The first meeting of the Trump administration’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias featured only conservative evangelicals complaining about alleged mistreatment by the Biden administration.
According to a Department of Justice news release, the April 22 meeting led by Attorney General Pamela Bondi featured three witnesses:
- Michael Farris, founding president of Patrick Henry College, who complained about his own church, Cornerstone Chapel of Leesburg, Va., being investigated by the Biden administration’s IRS for alleged Johnson Amendment violations. Farris is a fixture in the conservative evangelical legal advocacy world, previously leading Alliance Defending Freedom.
- Scott Hicks, provost at Liberty University, who said Liberty and Grand Canyon University were singled out by the Biden administration for fines due to the schools’ Christian worldview. The legal dispute with Grand Canyon University, a Baptist school, was in fact about its attempt to regain a nonprofit status after becoming for-profit.
- Phil Mendes, a former Navy Seal, who was relieved for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine. Mendes claimed he had religious objections to the vaccine.
The focus of the hearing was entirely on alleged abuses of evangelicals by the Biden administration.
Pam Bondi speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference meeting on February 23, 2024, in National Harbor, Md. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“As shown by our victims’ stories today, Biden’s Department of Justice abused and targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses,” Attorney General Bondi said afterward. “Thanks to President Trump, we have ended those abuses, and we will continue to work closely with every member of this task force to protect every American’s right to speak and worship freely.”
Bondi and the Trump administration have, in fact, not defended the right of every American to speak and worship freely but have targeted political speech they deem “antisemitic” for legal action.
According to the DOJ news release, other members of the task force told their own stories of being persecuted by the Biden administration.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI’s Richmond office issued an “anti-Catholic memo.” However, an internal Justice Department inquiry found the FBI memo warning of possible threats posed by “radical-traditionalist” Catholics violated professional standards but showed “no evidence of malicious intent.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said some against Christian foreign service officers who preferred to homeschool their children had been threatened with investigation. He also said State Department employees had been stigmatized for opposing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds and for opposing DEI and LGBTQ inclusion. Rubio also said Christian holidays at American embassies had been stripped of any religious overtones.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talked about threats against St. Francis Health System in Oklahoma, which was ordered to extinguish its perpetually burning sanctuary candle. That case was not about religious liberty but about fire safety. He also charged the Biden administration that would make it harder for evangelical Christians to become foster parents. That dispute has to do with anti-LGBTQ attitudes.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said Oregon educators Katie Medart and Rachel Sager were persecuted for starting the “I Resolve” movement opposing teaching about gender identity. And she cited a case at Skaneateles Central School District in New York where a middle-school girl was allowed to be addressed as a boy without the mother’s knowledge or consent.
The only two religious figures at the meeting were televangelist Paula White, director of the White House Faith Office, and Jennifer Korn, faith director of the White House Faith Office.
There was no representation from Mainline, Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christianity.
Paul Raushenbush
Paul Raushenbush, president of Interfaith Alliance, was among those criticizing the narrow focus of the task force.
“To find anti-Christian bias, the Trump administration should look in the mirror at its own targeting of Christian communities that dare to oppose its extreme agenda,” he said. “This task force is a political stunt designed to promote the lie that American Christians are a persecuted group — and to provide justification to target anyone in the federal government deemed out of step with the Christian nationalist agenda.
“The Trump administration’s new anti-Christian witch hunt clearly violates the Founders’ vision of a government without an official religion. The federal government should uphold fundamental religious freedom and dignity for all Americans, regardless of their faiths and beliefs. Instead, it is systematically dismantling programs and laws designed to prevent discrimination and promote diversity and equality.”
The task force also is set up to empower discrimination against LGBTQ people and oppose abortion, he added. “While the majority of American Christians support LGBTQ equality and do not want to ban abortion, it’s clear the Trump administration intends for its ‘anti-Christian bias’ effort to aid those who are using their faith as an excuse to discriminate against LGBTQ Americans and undermine reproductive health care.
“The reality is this: Christians and other faith communities don’t need President Trump’s protection. They need protection from Trump’s attacks on religious freedom.”
Shannon Fleck
Shannon Fleck, executive director of Faithful America, said: “The Trump administration’s task force on rooting out ‘anti-Christian bias’ is yet another move that’s disconnected from reality and will infringe on the religious freedom of Americans. Perhaps the task force’s first order of business should be taking the plank out of their own eye and focus on the administration’s actions instead of accusing others of being anti-Christian because the call is clearly coming from inside the White House.
“The task force is rife with hypocrisy as the administration has repeatedly engaged in actions and pursued policies that are in direct opposition to the commandments of Christ and the core tenets of Christianity,” she said. “This task force is just another blatant example of what Christian nationalism looks like: using religious duty as a farce to push an agenda that supports the wealthiest and most privileged among us.”
Doug Collins
Shortly after the task force meeting, Veterans Administration Secretary Doug Collins sent an email to employees asking them to report “any instance of anti-Christian discrimination,” according to Federal News Network. Those reports will go to an internal task force exploring the Biden administration’s “treatment of Christians.”
Collins, a Southern Baptist and graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, is a former Air Force chaplain.
The VA task force also wants to hear about any instances of retaliatory action against VA chaplains in response to sermons they preached.
Two weeks ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio asked his employees to report on each other if they know any instances of coworkers displaying “anti-Christian bias.”
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