Claiming Christian persecution, Republican Senator Ted Cruz is angry that atheists are defending the separation of church and state.

Cruz, speaking with Iowa talk radio host Jan Mickelson, claimed there is “an assault on religious liberty” coming from “radical atheists and liberals.”

Right Wing Watch reports Mickelson asked Cruz to discuss his fight against the “brazenness of the atheist Taliban” and the fact that “anytime they furrow their brow at anyone [people] fold up and go home and give them what they want.”

Cruz responded by complaining that the “radical atheists and liberals” are “driving any acknowledgment of God out of the public square,” noting:

There is an assault on faith and an assault on religious liberty that we see across this country and it has never been as bad as it is right now… There are these zealots — as you put it, the atheist Taliban — that seek to tear down any acknowledgment of God in the public square, and it’s contrary to our Constitution, it’s contrary to who we are as a people.

Cruz is wrong. Keeping God out of the public square and out of the government is not contrary to the constitution, rather, such efforts honor the constitution, the separation of church and state, and the secular values upon which this nation was founded.

The Cruz presidential campaign is built on the myth of Christian persecution. Previously Cruz argued that Christians should be allowed to discriminate against gays and lesbians if doing business with LGBT people violates their religious faith.

Indeed, when Cruz made his official announcement as a candidate for the Republican nomination, he did so by pandering to conservative Christians in a revolting display of faith-based politics at the world’s largest Christian college, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Last month, in the largest known donation so far in the 2016 presidential campaign, two Bible-thumping Billionaire brothers gave $15 million to the Cruz campaign to promote Christian theocracy.

As for the “Atheist Taliban” – keep up the good work – your country thanks you for your service.

(H/T Right Wing Watch)