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Memri
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Qatar-Funded Media And Islamist Groups Renew Their Attacks On Moderate Muslim Scholar Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Over His Peace Advocacy And UAE Ties, Following His Appointment To Advisory Board Of New U.S. R
Introduction On May 16, 2015, the White House announced the appointment of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, prominent moderate Islamic scholar and cofounder of Zaytuna College in California, to the advisory board of the new Religious Liberty Commission. The commission was established by the White House on May 1, 2025.[1] Also appointed were Muslim activist Sameerah Munshi and Ismail Royer, director of the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team at the Religious Freedom Institute. Following the announcement, Sheikh Yusuf became the target of renewed attacks by Qatar-funded media outlets and Islamist organizations and figures. As they had following Yusuf's appointment to the Commission on Unalienable Rights, established in July 2019 by President Trump during his first term of office,[2] these groups condemned his new appointment, largely due to his pro-peace activism and his balanced positions vis-à-vis the U.S., the UAE, the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the concept of jihad in Islam – positions that diverge from their ideological narratives. Critics also took aim at Yusuf's long-standing association with the UAE-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, in Abu Dhabi, where he serves on the board of trustees, and his mentorship under Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, head of the UAE's Fatwa Council and a respected advocate for moderate Islam.[3] This report will examine the backlash against Sheikh Hamza Yusuf from Islamist circles, highlight the support his recent appointment has received, and explore his efforts to offer alternative Islamic perspectives on complex issues facing the Arab and Muslim world as well as Muslim communities in the West – perspectives that challenge the dominance of Islamist rhetoric. Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Critic Daniel Haqiqatjou: "Hamza Yusuf Has Made A Deal With The Devil, Literally" – He Has Been "A Part Of Administrations Going Back To George W. Bush" – May 2025 One of the harshest critics of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf's views and positions is American Islamist writer and commentator Daniel Haqiqatjou. In a YouTube video published on May 20, 2025, titled "Hamza Yusuf Betrays Palestine Again," Haqiqatjou focused his criticism on the fact that Yusuf had worked for the George W. Bush and Trump administrations. He said: "This is something that we have seen of him for a long time. Basically, since 9/11, 24 years ago, Hamza Yusuf has made a deal with the devil, literally, if you want to say that – if you consider the great Satan to be the forces within the U.S. that are directed at the killing, mass slaughter of Muslims, launching wars that have killed millions of Muslims. Hamza Yusuf has been a part of these administrations going back to George W. Bush, standing next to George W. Bush, and the next conservative Republican president has been Donald Trump, and, once again, Hamza Yusuf has been joining the Donald Trump administration in one capacity or another." Mocking defenders of Sheikh Yusuf who consider him a pious Muslim and a moderate scholar, Haqiqatjou said: "This is absolutely nonsense. Show which Sufi master or any pious worshiper of Allah who was joining the administration of tyrants – not just any type of tyrant, this is like an infidel tyrant. This is like a non-Muslim administration actively involved in multiple wars against multiple countries, Muslim countries, and Hamza Yusuf is happy to join the team..." Haqiqatjou also criticized Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah, whom he referred to as the Yusuf's sheikh who is "doing the same exact thing, except in the Gulf with the UAE." Expressing his frustration, he said: "This makes me angry. It should make you angry. The question I want you to consider is how implicated the entire Da'wa mafia network is because of Hamza Yusuf's associations."[4] Sheikh Hamza Yusuf's Moderate View On The Concept Of Jihad – November 2023 Sheikh Hamza Yusuf's views on multiple Islamic concepts stand in clear contrast than those of the Islamists. His moderate view on the concept of jihad as a holy war is one for which he is often criticized by the Islamists. Asked about jihad during an interview on the Kim Iversen show on YouTube, he said: "Jihad in Arabic literally means struggle. No holy war in Islam. There is nothing that says war is holy. War is actually the absence of holiness. War is the failure of holiness, and that's why in the Quran it says, whenever they ignite the flames of fire of war, God works to put it out, and that's through people. Raising people up that are peace makers. "Juan Cole wrote another book, he edited a book on peace movement within Islam. There are many great peace movements in Islam. People forget that Gandhi's main supporters were Muslims. One of the closet people to Gandhi was Abu Kalam Azad, who was a scholar of Islam. He was born in Makkah and he was with Gandhi in jail and worked with him, and was one of the closet people to Gandhi. Abdul Ghaffar Khan was the great peacemaker from the Pathan community. Many examples of this throughout history. There has been a belligerent element within Islam, and I will never deny that. Jihad can be misused."