Religious Freedom Campaign

The ACLU of Texas Religious Freedom Campaign seeks to defend the rights of all Texans to practice their faiths freely and to protect against government intrusion into matters of faith.

• Share Your Feelings About Prayer at Graduation - If your school district holds student elections to decide about prayer at public high school graduations, that’s government promoting religion, which is unconstitutional.
• Religious Freedom Quiz - Think you know all about the role of religious liberty in American history? Here’s a quiz to test your knowledge of our Founders’ views on religion.

• ACLU Of Texas Questions Change In DISD Neutrality Policy On Graduation Venues (1/12/2012)
• ACLU of Texas Praises Removal Of Sectarian Symbols on TAMU-SA Tower (11/20/2011)
• ACLU of Texas Demands Brownsville ISD Disclose Policies Banning Rosaries And Crosses At School (11/18/2011)

The ACLU Freedom Files:
Religious Freedom
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The Religious Freedom Campaign:
An Introduction
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The Religious Freedom Campaign is a priority of the ACLU of Texas. We seek to defend the rights of all Texans to practice their faiths freely and to protect against government intrusion into matters of faith. Learn more about our campaign goals below, and support our work by taking action.

Ensure K-12 Public School Curriculum and Textbooks Are Free From Government-Sponsored Religion

The separation of church and state is a cornerstone of our democracy, but that has not stopped a majority on the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) from injecting their personal religious beliefs into K-12 curriculum and textbooks. From attempts to insert creationism into biology classes to resolutions that single out specific religions for disparagement, the SBOE has shown that it cannot place the best interests of Texas children above individual members’ personal religious beliefs. We’ll promote policies that will ensure experts and scholars, not politicians, determine the content of K-12 curriculum and textbooks in Texas.

Promote the Separation of Church and State on Public School Campuses

Teachers, administrators, and other officials throughout the state have injected their personal religious beliefs into public schools, usurping the rights of parents and communities of faith to determine the religious instruction of children. From a Bible curriculum statute that is misinterpreted to allow teaching of sectarian religious beliefs as fact, to government-sponsored sectarian prayers at school events, too many Texas schools have become places for teachers and principals, who are government employees, to impose their specific religious beliefs on impressionable school children. We’ll promote policies that leave religious instruction to parents and faith leaders.

Ensure Texans Are Able to Practice Their Faiths, or No Faith at All, Without Government Interference

The right to practice one’s faith, or no faith at all, is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution. Unfortunately, from a teacher ordered to submit fingerprints in contravention of her religious faith, to a kindergartener suspended for choosing to respect his faith over a school dress code, countless Texans have been denied this fundamental right. We’ll promote policies that keep the government out of your personal faith decisions and practices.

View the full campaign summary here (PDF)

Additional Resources

• Nacogdoches School District Cautioned Against Distributing Gideons Bibles on School Campus (3/8/2011)
• The Texas State Board of Education: A Case of Abuse of Power (5/13/2010)
• Distribution of Gideons Bibles in Texas Public Schools: Impact on Students’ Religious Liberty (10/8/2009)
• ACLU of Texas Report Reveals Violations in School Districts that Allow Gideons Bible Distributions (10/8/2009)

• ACLU-TX Seeking Volunteer Religious Freedom Community Organizers (4/3/2012)
• Spring 2012 Religious Freedom Campaign Intern (Law or Graduate Student) (12/20/2011)

• Know Your Rights – Minority Faiths (3/27/2012)
• Know Your Rights – Minority Faiths in School (3/27/2012)
• Know Your Rights: Students’ Religious Rights at School (12/5/2011)
• Know Your Rights: The Bible in Texas Public Schools (11/7/2009)