As far as Glenn Beck is concerned, the biggest threat facing Texas isn't Ebola. It's Houston's holy war against free speech.
"This is more dangerous to the republic of Texas than any virus is. This is more dangerous than anything I've ever seen," the talk host warned. "This is not about equal rights. ... This is about shutting people down." And not all religious people—but Christians.
Like us, Glenn thinks one of the most stunning things about this Left's anti-faith crackdown is how selective it is. "God forbid you say, 'This mosque has radical Islamic imams preaching hatred,'" he said on his show. "You have a bag of bricks fall on your head, and they immediately shut down everyone from even saying, 'Wait a minute—the bombers came from that mosque.' ... The president immediately sends a team of delegates to apologize to that mosque, as it happened in Oklahoma."
But in Texas, where a bully of a mayor is intent on gagging local pastors, the president and his party are nowhere to be found. "We have become a very anti-religious group of people," Beck went on. "It was the Christians that were leading the way to man's freedom. And if the Christians don't do it this time, we'll never do it. We will lose it." With nearly 52,000 signing our petition to the Houston mayor, I'd say many are in agreement.
Fortunately, Glenn wasn't the only familiar face sounding the alarm on Houston. Chuck Norris had a message for the tyrants in Texas: nobody messes with religious liberty in his state and gets away with it. Angry that any elected leader would try to strip the power of the pulpit, Norris was blunt about the mayor's legal demands. Instead of combing through pastors' personal emails and messages, Norris thinks Houston officials should try reading the Constitution instead. "If the city attorney and Mayor Annise Parker need a primer on the First Amendment, then let them know that America's founders drafted it even to protect the political speech of preachers!"
And if it's "speeches" the mayor is interested in, then she can expect plenty on November 2, when FRC and other organizations link arms with local churches and rally Christians and churches from around the nation to stand for our Christian faith as we host I Stand Sunday. Like these local pastors, our speakers have a little experience sticking up for their values under pressure. Phil and Alan Robertson of "Duck Dynasty" have taken plenty of fire for standing by their biblical beliefs—and they'll be at Grace Community Church with us to encourage Houstonians to keep the faith. David and Jason Benham lost a national show on HGTV for their convictions—and haven't regretted it a single minute.
Hear from them as well as conservative heroes who are never tired of tackling the tough issues like Governor Mike Huckabee, Southern Baptist Convention President Dr. Ronnie Floyd, pastors of the targeted churches like Dr. Ed Young, Pastor Steve Riggle, and the man responsible for breaking his share of these outrageous stories, Fox News's Todd Starnes.
"We have become a very anti-religious group of people," Beck warned. "And we better wake up right now." Help us rouse the nation by joining us November 2 at 6 p.m. (CT) for I Stand Sunday. If you can't participate in person, do the next best thing: encourage your church or small group to host the simulcast. For details on both, click here.