[5] Criticism Of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf's Views On Peace With Israel – November 2024 Sheikh Hamza Yusuf's views on peace with Israel, and on the Palestinian resistance and its use of violence against Israel using advanced war technology and lethal weapons, have been condemned by both Islamists and pro-Palestinian activists. One of Sheikh Yusuf's statements in particular has been widely circulated by them in order to delegitimize him and raise questions about his qualifications; he had said in 2019, on France24, "If the Palestinians have abandoned violence and instead acknowledged that they are weak and helpless who are in need of help, by the name of Allah, they will find many people in the world sympathizing with them. But when they strike with their petty weapons against powerful weapons that would destroy everything, and people would then think that they have initiated the attacks – this is what is happening now. Have they gained anything? Have they benefited from this violence?"[6] The video of these statements by Yusuf was shared on November 12, 2024 on the X account of British Islamist and YouTuber Dilly Hussain. Pro-Palestinian Activist: "Hamza Yusuf Is "A White Muslim Convert" Who Said About The Palestinians: "Sometimes It's Absolutely Necessary To Suffer In Silence" – December 2023 Furthermore, some pro-Palestinian activists have tried to discredit Sheikh Hamza Yusuf and criticize his moderate views by mentioning that he is a white and a convert. For example, on December 25, 2023, X user Palestinian Ph.D. candidate Ghada Sasa wrote: "Hamza Yusuf, a white Muslim convert, who previously suggested Palestinians stop resisting at all Israeli colonization to garner pity & await aid, doubled down on his take at the [Reviving the Islamic Spirit] RIS conference this weekend: "Sometimes it's absolutely necessary to suffer in silence."[7] Qatar-Funded Media Outlets' Criticize Sheikh Yusuf Following His First Appointment To A U.S. Commission In July 2019, And Criticize His Ties To UAE Following His Support For 2020 Abraham Accords Criticism of Sheikh Yusuf appeared in Qatar-funded media following his appointment in July 2019 to the Commission on Unalienable Rights, established by President Trump during his first term of office. Also criticized was Yusuf's connection with the UAE peace efforts that led to the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020. On July 15, 2019, the Qatar-owned and funded Al-Jazeera outlet in English published an article by Dr. Maha Hilal, codirector of the Justice for Muslims Collective. Under the title "It's time for Muslim Americans to condemn Hamza Yusuf, Dr. Hilal accused Yusuf of not representing the best interest of the Muslim community in the U.S. because of his UAE affiliation and because his ideas about the U.S. and about anti-Trump protests diverge from those held by Islamists in the U.S. Dr. Hilal specifically condemned him for calling on Muslims to do better than protesting against the election of Donald Trump. Yusuf had written in a November 2016 post: "We have too much work to do, not protesting, not lighting fires, not saying, 'Trump is not my president. He is, and that is how our system works: by accepting the results and moving on."[8] She added that Yusuf should be condemned for calling the U.S. "one of the least racist countries" in the world, and for calling the UAE a "tolerant" country, writing: "That he clearly ignores all the human rights abuses the UAE has been accused of is rather unsurprising, given that he is a former student and good friend of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah and is serving as the vice president of his Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies – a religious body bankrolled by Abu Dhabi." Two days later, on July 17, 2019, the London-based another Qatar-funded media outlet, published an article aimed at Muslims in the U.S. condemning Sheikh Yusuf's appointment to the Commission on Unalienable Rights as well as his association with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Under the title "Hamza Yusuf is not your friend," Sam Hamad, who describes himself as an independent Scottish-Egyptian activist and writer, defended the Muslim Brotherhood and condemned Yusuf's relationship with the UAE and Saudi Arabia: Hamad wrote: "[Sheikh Yusuf] became a convenient Muslim voice who would advance the agenda of U.S. allies in the Muslim world, most notably the autocrats, theocrats, and gross human rights violators in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In the post-Arab Spring era, the intermixing of the agenda of autocracy in the Arabic-speaking and Muslim world and western Islamophobia is of the utmost importance. We've seen how Islamophobic fascists and extremists in the West, ranging from Marine Le Pen to Donald Trump, have come to support the Sisi regime [in Egypt] and his [Sisi's] efforts to overthrow democracy and target the Muslim Brotherhood for their advocacy of Islamic democracy."