Americans United last month blasted President Donald Trump for again promoting Christian Nationalism and spreading inaccurate information about the state of religious freedom in America.
Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission held a hearing Sept. 8 featuring Christian Nationalist legal groups that attacked separation of church and state and secular public education.
Prior to the meeting, Americans United submitted extensive written public comments to the commission explaining the constitutional protections and Supreme Court jurisprudence around religious freedom in public schools. The comments include a summary of current threats to religious freedom in states across the country, as well as numerous past examples of how students’ and families’ religious freedom has been violated when church-state separation is ignored.
But the commission’s work continues to be controlled by Christian Nationalist organizations. As AU noted during the hearing, which took place at the Museum of the Bible, the commission ignored the most serious religious freedom threats facing public education, such as mandates to display the Ten Commandments and teach from the Bible, as well as Christianity-infused curriculum and the installation of school chaplains.
“Today’s Religious Liberty Commission meeting once again demonstrated that this commission isn’t about religious liberty; it’s about rejecting the nation’s religious diversity and prioritizing one set of Christian beliefs,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “From the professions of Christian faith to the chorus of ‘Amens’ during Christian prayers to the exclusively Christian speakers this morning, this government hearing was more like a church service. Once again, President Trump is using religion to promote his self-aggrandizement and political agenda, all the while perpetuating the lie that America is a Christian nation and that religion is under attack.”
Trump appeared at the event, during which he said, “As president, I will always defend our nation’s glorious heritage, and we will protect the Judeo-Christian principles of our founding.
“We have to bring back religion in America,” he added. “Bring it back stronger than ever before.”
Trump added that the U.S. Department of Education “will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools.” (The guidelines had not been released as this issue of Church & State went to press.)
During the meeting, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner announced the formation of a new initiative — “America Prays” — designed to urge Americans to pray in advance of the United States’ 250th birthday next year.
Laser criticized this initiative as well, remarking, “The Trump administration is advancing this Christian Nationalist agenda with the launch of his ‘America Prays’ initiative, which calls on Americans to pray for our country. People who care about religious freedom don’t need to be told when or how to pray; they need leaders who are committed to separation of church and state.”
Continued Laser, “Our country’s promise of church-state separation means that families — not politicians or public school officials — get to decide how and when children engage with religion. Yet many of the organizations represented at today’s meeting and members of the Religious Liberty Commission have tried to undermine this fundamental American principle and turn our public schools into Sunday schools. The commission should be joining Americans United in demanding a national recommitment to church-state separation as the best way to defend religious freedom for all — our inclusive public schools and our democracy depend on it.”