It’s safe to say the president is not your typical Christian – at least not in the evangelical sense of the word. From a believer’s point of view, the president has often appeared as somewhat unfamiliar with the Scriptures and someone who subscribes to an unorthodox set of theological principles. Evangelicals, for example, do not believe good works are what get you into heaven, a subject the president tossed around in public recently. Those familiar with the Bible would never refer to Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians as “two Corinthians,” as Trump has done in the past. Despite the fact that he may not get the theology just right, when it comes to religious liberty, Donald J. Trump is their man.
That was evident yesterday (September 8) when the president spoke to the Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, and announced a new initiative to protect the right to prayer in public schools. He promised that the Department of Education would issue new guidelines, although he didn’t say precisely when this would occur.
Established in May by executive order, the new commission sits under the US Department of Justice and was created to advise the White House on issues of faith. But more importantly, it is designed to defend “[t]he First Amendment rights of pastors, religious leaders, houses of worship, faith-based institutions, and religious speakers,” as well as prevent “attacks across America on houses of worship of many religions including the debanking of religious entities,” according to the commission website. (Debanking refers to closing the accounts of organizations for political reasons).
It also gives parents authority “to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children, including the right to choose a religious education.” Perhaps best of all, the commission establishes “[t]he right of all Americans to freely exercise their faith without fear of Government censorship or retaliation.”
Religious Liberty and School Prayer
The issue of prayer in schools has always been a sticky wicket, and how the commission designs the new guidelines for this will be under serious scrutiny. Legal battles are bound to erupt should the new directives trample on the rights of others. Liberty Nation Legal Affairs Editor Scott D. Cosenza asserted, “The devil is in the details. Until we see the exact text of the Department of Education guidelines, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to discern whether this initiative buoys or assaults religious liberty rights.” However, Trump did not elaborate on prayer in schools and quickly moved on to issues regarding good and evil:
“It's like an unforced error to allow people into a country who are truly evil … there are evil people, and we have to confront that. I just give my love and hope to the family of the young woman who was stabbed this morning or last night in Charlotte by a madman, a lunatic just got up and started stabbing. It's right on the tape. It's not really watchable because it's so horrible, but [she was] just viciously stabbed. She's just sitting there. So they're evil people. We have to be able to handle that.”
Calling out and countering the evil present in our country and around the world are certainly subjects near and dear to those of faith. Trump may not be able to quote chapter and verse of the Scriptures, but he understands right from wrong. He believes that putting people of faith in prison for practicing their faith is wrong. And he instinctively feels that bolstering the religious rights of Americans is a good and noble endeavor. These principles carry enormous weight with the faithful, which is why most Christians are saying “Amen” now that Trump is once again the commander-in-chief.
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