[9] In August 2019, the Qatar-owned and funded Al-Jazeera's Arabic website continued its campaign against Sheikh Yusuf's scholarly status in a report describing him as a "Sufi disciple" employed by the Trump administration as an advisor. The report reiterated the Islamist condemnation of Yusuf's association with the UAE, Sheikh bin Bayyah, and the UAE-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies.[10] In August 2020, the London-Based Middle East Eye, which is widely regarded as a pro-Muslim Brotherhood website, published a report titled "Influential Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf criticised for backing UAE-Israel deal." In it, he was criticized for endorsing the UAE decision to normalize ties with Israel, in the Abraham Accords that would be signed the following month, in September 2020. The article cited Doha-based Usaama Al-Azami, assistant professor at Hamad bin Khalifa University, as condemning Yusuf for serving as vice president of the Abu Dhabi-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, that had issued a statement endorsing Israel-UAE normalization. Al-Azami said that "the bizarre statement closely aligned with the forum's history of legitimizing the decisions of the UAE government."[11] Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Responds To Criticism – October 2019 In response to the waves of criticism that followed his July 2019 appointment to the Commission on Unalienable Rights, Sheikh Yusuf released a video on October 27, 2019, in which he said: "It is really important to remember that Trump is not the government. He is the head of the administration and our system differentiate between the government and the administration. This man was a political appointee meaning that the administration appointed him for a temporary position. The civil servants are there all the time. They are different kinds of officials. People say I joined the Trump... Give me a break. Seriously. This commission is an independent body of academics. It is literally illegal by federal law for the State Department to put any pressure of this committee to come up with what they want."[12] Support For Sheikh Yusuf's Appointment – May 2025 In contrast, Sheikh Yusuf's May 2025 appointment to the Religious Liberty Commission has also been widely praised by Arabs and Muslims in the West, as well as in the Arab region, and was considered by some to be a step in the right direction. On May 18, 2025, Canadian lawyer and law professor Faisal Kutty wrote on X: "I rarely find myself commending anything from the Trump administration. But credit where it's due: the appointment of three Muslims – Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Sameerah Munshi, and Ismail Royer – to the newly formed Religious Liberty Commission is a positive and notable development. "Agree or disagree with some of their views, the fact remains: there will be Muslim voices at the table – and that matters. This inclusion is particularly significant considering that Imam Husham Al-Husainy,[13] who was initially slated to deliver a benediction at Trump's second inauguration in January 2025, ultimately did not participate in the ceremony. The reasons for his absence remain unclear. While one can (and should) scrutinize the broader motives and policies, the inclusion of Muslim voices in matters of religious liberty is a step in the right direction – especially at a time when anti-Muslim sentiment remains a political currency. We'll continue to hold power accountable. But today, we also recognize this rare but welcome shift."[14] The previous day, May 17, 2025, Saudi researcher and political analyst Hasan Almustafa wrote on his X account in support and praise of Sheikh Yusuf's appointment: "The appointment of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Vice President of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, [i.e. the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies] by President Donald Trump as a member in the Commission on International Religious Freedom [sic] – This [appointment] reflects the power of moderate and rational religious discourse and is a success that reflects positively on the values promoted by the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, which are based on cooperation between religions and cultures."[15] Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, head of the UAE's Fatwa Council, right, with Sheikh Hamza Yusuf (Source: May 17, 2025) * Mansour Al-Hadj is Director of the MEMRI Project for Reform in the Arab and Muslim World; Yigal Carmon is Founder and President of MEMRI.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's new Religious Liberty Commission is poised to attack separation of church and state
