“Just this week the Colorado Supreme Court refused to overturn a lower court ruling that a Christian baker in Colorado must be punished for refusing to provide a cake for a same-sex marriage. We are going to hear more stories about bakers and photographers that are told they cannot refuse customers based on religious grounds, Christian pharmacists being told they must fill prescriptions for the morning after pill, and about religious ministries, like the Little Sisters of the Poor, that must provide birth control in their healthcare coverage. I join Franklin Graham and humbly ask God to provide wisdom and courage for lawmakers and citizens alike. As a legislator, I want to ensure that people of all religions are able to practice their faiths openly, without government intrusion,” Rep. Schaefer said.
The Decision America Tour is the latest mission of Franklin Graham, an internationally known evangelist. He is traveling to all 50 states, holding prayer rallies and urging Christians to take meaningful action in government, while encouraging Christians to pray with passion and persistence for our nation, state officials, and community leaders. He has devoted his life to meeting the needs of people around the world and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Rep. Schaefer hosted more than fifty East Texans from Green Acres Baptist Church at the Capitol who travelled to Austin to hear Franklin Graham speak on the Capitol steps. The event was part of Graham’s nationwide Decision America Tour. A large crowd gathered at the Capitol to pray for the nation, state, and local elected officials and to promote greater religious freedom. Following the rally, Rep. Schaefer led a discussion on current threats to religious liberty law in Texas along with Rep. Scott Sanford (R-McKinney), who authored the Pastor/Clergy Protection Act passed in Texas in 2015, Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth), and Jonathan Saenz, President of Texas Values.
“Christians are sensing that something serious is happening with our ability to live out our faith while freely going about our business. We are being threatened. It is stirring up some of the same feelings that were part of the American Revolution and led to the First Amendment being written into the Constitution. If you believe in marriage between a man and a woman, you shouldn’t be forced to provide services to celebrate a same-sex marriage. If you believe God created people as male and female and you want to have separate bathrooms in your business as a matter of decency and protection for females, you shouldn’t have to be worried about being sued. What our Founders believed was clear and obvious, unfortunately must be clarified in Texas law. We must act now to make sure our religious liberty laws are crystal clear. Otherwise it’s only a matter of time before liberal judges in Texas will cut holes in laws they see as ambiguous,” Rep. Schaefer said.
