Remember when there was all the outrage by the right because Howard Dean said the Republican party is “pretty much a white, Christian party”? You would have thought he called them the Klan or something. They were outraged. So why was it so bad when he did that, yet this is how the party acts?

When the Texas Republican Party adopted its platform recently, party leaders left no question as to the importance it placed on religion.

The platform calls America a “Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian principles,” and that has drawn a frustrated reaction from Jewish groups that consider the language exclusionary.

Another portion of the platform has stirred additional concerns. “We pledge to exert our influence toward a return to the original intent of the 1st Amendment and dispel the myth of the separation between church and state,” the document reads.

In Texas and elsewhere, debates on social and cultural issues have blurred the line between faith and politics. Fights over gay marriage, abortion and school prayer reflect and exacerbate the rift between religious conservatives and the more secular-minded.

In recent days, Republicans in the House announced their “American Values Agenda,” a package of legislation that among other things would preserve the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance and protect state and local officials from paying damages if they are sued for public expressions of religion. And last week, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) issued a call to his own party, urging a more open dialogue on the subject of faith to counter a perception of progressives as secular snobs.

Actually I urge the national Republican Party to adopt this platform. That will show where their true priorities lie. Let all the others come on over to the Democrat side, along with those that believe religion and government should not be mixed (the real Christians). We will quickly put the Republicans in the minority then.