FFRF Action Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” is the Texas Republican Party chair for claiming that state-church separation does not exist.
Abraham George asserted this falsehood on the first day of the Texas legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 14. The Texas Republican Party is deeply fractured, with a strong religious faction fiercely working to codify its conservative Christian views and Christian nationalism into law.
Last week, in a move backed by Texas Democrats and moderate Republicans, Texas state Rep. Dustin Burrows was elected as Texas House speaker, angering Texas conservatives, Christian nationalists and religious billionaire donors who backed Burrows’ opponent. Before and after the House speaker vote on Jan. 14, the religious conservatives establishing themselves at the forefront of the Texas GOP gathered at the state Capitol for rallies and worship sessions. They called for Christians to “take charge and authority” over the legislative session and exercise their “jurisdiction over the affairs of men.”
“There is no separation between church and state,” proclaimed George during a rally. “We don’t want the government in our churches, but we should be in the government.” George formerly served as the county chair of Collin County and ran for election to the Texas House in 2024 to represent District 89 but lost in the Republican primary.
George and the Texas GOP perpetuate other Christian nationalist lies, such as that the founding of the United States was ordained by God and that the nation’s laws should intertwine with conservative Christianity. Like-minded legislators and pastors depict detractors as part of an agenda to destroy Christianity in the public sphere, calling progressive Christians heretics and condemning “cowardly” clergy who do not engage with politics in their congregations.
The Texas GOP has desperately tried to infuse Christianity into public life in past legislative sessions, and this will undoubtedly continue in 2025, especially with President Trump back in office. A bill to require the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public school classrooms, which narrowly failed to pass in 2024, has already been refiled.
Texas GOP leaders and pastors are also mobilizing to undermine the Johnson Amendment, a federal rule prohibiting churches from engaging in overt political activity, and hope to take the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Speakers at the state Capitol argued that legislators are preparing for “spiritual war.” Pastor and Texas state Rep. Nate Schatzline said, “It’s not a political battle we’re in. We really believe this is a spiritual battle.”
“We’re going to give this space back to the Holy Spirit,” Schatzline professed. “We give You this room. … The 89th Legislative session is Yours, Lord. The members of this body are Yours, Lord. This building belongs to You, Jesus.”
Another pastor, Brandon Burden, echoed these sentiments while praying over Texas legislators: “We take charge and authority of the 89th legislative session. We, the people of God, called by the name of Jesus and covered in the blood of the lamb, have been given spiritual jurisdiction over the affairs of men.”
George was elected as the chair of the Republican Party in May 2024 at the party’s annual convention. He is widely expected to further the party’s trajectory of aligning with Christian conservatism and deriding state-church separation. We condemn George’s duplicitous remarks on the separation of state and church. The FFRF Action Fund will closely monitor the Texas GOP as this year’s legislative session plays out while we continue to fight to protect our secular democracy.
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.