Joining the chorus of right-wing figures having a meltdown over the city of Houston's subpoena of local pastors tied to a lawsuit against the city's LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, Texas Senator Ted Cruz blasted mayor Annise Parker's so-called efforts to "silence prayers."

Said Cruz in a statement:

"The City of Houston’s subpoenas demanding that pastors provide the government with copies of their sermons is both shocking and shameful. For far too long, the federal government has led an assault against religious liberty, and now, sadly, my hometown of Houston is joining the fight. This is wrong. It's unbefitting of Texans, and it's un-American. The government has no business asking pastors to turn over their sermons. These subpoenas are a grotesque abuse of power, and the officials who approved them should be held accountable by the people. The Mayor should be ashamed. And we should all be proud to stand up and defend the pastors who are resisting these blatant attempts to suppress their First Amendment rights."

Of course, contrary to the narrative that Cruz is trying to cook up, Parker has already acknowledged the subpoenas issued by outside attorneys working for the city pro bono were too broad and were merely being used to find out if there were specific instructions given during sermons about how to fill out the petitions for putting the ordinance up for a public referendum.

City just refilled subpoenas in #HERO. Clarified our intent. No mention of sermons. All about petition process instructions.-A

— Annise Parker (@AnniseParker) October 17, 2014

Cruz also sat down with Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody to talk about his hopes that this story serves as a "wake-up call" for Christians to realize how America is quickly going down the path towards jailing pastors for speaking out against gay marriage.

Watch the interview, AFTER THE JUMP…