We Need the Promised Presidential Protection of our Religious Liberty

When Donald Trump campaigned for the White House he stated that the “first priority of my administration will be to preserve and protect our religiously liberty.”  He went on to say, “The First Amendment guarantees our right to practice our faith as we see fit … all the time, always, wherever.”  After being elected, President Trump made a promise to people of faith at the February National Prayer Breakfast.  He said, “My administration will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty in our land.”  

This promise was no small measure of Trump’s garnered support among evangelical Christians.

Now House Republicans are calling on President Trump to fulfill the promise he made to Christians on the campaign trail and upon entering the office.  52-House Republicans have signed a letter urging the president to sign an executive order on religious liberty.  “We look forward to coordinating with your administration on these efforts so that critical religious liberty and conscience protections may finally be restored to millions of Americans who have been harmed and left unprotected for far too many years,” the letter states.

The executive order would ensure that Americans are not coerced to buy abortion coverage under Obamacare exchange plans – not to mention other and other health coverage that violates a person’s faith and conscience.

A handful of Republican senators also crafted a letter to the president on April 3 – warning that religious groups on college campuses are being “banned, threatened or forced to change their bylaws.”  “The free exercise of religion rings hollow if individuals do not have the ability to live out their faith without fear of repercussion from the government,” the senators wrote.  “The federal government has pushed organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor to change their health care plan to offer services that violate the Little Sisters’ deeply held religious beliefs,” the senators rightly point out.

Lawmakers also fear that Christians might face persecution as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision to redefine marriage.  They referenced comments made by then Solicitor General Donald Verrilli during oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges.  Verrilli stated that “nonprofit tax status of religious colleges could be jeopardized should they live out their traditional beliefs about marriage,” the letter read.

Listen: After years of crooked politicians we need to commend these Republican lawmakers for having the courage to put their names on to these letters.  At the same time, we need to urge President Trump to deliver on his campaign promise to protect our religious liberty.  Catholics and Evangelicals need protection from the militant secularists who have had the upper-hand over the past 8-years of the Obama Administration.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel