The Texas legislature is about to make everyone's porches a lot weirder

[douglas9]

A bill currently held in committee and already endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott would prevent homeowners' associations from barring residents from putting religious items on doors.

Because we live in Texas, Senate Bill 581 is likely intended mostly for Christians who want to affix crosses and Bible verses on their doors. One of the authors of the Homeowners Religious Freedom Act, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, only bothered to tag Christian organization Texas Values and the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops in his tweet referencing the bill.

But because this is Texas, this could open a can of worms into what qualifies as a "religious" if anyone feels like pushing the envelope, which some of us often do.

As long as you can prove whatever is on your door is "motivated by the owner’s or resident’s sincere religious belief," it seems you have free reign of your doorway.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-texas-legislature-is-about-to-make-everyones-porches-a-lot-weirder/ar-BB1eVjqt?ocid=BingNews

[Thomas Hurt]

1. another conservative solution in search of a problem...

[AndyS]

2. Does this get protected?

That's MY front door.

[RKP5637]

3. Perfect!!! n/t

[Thomas Hurt]

5. naw, only crosses and stars representin the geat state of Texas.

https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Decor-Hanging-Western-Plaque/dp/B008YQ503E

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

7. I LOVE IT!!

[Shermann]

4. Time to make an early Christmas colander! With spaghetti! nt

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

6. So, in other words a person can now legally piss off

their Christian neighbors by putting up their religious signs on their porch. Damn, a nice 5 foot and very noticeably colorfull Buddha would be great!! A big noticeable Muslim sign would be great. I could go on but you get my point. They would have to accept ALL religions. Personally I have no problem with people putting religious stuff on their porch as long as it is tactful.

There is a house on one of my walking routes that has Christian symbols in their yard and it is done well and I think it looks nice despite the fact I am not Christian.

[TexasTowelie]

8. Most Muslim, Wiccan, Jewish, and other religious minority homeowners are intelligent enough to know

not to display their religious preference because it identifies them as a target for vandalism (and hate crimes) of the Christian majority.

[Thomas Hurt]

9. this is, dare I say it....the gospel truth.

[Jacoby365]

10. How about a replica of an assault rifle

With NRA emblazoned on the side. That should be quite easy to prove it's a religion.

[katusha]

11. finally I can put up my shrine to Ahsoka Tano n/t

[abqtommy]

12. snark on: Yeah, I really want to display my religious and political affiliation just so any

crazy nutjob can decide they need to shoot me! snark off

[OldBaldy1701E]

13. So

a few decades ago, a school in western North Carolina let some folks give out Gideon bibles to the students. This is a common practice, BTW. This one family was Wiccan, and her son brought one home and told her he did not want it but did not want to be bullied because he did not take one. So, she went to the school board and complained. They told her there was nothing wrong with this practice and felt she was over reacting, as anyone could give out religious items and the student body had the 'choice' to take or not take them. She railed about this at board meetings, and people just rolled their eyes. So, she showed up one day with a big box of tracts that she made about her religion. The school did not let her distribute them, and within a week, the practice of allowing people to disseminate religious materials was 'under review'. I bet you will never guess the outcome of the review...

My opinion is that all good Texans just wait it out... once this gets the same treatment, they will be yanking that one as fast as they can. Those Yahweh fearing folks are not going to put up with pentagrams and Wiccan rede flags posted all over 'their' neighborhood. Just watch. And there will be some... despite any threats of retaliation.

[rickyhall]

14. I'm think skull&bones or radioactive

[rownesheck]

15. Good.

I'll gladly display a 6ft statue of ol' Lucifer himself!

[ShazamIam]

16. Warning edgy sarcasm follows.

I am surprised that our highly politicized conservative Christians, haven't added a handgun or assault rifle to the pantheon of U.S. Christian symbols. It could be a flag with stars stripes, guns and a cross, in a shield shape. /s

And it is so ironic that the same ideas, gun ownership rights and pro-life fanaticism were claimed by the Republicans at the same time.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. I have had a mezuzah on my door for a very long time

[LeftInTX]

18. I think this bill would prevent codes/HOA from banning over the top displays

Like huge crosses on a lawn...huge billboards on a lawn that say "abortion is murder"
Stuff that you see way out in the country and on ranches would now be in the cities on our 1/4 acre lots.

[Javaman]

19. I'm an atheist but I'll leave this here...

Matthew 6 “Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”