Donald Trump's new Religious Liberty Commission is filled with zealots who are primed to pursue an end to the constitutionally protected separation of church and state. With Trump back in the White House, and with Republicans in control of various state legislatures and governorships, some far-right evangelicals have been licking their chops at the opportunity to tear down that separation. After Trump's election win in November, I wrote about the various Christian extremists eager to make that happen. And Trump seemed to openly endorse the idea at his public announcement of the commission earlier this month. 'They say separation between church and state, they told me. I said, 'All right, let's forget about that for one time,'' Trump said at the White House event. The commission is a hodgepodge of conservative influencers, activists and far-right faith leaders of various denominations. They're spread across three advisory boards, which the White House said are for lay leaders, religious leaders and legal experts. Baptist News Global recently published a detailed look at the board members — and it seems clear this commission has been designed more to enforce strict adherence to far-right religious doctrines than to protect religious liberty. The advisory board with religious leaders, for example, includes Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who barred then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from communion over her support for abortion rights. It also includes Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who upheld a ban on Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., from receiving communion on similar grounds, and Bishop Kevin Rhoades, who chaired a committee that sought to deny communion for then-President Joe Biden over his support for reproductive rights, as well. The other boards give off a similar vibe. The board of legal advisers includes Kristen Waggoner, the CEO, president and general legal counsel of a right-wing organization called the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is behind the Supreme Court case set to determine whether religious charter schools can receive public funding. And the board of lay leaders includes evangelical activist Ryan Tucker, who is the ADF's senior counsel, and pro-Trump activist Alveda King, who has downplayed the need for separation of church and state and suggested that religion-driven governance is justified because 'America was built to be governed by a moral people.' Needless to say, these don't seem like people put in place to uphold religious liberty. In fact, the Trump administration's targeting of religious leaders and organizations who have shown sympathy toward immigrants — including many Christians — is a clear sign that this White House isn't truly interested in upholding free religious expression across the board. Even leaders in the conservative Southern Baptist Convention have accused the administration of pushing policies that infringe on religious liberty. So it seems that what Trump and company are primarily invested in protecting and promoting isn't religious freedom, but rather religious expression that aligns with their right-wing worldview. And this commission is a weapon that can be used to that end. This article was originally published on
Boston Globe
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Critics say Trump's religion agenda will benefit conservative Christians the most
But others, including some Christians, are alarmed by these acts — saying Trump isn't protecting religion in general but granting a privileged status to politically conservative expressions of Christianity that happen to include his supporters. Critics are even more aghast that he's questioning a core understanding of the First Amendment. 'They say 'separation between church and state,'' Trump said at the prayer day gathering, when he talked about establishing the White House Faith Office. 'I said, all right, let's forget about that for one time.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Trump's creation of these various bodies is 'definitely not normal, and it's very important to not look at them as individual entities,' said the Rev. Shannon Fleck, executive director of Faithful America, a progressive Christian advocacy organization. Advertisement 'They are indicative of an entire system that is being constructed at the national level,' she said. 'It's a system specifically designed to guide and shape culture in the U.S.' Fleck worries about the combined effect of Trump administration actions and a spate of decisions by the US Supreme Court in recent years. The court, now with three Trump appointees, has lowered barriers between church and state in its interpretations of the First Amendment's ban on any congressionally recognized establishment of religion. Advertisement 'My freedom of religion runs right up to the point when yours begins, and if I am then trying to establish something that's going to affect your right to practice your faith, that is against the First Amendment,' Fleck said. But religious supporters of Trump are happy with his expansion of religion-related offices. 