FFRF Action Fund names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a staunch Christian nationalist, as its “Theocrat of the Week” for his baseless religious discrimination lawsuit against his home state’s Department of Public Safety.
In the lawsuit, Paxton alleges that “harm to Texas citizens is imminent” if the court does not issue an injunction against a rule that prohibits religious advertisements from appearing in the “Texas Driver Handbook” and department mailings. Filed last week in Travis County District Court, Paxton’s lawsuit argues that the Texas Department of Public Safety infringes on the First Amendment rights of Texas citizens by not allowing ads of a religious nature to appear in the state’s driver handbook. “This rule discriminates against religious organizations’ speech,” the lawsuit reads, “allowing secular entities to purchase ad space or otherwise engage in secular speech in the ‘Handbook.’”
A statute in the Texas Administrative Code allows the Texas Department of Public Safety to contract with advertisers for its handbook. Still, it requires the ads to “be in good taste” and stipulates that they cannot be religious, political or controversial. In his lawsuit, Paxton is asking a judge to intervene and prohibit the Texas Department of Public Safety from rejecting any ads featuring religious content.
Paxton argues that secular organizations can purchase ads; however, the Texas Department of Public Safety website notably provides no information for potential advertisers. The department told an Austin TV station that its current driver’s handbook contains no ads and that it has had no discussions with the attorney general on the matter. A 2012 version of the handbook also contains no ads.
Paxton does not include any examples of the Texas Department of Public Safety rejecting ads in his lawsuit. Instead, he references a 2019 ruling from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the Northeastern Pennsylvania Freethought Society and a Pennsylvania county’s transit system. The transit system repeatedly rejected requests for bus ads from a freethought group, since it deemed the proposed ads featuring the word “atheists” too “controversial.” The transit system eventually approved an ad that didn’t mention “atheists” and named only the “NEPA Freethought Society.” This led to a federal lawsuit, in which it was argued that the transit system had accepted numerous religious ads from local churches and religious groups but rejected the sole atheist ad. The 2019 ruling sided with the Freethought Society, finding that the transit system had violated the First Amendment. When citing the ruling in his lawsuit, Paxton ignores the fact that the Texas Department of Public Safety does not approve ads of any kind — religious or not.
This is not Paxton’s first foray into culture wars or into efforts to prove religious discrimination against Christians.
In November, Paxton sued Galveston ISD over the school board’s decision to delay the posting of Ten Commandments posters in its public schools, following the Lone Star State’s Ten Commandments law and subsequent civil rights lawsuits. (FFRF is involved in multiple litigation efforts challenging the Ten Commandments law.) Paxton complained that the Galveston school district ignored the Texas Legislature and the “legal and moral heritage of our nation.” “America is a Christian nation, and it is imperative that we display the very values and timeless truths that have historically guided the success of our country,” Paxton declared. Additionally, Paxton speciously asserted that there is no legal basis to prevent Texas schools from honoring state law “especially under the misconception that a ‘separation of church and state’ phrase appears in the Constitution.”
The attorney general also used his office to further promote Christianity in public schools when he pressured Texas schools to set aside time for prayer and bible readings in a September statement. “Attorney General Paxton encourages children to begin with the Lord’s Prayer, as taught by Jesus Christ,” the statement reads. FFRF promptly sent a letter to Paxton following the statement’s release.
Paxton continually peddles the Christian nationalist fabrication that the United States is a Christian nation, arguing that the country was “founded on the rock of Biblical Truth.” He often oversteps the state-church restrictions on his secular office and, through his latest lawsuit, now appears to be aiding the Trump administration’s attempt to prove that there is an “anti-Christian bias” in the United States. He has certainly earned his first-ever “Theocrat of the Week” designation and will likely retake the title in the future.
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.