Thread by @cjtackett

This is the response by a Texas House member (Matt Schaefer - House District 6) to the shootings today in Midland / Odessa. I’m disgusted. We need new representation in Austin. Now. @MomsDemand #gunsense

And, while Schaefer was very upfront that he will not be for any kind of #gunsense, even though its what a majority of Texans support, he’s lying about supporting Public Education. He’s an F.

When Matt Schaefer, espouses “god given rights” and persons with “evil intent”, look at this study from @ndrewwhitehead , @LandonSchnabel and @socofthesacred , linking Christian Nationalism and opposition to gun laws: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

What follows is pulled from the study:
“First, Christian nationalists may perceive guns as a sacred God-given right because they see the Constitution, along with other founding documents, as inspired by the Christian God.” 1/5

”If a person believes that the founding documents were inspired by God, then the right to bear arms is God given. Subsequently, any attempts to revoke or even restrict this right could be interpreted as an attack on the wisdom and providence of the Christian God.” 2/5

“Second, Christian nationalists frequently argue that social problems can be solved only by promoting Christianity, and a particular brand of “traditional Christian values,” in the public sphere.” 3/5

”In their estimation, school shootings and mass casualty gun violence have little to do with guns per se and more to do with how American culture has abandoned its reliance on Christianity and the Christian God.” 4/5

”Therefore, human attempts to fix social problems without addressing the perceived underlying problem of “moral decline” are at best misguided and at worst an affront to the Christian God.” 5/5

Matt Schaefer, like other Texas legislators backed by Empower Texans and their funders, exhibits all of the calling cards of being a Christian Nationalist. You won’t change their mind. If you want a different outcome, you need to vote them out of office.

In case anyone is wondering where Matt Schaefer receives money for his campaign, in the 2018 Election cycle, his top donors were Empower Texans and Texas Right to Life. Two of the main people behind those groups are Farris Wilks and Tim Dunn.

Here are the top donors to the Empower Texans PAC. You can see they took in $5.8 mil in the 2018 cycle, with $3.2 million from Tim Dunn, $985k from Farris Wilks, and for good measure, $625k from Dan Wilks, Farris’s brother.

Here are the top donors to the Texas Right to Life PAC. They took in $3.1 mil in the 2018 cycle, with $1.27 million from Farris Wilks, $625k from brother Dan, and Tim Dunn pitched in $100k.

Here is a great article on Tim Dunn that explains a whole lot about his worldview. Hint: Christian Nationalism.
texasmonthly.com/politics/power…

Farris Wilks also has bankrolled David Barton’s WallBuilders, was a HUGE investor in Prager University (not a university, just right wing propaganda videos), and owns the Daily Wire (Ben Shapiro’s site)
texasobserver.org/meet-farris-wi…

There is a reason legislators like Matt Schaefer and others like him in Texas politics push these views. The money behind them. If you are taking a dime from these people or their groups, the public needs to know positions like this are the result. Time for a change Texas.

Ok, one more thing to add. I mentioned David Barton and WallBuilders. They are the ones, with the US Congressional Prayer Caucus who wrote the Project Blitz playbook. It’s pure Christian Nationalism via legislation. Learn about it here.
blitzwatch.org

If you want to understand the ideology behind Matt Schaefer and those funding him, you have to understand dominionism and 7 Mountains theology. It is rampant in churches all across Texas and has huge sums of money pouring into those advocating it.