'We were a nation birthed by prayer, founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic to ensure that people could worship as they wished,' said Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican, at the Rose Garden ceremony where he was announced as chair of the Religious Liberty Commission. Many members are conservative Christian clerics and commentators; some have supported Trump politically. The event featured Christian praise music along with Jewish, Muslim, and Christian prayers. White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers, via email, said the commission is ensuring 'that all Americans' God-given right is protected, no matter their religion.' Rogers said the criticism is coming from anti-Trump advocacy groups that are trying to undermine his agenda. The three entities created under Trump overlap in their marching orders and, in some cases, their membership. In February, Trump established the White House Faith Office, led by evangelist Paula White-Cain as a 'special government employee,' according to the announcement. She's resuming a similar role she held in the first Trump administration. White-Cain — who also serves on the new Religious Liberty Commission — was one of the earliest high-profile Christian leaders to support Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and is considered Trump's spiritual adviser. Her office is designed to consult 'experts within the faith community' on 'practices to better align with the American values.' It also is tasked with religious-liberty training and promoting grant opportunities for faith-based entities; and working to 'identify failures' in federal protection for religious liberty. Advertisement Also in February, Trump created a Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi with representatives from several federal departments. Its mandate is to expose and reverse what Trump claims were 'egregious' violations of Christians' rights under former president Joe Biden. Many of those claims have been disputed, as has the need for singling out for protection the nation's largest and most culturally and politically dominant religious group. A White House action focused on a specific religion is not unprecedented. The Biden administration, for example, issued strategy plans to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia. Both Trump administrations have issued executive orders on combating antisemitism. An April hearing of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias featured witnesses from across federal departments, alleging that Christians during the Biden administration faced discrimination for such things as opposing vaccine mandates or 'DEI/LGBT ideology' on religious grounds. The State and Veterans Affairs departments have asked people to report alleged instances of anti-Christian bias. The White House said the Justice Department formed specific task forces to respond to what it called a 'concentration of bias' against Christians and Jews, but that it's committed to combating discrimination against Americans of any faith. The latest entity to be created, the Religious Liberty Commission, has a mandate to recommend policies to protect and 'celebrate America's peaceful religious pluralism.' Patrick, the chair, has supported legislation requiring Texas school districts to allow prayer time for students and says he wants his state to emulate Louisiana in requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms. Advertisement Among the commission's mandates: to look into 'conscience protections in the health care field and concerning vaccine mandates' and government 'displays with religious imagery.' Among the commissioners are Catholic bishops, Protestant evangelists, a rabbi, and attorneys focused on religious liberty cases. Its advisory boards include several Christian and some Jewish and Muslim members. Charles Haynes, senior fellow for religious liberty at the Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation focused on First Amendment rights, said the various entities reflect Trump's attempt to fulfill an agenda priority of his conservative Christian supporters. He said the entities' work reflects their long-standing contention that the First Amendment has 'been misapplied to keep Christians out of the public square, to discriminate against Christianity, by which they mean their understandings of Christianity.' Trump's moves and recent Supreme Court cases are reversing a consensus dating at least to the 1940s that the First Amendment strictly prohibits government-sponsored religion at the federal and state levels, Haynes said. He said the First Amendment actually provides broad protections for religious expressions in settings such as public schools. He helped write a Freedom Forum guide on religion in public schools, endorsed by groups across the ideological spectrum. It notes that within some limits, students can pray on their own time in schools, express their faith in class assignments, distribute religious literature, form school religious clubs and receive some accommodations based on religious belief. But Haynes noted that the Supreme Court is now considering allowing Oklahoma to pay for a Catholic charter school, which he said could erase a long-standing standard that public-funded schools don't teach a particular religion. Advertisement 'It's a very different day in the United States when both the Supreme Court and the president of the United States appear to be intent on changing the arrangement on religious freedom that we thought was in place,' Haynes said. 'It's a radical departure from how we've understood ourselves.'
