Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says the battle over religious liberty in America is far from over, and he intends to take that fight from the Texas Attorney General’s Office to the United States Senate. In an exclusive interview with Katy Christian Magazine, Paxton discusses his record defending the First Amendment, religious freedom in public schools, parental rights, protections for churches and Christian organizations, and what he sees as the growing threats facing people of faith.
“My Christian faith is the foundation to my life and public service,” Paxton told Katy Christian Magazine, pointing voters to his record as Texas Attorney General as evidence of how he would fight for religious liberty in Washington. His exclusive Q&A is recorded below.
Q: During your time as Texas Attorney General, what do you consider your most significant accomplishments in protecting religious liberty and the First Amendment rights of Texans?
A: “Throughout my time as Attorney General, it has been my priority to protect religious liberty and the First Amendment rights of Texans. Freedom of faith is one of the principles our nation was created on, and I will always fight against efforts to silence religious expression or force people of faith to abandon their beliefs.
“One of the accomplishments I am most proud of is defending religious expression in our public schools. I have fought to protect the right of students and educators to freely express their faith and have vigorously defended Texas laws protecting prayer and religious expression in schools, including the law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms.”
Q: Can you point to one or two religious-liberty cases or battles during your tenure as Attorney General that you believe had the greatest impact, not just in Texas but nationally? Additionally, is there a religious-liberty case you fought as Attorney General that you believe received too little national attention, and why was that case important?
A: “Two battles that stand out to me are Trinity Lutheran and our fight alongside the Little Sisters of the Poor. Both went all the way to the United States Supreme Court and helped establish important protections for religious freedom across the country. In Trinity Lutheran, we fought against the government discriminating against a church simply because it is religious. The Supreme Court ultimately agreed and made clear that the government cannot exclude religious institutions from public benefits simply because of their faith.
“I was also proud to lead states in defending the Little Sisters of the Poor against a federal mandate that would have forced them to violate their religious beliefs. That case represented a fundamental principle I have fought for throughout my time as Attorney General: the government should never force Americans to choose between following their faith and following the law. I am immensely proud of those victories because they reached far beyond Texas. They strengthened protections for churches, religious organizations, and people across the country.”
Q: You’ve frequently challenged federal policies that you believed infringed on religious freedom. Where do you believe the federal government has most overstepped its constitutional authority when it comes to people of faith?
A: “Under the Biden administration, the federal government continuously overstepped its constitutional authority when it forced people of faith to choose between their religious beliefs and complying with government mandates. The administration repeatedly used its power to impose a radical agenda on religious organizations, schools, employers, and families. As Attorney General, I fought back against those efforts. I challenged federal policies that threatened the rights of religious schools and student organizations, defended faith-based adoption, and fought mandates that would have forced religious organizations to violate their beliefs.
“Religious liberty is deeper than the freedom to worship on Sunday. It means Americans have the right to live out their faith in their schools, workplaces, communities, and everyday lives without fear of punishment from their government. I have fought to protect those principles as Attorney General, and I will continue that fight in the United States Senate.”
Q: Many Christians are concerned that religious-liberty protections are increasingly coming into conflict with government policies involving sexuality, gender identity and anti-discrimination laws. How should those competing rights be balanced?
A: “Americans should not be forced to surrender their First Amendment rights because their beliefs conflict with the political priorities of the government. Our Constitution protects the exercise of religion, and those protections cannot disappear just because the left wants to impose their radical social beliefs regarding sexuality and gender onto people.
“As Attorney General, I have fought federal efforts that would force religious schools, churches, employers, and individuals to act against their beliefs. The government has an obligation to protect the rights of every American, but it should not use anti-discrimination laws as a tool to compel speech, punish religious conviction, or force people to abandon their faith. There is a fundamental difference between protecting individuals from unlawful discrimination and requiring Christians to affirm ideas that violate their faith. Americans should be able to live and work alongside people with whom they disagree while remaining free to practice their religion and speak according to their conscience.”
Q: What protections should churches, Christian schools, faith-based charities and religious employers have when government requirements conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs?
A: “Churches, Christian schools, faith-based charities, and religious employers should have the freedom to operate according to their beliefs without fear of government punishment or interference. The First Amendment was written to protect religious exercise from government intrusion, not to give the government authority to dictate how religious institutions practice their faith. Churches must remain free to govern themselves, religious schools must be able to teach their faith and select leaders who uphold their values, and faith-based charities and employers should not be forced to violate their convictions as a condition of serving their communities or participating in public programs.”
Q: We’ve seen disputes involving Christian business owners and professionals who say they’ve been asked to provide services or participate in activities that violate their religious convictions. Where do you believe the legal line should be drawn between religious conscience and public-accommodation laws?
A: “The government should never force an American to choose between earning a living and violating his or her beliefs. Public-accommodation laws have an important role in protecting Americans from unlawful discrimination, but they cannot be used to override the First Amendment, compel speech, or force someone to personally participate in expression or conduct that violates their faith.”
Q: Parents have become increasingly concerned about whether their religious beliefs are respected in public schools, particularly regarding sexuality, gender and what their children are taught. What religious-liberty and parental-rights protections do you believe parents should have?
A: “Parents have the God given right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, and they should never be forced to surrender that right simply because they send their children to a public school. Schools should always be accountable to parents. Parents deserve transparency about what their children are being taught, particularly when it comes to sensitive issues involving inappropriate content including discussing sexuality and gender with minors. Parents should have the right to know what is happening in their child’s classroom, to be informed about decisions affecting their child, and to protect their children from instruction or policies that conflict with their faith.”
Q: If elected to the United States Senate, what specific legislation or federal policies would you support to strengthen religious-liberty and conscience protections nationwide?
A: “When elected to the United States Senate, I will make protecting religious liberty and freedom of conscience a priority. I will support legislation that strengthens First Amendment protections and prevents the federal government from using its regulatory or spending power to force Americans to violate their religious beliefs.”
Q: The U.S. Senate has enormous influence over the federal judiciary. What qualities would you look for in federal judges, particularly when evaluating their understanding of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses?
A: “As Attorney General, I have seen firsthand how liberal judges can abuse the law and twist it to justify their radical opinions. I would support judges who are committed to the constitution as written and understand the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. Judges must understand that protections for Americans to practice and live by their faith without government intervention is a right the United States was built on.”
Q: Looking ahead, what do you believe will be the greatest threats to religious liberty in America over the next five to ten years, and what should Congress do now to address them?
A: “Religion is being erased by a radical leftist agenda that seeks to take it out of all areas of life. Our country was built on judeo-Christian values and that is what makes us the best country in the nation. We have a moral obligation to uphold that by all means necessary.”
Q: Are there additional religious-liberty protections that you believe Congress should enact for churches, ministries, religious schools, Christian businesses or individual Americans that don’t exist today?
A: “Congress needs to make sure that religious liberty is treated as a fundamental constitutional right, not an exception that the government can work around. We are all better off if religion is at the forefront of everything we do as a country and society.”
Q: For Christian voters who believe religious liberty is one of the defining issues of our time, what would you tell them distinguishes your record and your approach from the other candidates seeking this U.S. Senate seat?
A: “I have a proven record of fighting for religious liberty when it matters. Throughout my time as Attorney General, I have not just talked about protecting people of faith. I have gone to court and fought government overreach that threatened our constitutional rights. My Christian faith is the foundation to my life and public service. Texans know where I stand. They do not have to rely on campaign promises to know how I will fight for them in Washington. They can look at my record as Attorney General.”
Feature photo: Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons; AmericaFest 2025 – Ken Paxton
