Trump creates Religious Liberty Commission

Americans’ competing visions of what “religious liberty” means came into full view May 1 as President Donald Trump created a Religious Liberty Commission that was immediately denounced by watchdogs of traditional religious liberty.

“This order accelerates the collapse of our democracy under an administration that coddles white supremacists, demonizes immigrants and dares to preach about faith while betraying its very essence,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director of Faith in Action. “They have no moral authority and certainly no divine mandate to define what faith means. Religious freedom is not theirs to wield as a weapon of fear or domination. It is a sacred covenant extended to all of God’s children regardless of race, creed or country of origin. We must not stand idly by while the gospel of love is hijacked and perverted into a tool of hate and division.”

For his part, Trump said: “In recent years, some federal, state and local policies have threatened America’s unique and beautiful tradition of religious liberty. These policies attempt to infringe upon longstanding conscience protections, prevent parents from sending their children to religious schools, threaten loss of funding or denial of nonprofit tax status for faith-based entities, and single out religious groups and institutions for exclusion from governmental programs.”

While working vigorously to dismantle U.S. civil rights laws — including the right to vote and the right to be free of workplace and housing discrimination — Trump asserted in his executive order that some “others” now “characterize religious liberty as inconsistent with civil rights, despite religions’ vital roles in the abolition of slavery, the passage of federal civil rights laws, and the provision of indispensable social, educational and health services.”

The new Religious Liberty Commission is charged with producing over the next year “a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, the impact of religious liberty on American society, current threats to domestic religious liberty, strategies to preserve and enhance religious liberty protections for future generations, and programs to increase awareness of and celebrate America’s peaceful religious pluralism.”

Trump said this should include “the First Amendment rights of pastors, religious leaders, houses of worship, faith-based institutions and religious speakers; attacks across America on houses of worship of many religions; debanking of religious entities; the First Amendment rights of teachers, students, military chaplains, service members, employers and employees; conscience protections in the health care field and concerning vaccine mandates; parents’ authority to direct the care, upbringing and education of their children, including the right to choose a religious education; permitting time for voluntary prayer and religious instruction at public schools; government displays with religious imagery; and the right of all Americans to freely exercise their faith without fear or government censorship or retaliation.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration faces multiple lawsuits from churches and faith groups over Trump’s recission of the sensitive locations policy that now allows federal agents to enter places of worship and schools to arrest people on suspicion of being illegal immigrants.

Every member appointed to the commission comes from the far-right in Christian circles:

• Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who was named chairman of the group.
• Ben Carson, vice chair, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration and founder of the American Cornerstone Institute.
• Ryan T. Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and John Paul II Teaching Fellow in Social Thought at the University of Dallas, who is best known as an anti-abortion advocate.
• Robert Barron, Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota,
• Carrie Prejean Boller, former Miss California USA and Miss USA first runner-up in 2009.
• Timothy Dolan, a Roman Catholic cardinal and archbishop of the Diocese of New York.
• Franklin Graham, a loyal Trump supporter who leads both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse.
• Allyson Ho, partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, and a frequent pro bono lawyer for First Liberty Institute.
• Phil McGraw, TV therapist and author.
• Eric Metaxas, a popular purveyor of Christian nationalism and the myth that America was founded as a “Christian nation.”
• Kelly Shackelford, president of First Liberty Institute, which is one of the most frequent litigators of conservative evangelicals’ cases that make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Meir Soloveichik, rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States, who is known in part for his work on “the Hebraic roots of the American founding.”
• Paula White, Pentecostal televangelist who heads the White House Faith Office and recently sold her followers “seven Easter blessings” for gifts of $1,000 or more.

“This commission is not about religious liberty, but about advancing Christian nationalism,” said Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “True religious freedom requires equality among religions and between religion and nonreligion in the eyes of the law and at every level of our government. Trump clearly designed this commission to favor conservative Christians, especially those who want to use the power of our government to impose their religion on others.”

Laser said the majority of commissioners named by Trump “show that it’s all about advancing Christian nationalism. Chairman Patrick has frequently claimed that America is a ‘Christian nation’ and his actions repeatedly show a desire to impose his personal religion on all Americans using the machinery of the state — a gross violation of our religious freedom.”

She pointed out that during the Rose Garden signing ceremony, Trump questioned the importance of the separation of church and state, asking “The separation, I don’t know, is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Laser replied in a statement: “The separation of church and state is a wonderful thing. Not only is it an American invention, but it’s also the only guarantee we have for true religious liberty. This country needs a renewed national recommitment — and a new and different commission — to defend church-state separation.”

Trump and his political base of conservative evangelicals promote a version of religious liberty that elevates free exercise of their religion over the First Amendment’s prohibition on “establishing” any one religioun with special privilege. Traditional church-state separationists seek a balance between the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause.

The executive order also calls for creation of a 15-member Advisory Board of Religious Leaders to work as a “subcomponent of the commission,” a 15-member Advisory Board of Lay Leaders from religious congregations and another advisory board of “legal experts.”

A fact sheet distributed by the White House said Trump wants to address “emerging threats to religious liberty to ensure Americans can freely practice their faith without government interference.”

The fact sheet claims federal and state policies “have undermined this right by targeting conscience protections, preventing parents from sending their children to religious schools, threatening funding and nonprofit status for faith-based entities, and excluding religious groups from government programs. The previous administration’s Department of Justice targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses. This Commission will investigate and recommend policies to restore and safeguard religious liberty for all Americans.”

 

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