Toronto Star
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Critics say Trump's religion agenda will benefit conservative Christians the most
White House Faith Office. A Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias. A Religious Liberty Commission. President Donald Trump has won plaudits from his base of conservative Christian supporters for establishing multiple faith-related entities. 'We're bringing back religion in our country,' Trump said at a recent Rose Garden event, on the National Day of Prayer, when he announced the creation of the Religious Liberty Commission. 'We must always be one nation under God, a phrase that they would like to get rid of, the radical left.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW But others, including some Christians, are alarmed by these acts — saying Trump isn't protecting religion in general but granting a privileged status to politically conservative expressions of Christianity that happen to include his supporters. What's up with the 'separation of church and state' debate? Critics are even more aghast that he's questioning a core understanding of the First Amendment. 'They say 'separation between church and state,'' Trump said at the prayer day gathering, when he talked about establishing the White House Faith Office. 'I said, all right, let's forget about that for one time.' Trump's creation of these various bodies is 'definitely not normal, and it's very important to not look at them as individual entities,' said the Rev. Shannon Fleck, executive director of Faithful America, a progressive Christian advocacy organization. 'They are indicative of an entire system that is being constructed at the national level,' she said. 'It's a system specifically designed to guide and shape culture in the U.S.' Fleck worries about the combined effect of Trump administration actions and a spate of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years. The court, now with three Trump appointees, has lowered barriers between church and state in its interpretations of the First Amendment's ban on any congressionally recognized establishment of religion. 'My freedom of religion runs right up to the point when yours begins, and if I am then trying to establish something that's going to affect your right to practice your faith, that is against the First Amendment,' Fleck said. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW But religious supporters of Trump are happy with his expansion of religion-related offices. 'We were a nation birthed by prayer, founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic to ensure that people could worship as they wished,' said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, at the Rose Garden ceremony where he was announced as chair of the Religious Liberty Commission. Many members are conservative Christian clerics and commentators; some have supported Trump politically. The event featured Christian praise music along with Jewish, Muslim and Christian prayers. White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers, via email, said the commission is ensuring 'that all Americans' God-given right is protected, no matter their religion.' Rogers said the criticism is coming from anti-Trump advocacy groups that are trying to undermine his agenda. A closer look at the new religious entities The three entities created under Trump overlap in their marching orders and, in some cases, their membership. In February, Trump established the White House Faith Office, led by evangelist Paula White-Cain as a 'special government employee,' according to the announcement. She's resuming a similar role she held in the first Trump administration. White-Cain — who also serves on the new Religious Liberty Commission — was one of the earliest high-profile Christian leaders to support Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and is considered Trump's spiritual adviser. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Her office is designed to consult 'experts within the faith community' on 'practices to better align with the American values.' It also is tasked with religious-liberty training and promoting grant opportunities for faith-based entities; and working to 'identify failures' in federal protection for religious liberty. Also in February, Trump created a Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi with representatives from several federal departments. Its mandate is to expose and reverse what Trump claims were 'egregious' violations of Christians' rights under former President Joe Biden. Many of those claims have been disputed, as has the need for singling out for protection the nation's largest and most culturally and politically dominant religious group. A White House action focused on a specific religion is not unprecedented. The Biden administration, for example, issued strategy plans to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia. Both Trump administrations have issued executive orders on combating antisemitism. An April hearing of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias featured witnesses from across federal departments, alleging that Christians during the Biden administration faced discrimination for such things as opposing vaccine mandates or 'DEI/LGBT ideology' on religious grounds. Some claimed that schools' legal or tax enforcement actions were actually targeted because of their Christian religion. The State and Veterans Affairs departments have asked people to report alleged instances of anti-Christian bias. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The White House said the Justice Department formed specific task forces to respond to what it called a 'concentration of bias' against Christians and Jews, but that it's committed to combating discrimination against Americans of any faith. The latest entity to be created, the Religious Liberty Commission, has a mandate to recommend policies to protect and 'celebrate America's peaceful religious pluralism.' Patrick, the chair, has supported legislation requiring Texas school districts to allow prayer time for students and says he wants his state to emulate Louisiana in requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms. Among the commission's mandates: to look into 'conscience protections in the health care field and concerning vaccine mandates' and government 'displays with religious imagery.' Among the commissioners are Catholic bishops, Protestant evangelists, a rabbi and attorneys focused on religious liberty cases. Its advisory boards include several Christian and some Jewish and Muslim members. A commission member, author and broadcaster, Eric Metaxas, supported its work in a column Friday for the conservative site Blaze Media. