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For many delegates at the three-day convention, religion and politics commingle with comfort, purpose and zeal. Delegates on Friday approved a platform that refers to "the myth of the separation of church and state."
"Faith is important to the vast majority of Texans," said Tina Benkiser, a Houston lawyer re-elected Friday as state GOP chairwoman. "And when you have real faith, that is who you are, and obviously what you want is your principles and your ideals to be put in public policy.
"And I think Texans clearly agree because they have put us in stewardship of statewide government at every branch of government," she said.
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A plank in a section titled "Promoting Individual Freedom and Personal Safety" proclaims the United States a "Christian nation."
"The party affirms freedom of religion and rejects efforts of courts and secular activists who seek to remove and deny such a rich heritage from our public lives," says a passage added this year.
The rewritten "Celebrating Traditional Marriage" section now calls for legislation making it a felony for anyone to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple or for a "civil official" to perform a wedding ceremony for such couples.
Also new this year is a section declaring that the Ten Commandments "are the basis of our basic freedoms and the cornerstone of our Western legal tradition."
"We therefore oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit or remove public display of the Decalogue or other religious symbols."
The platform continues to approach gambling as a moral issue, damning it as "devastating" to families.
Why do they hate America and our Founding Fathers?
I hope the faux philo-Semites out there take note of the fact that declaring America a "Christian Nation" isn't exactly inclusive for Jews.