King Heralds Religious Freedom Legislation

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Austin – State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) heralds significant religious freedom bills that were adopted during the recent legislative session, given the small amount of attention received by the new religious liberty laws.

House Bill 1034, co-authored by Phil King, adds the words, “under God” to the Texas Pledge. The new pledge reads, “Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.”

Declaration of Independence signer Dr. Benjamin Rush advocated for the first free public schools in our nation saying, “If you remove the Bible from our classrooms, there would be an explosion of crime.” Echoing this principle, King explains that House Bill 1287 appropriately puts the Bible back into our Texas classrooms. The bill strengthens our shared, traditional Texas values by allowing an elective course on the Bible to be offered in Texas public schools.

A third bill, co-authored by King, House Bill 3678 allows students to voluntarily express religious viewpoints in public schools. The bill ensures that students may add their religious views to art, literature, science, and other subjects of discussion that previously excluded such free expression.

“These three new laws,” King said, “are great victories for religious freedom in Texas.”