Texas couldn't. States cannot over-ride federal laws and the Constitution already prohibits that.
Heh. That's how it should be, but not exactly how it works. Texas actually has a ban on nonreligious people holding public office, and I recall them using it about a year ago. They also still have anti-sodomy laws on the books, though there's no way they could convict just for that. In Louisiana (where I live), they found a loophole so they can convict under certain circumstances. They actually put people on the sex offender registry for "crimes against nature" for things like prostitution if it was with someone of the same sex.
Ron Paul isn't against the separation of church and state, he just has a different interpretation of it, which is probably more accurate to what the establishment clause was intended to mean. The point wasn't to completely eradicate religion from anything the government does, it was intended to prevent them from creating a state church, like England did. I mean, I don't like religion at all, and I think it has no place in today's society, but he's technically right there. Besides, he cannot realistically take it very far. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a more strict separation, so he'd need a Constitutional amendment to change that. No way he'd ever get enough support for it.
Oh, and Darkseeker, there actually are a lot of atheists in Texas. Probably as many as other areas. The difference is that the Christians there tend to be more extreme, so they are less likely to admit it. The ones that do typically get drowned out. I live in Louisiana, and pretty much everyone I know is atheist or agnostic. They'll usually define themselves as Christian if you ask, but that's either because they always have or because they're trying not to get into an argument.
Anyway, from watching the debates, the only candidates I like are Hunstman, Johnson, and Paul. The rest just seem completely insane, especially Bachmann and Santorum. Herman Cain just seems like some sort of joke to me, constantly referring to his "9-9-9 plan." Running the country is a lot more complicated than running a pizza place (Yes, I know he used to run a pizza place, which makes it seem all the more ridiculous to me.)
P) here, So i figured I'd ask. I can't really work out why Ron Paul has such a large supportive following. I mean, he doesn't even believe in separation of church and state, and hand over a lot more control to state governments; which would be a bad thing I would say, since i could see a lot of deep south states renewing the anti-sodomy laws or something.
