God Bless Texas, eh?? Just when I fear that this might be a slow news day for me, I run across something that reminds me just how much I miss the the Lone Star State for the entertainment value….
In Texas, an employer can discriminate based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status…and probably a few other things that most of us in the other 49 states think of as protected classes. Let’s face it- if you’re not White, Straight, Christian, and Male, you’re basically considered to be a second-class citizen by the laws of the State of Texas. There’s one glaring gap that a Republican legislator is proposing to close, though. Surprisingly, being a Creationist does not make you a member of a protected class…at least in Texas. If you believe in “intelligent design”, HB 2454 will ensure that your godless, Humanist employer can’t discriminate against you for being a good, God-fearing Christian.
An institution of higher education may not discriminate against or penalize in any manner, especially with regard to employment or academic support, a faculty member or student based on the faculty member’s or student’s conduct of research relating to the theory of intelligent design or other alternate theories of the origination and development of organisms.
Yes, that’s right; Christians, being members of an oppressed majority, are desperately in need of legal protection from those who would deny their God-given right to pursue their particular belief system. ‘Cuz Lord knows that Christians don’t already rule Texas with an iron fist, eh?
The good news is that, given the way the bill is written, one could infer protections for those who hold religious beliefs that might not mesh completely with Texas’ brand of “kill ‘em all, let God sort ‘em out” Creationism. If you can construct (and support via scholarly research) an elaborate theory on how the Flying Spaghetti Monster is responsible for the creation of the known universe…well, you might be entitled to tenure.
Yeah, sometimes I kinda do miss Texas…..
