A weekly newsletter published by a gentleman in Amarillo makes an astonishing assertion about whom he believes to be the “most powerful figure” in Texas.

Steve Pair cites the work of Tim Dunn, a Permian Basin oilman who is working to elect only Christians to public office in Texas.

Pair writes: Tim Dunn, isn’t an elected official. But behind the scenes, the West Texas oilman is lavishly financing what he regards as a holy war against public education, renewable energy, and non-Christians.

Wow! I know a little bit about the work Dunn has done and the havoc he has brought to West Texas politicians and politics over the years. He runs Empower Texans, a far-right-wing political action committee that takes aim at GOP officeholders. Former state Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo was a favorite target of Dunn’s group, drawing the unvarnished wrath of Seliger.

The point I want to make, though, is that attacks on non-Christian candidates violates an article in the Constitution that was drafted and ratified by our nation’s founding fathers.

Article VI concludes with this: ” … but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

The founders could not possibly be clearer than what they declared in the late 18th century when they cobbled together our nation’s governing framework.