1 day Ago By Savannah Hulsey Pointer
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission to “safeguard and promote America’s founding principle of religious freedom,” according to the White House. The May 1 order directed the commission to create a comprehensive report about the nation’s history of religious liberty. The group will also outline threats to that liberty and create recommendations on how to protect religious freedoms.
“We’re bringing religion back to our country,” Trump said during the event. “It’s a big deal.” “We will carry out the president’s important mission to preserve and strengthen religious liberty in our country,” Patrick said.
“I thank President Trump for his steadfast commitment to ensuring our nation returns to our founding principles of faith and religious liberty.” Members of the commission include religious leaders, legal experts, and public figures, including Dr. Ben Carson as the vice chair.
Carson was secretary of Housing and Urban Development during Trump’s first term. The order’s fact sheet stated that the key focus areas include parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections, attacks on houses of worship, free speech for religious entities, and institutional autonomy. One of the earliest instances of the executive branch ordering the creation of religious positions was in the 1940s when President Franklin Roosevelt expanded the role of military chaplains, allowing for clergy from a wide range of faiths to serve.
Decades later, one of the next major executive branch religious moves took place with the creation of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in 1998 under the Clinton administration.
The executive order said the goal of the partnership was “compassionate results, and private and charitable community groups, including religious ones.”.
