vizier’s plot to murder all of Persia’s Jews. The Book of Esther is one of only two books in the Bible given a female name. The other is the Book of Ruth.
In their conversation, Patrick and McGraw lamented that fewer Americans attend church.
A March Gallup poll found that more than half of Americans rarely go to church. Among American religious groups, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (67%) are most likely to attend church services weekly or almost weekly. Protestants (44%) were second, followed by Muslims (38%) and Catholics (33%).
“Church membership is below 50% for the first time in our nation’s history,” McGraw said. “What are they doing? Everyone wants to belong somewhere. … That’s not good for the family.”
Patrick said Christians could change this trend.
“People of faith aren’t taking action because if they did, we could go back to the basics of school, life and business,” he says.
Pastors in the United States need to “get the vote” and “participate in our democracy,” Patrick said.
However, many ministers are involved in politics.
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas, was an advisor to former President Donald Trump.
Historically, the black church was an essential voice in the civil rights movement, with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leading the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
In 2020, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, Democrat of Georgia, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King once served as co-pastor, was elected to the U.S. Senate.
Still, Patrick said more leadership is needed, especially from people who share his values of faith, family and conservatism.
Patrick often quotes 2 Chronicles 7:14. Then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and heal their land. ”
“When I was a baby Christian, even before I was a devout believer, I thought, ‘What if my people were Americans?'” Patrick said. “That’s not what I’m learning now. That’s Christian. That’s His people.
“If we don’t intervene and act wisely … we could lose this country,” he said.