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'This commission's goal is to strengthen the liberty of every single American — regardless of that person's faith and even of whether that person has any faith,' he wrote. 'It also aims to restore those liberties attacked by hostile and misguided secularists.' Fulfilling a priority for Trump's conservative Christian backers Charles Haynes, senior fellow for religious liberty at the Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation focused on First Amendment rights, said the various entities reflect Trump's attempt to fulfill an agenda priority of his conservative Christian supporters. He said the entities' work reflects their long-standing contention that the First Amendment has 'been misapplied to keep Christians out of the public square, to discriminate against Christianity, by which they mean their understandings of Christianity.' Trump's moves and recent Supreme Court cases are reversing a consensus dating at least to the 1940s that the First Amendment strictly prohibits government-sponsored religion at the federal and state levels, Haynes said. He said the First Amendment actually provides broad protections for religious expressions in settings such as public schools. He helped write a Freedom Forum guide on religion in public schools, endorsed by groups across the ideological spectrum. It notes that within some limits, students can pray on their own time in schools, express their faith in class assignments, distribute religious literature, form school religious clubs and receive some accommodations based on religious belief. But Haynes noted that the Supreme Court is now considering allowing Oklahoma to pay for a Catholic charter school, which he said could erase a long-standing standard that public-funded schools don't teach a particular religion. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'It's a very different day in the United States when both the Supreme Court and the president of the United States appear to be intent on changing the arrangement on religious freedom that we thought was in place,' Haynes said. 'It's a radical departure from how we've understood ourselves.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Hamilton Spectator
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Critics say Trump's religion agenda will benefit conservative Christians the most
White House Faith Office. A Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias. A Religious Liberty Commission. President Donald Trump has won plaudits from his base of conservative Christian supporters for establishing multiple faith-related entities. 'We're bringing back religion in our country,' Trump said at a recent Rose Garden event, on the National Day of Prayer, when he announced the creation of the Religious Liberty Commission. 'We must always be one nation under God, a phrase that they would like to get rid of, the radical left.' But others, including some Christians, are alarmed by these acts — saying Trump isn't protecting religion in general but granting a privileged status to politically conservative expressions of Christianity that happen to include his supporters. What's up with the 'separation of church and state' debate? Critics are even more aghast that he's questioning a core understanding of the First Amendment. 'They say 'separation between church and state,'' Trump said at the prayer day gathering, when he talked about establishing the White House Faith Office. 'I said, all right, let's forget about that for one time.' Trump's creation of these various bodies is 'definitely not normal, and it's very important to not look at them as individual entities,' said the Rev. Shannon Fleck, executive director of Faithful America, a progressive Christian advocacy organization. 'They are indicative of an entire system that is being constructed at the national level,' she said. 'It's a system specifically designed to guide and shape culture in the U.S.' Fleck worries about the combined effect of Trump administration actions and a spate of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years. The court, now with three Trump appointees, has lowered barriers between church and state in its interpretations of the First Amendment's ban on any congressionally recognized establishment of religion. 'My freedom of religion runs right up to the point when yours begins, and if I am then trying to establish something that's going to affect your right to practice your faith, that is against the First Amendment,' Fleck said. But religious supporters of Trump are happy with his expansion of religion-related offices. 'We were a nation birthed by prayer, founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic to ensure that people could worship as they wished,' said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, at the Rose Garden ceremony where he was announced as chair of the Religious Liberty Commission. Many members are conservative Christian clerics and commentators; some have supported Trump politically. The event featured Christian praise music along with Jewish, Muslim and Christian prayers. White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers, via email, said the commission is ensuring 'that all Americans' God-given right is protected, no matter their religion.' Rogers said the criticism is coming from anti-Trump advocacy groups that are trying to undermine his agenda. A closer look at the new religious entities The three entities created under Trump overlap in their marching orders and, in some cases, their membership. In February, Trump established the White House Faith Office, led by evangelist Paula White-Cain as a 'special government employee,' according to the announcement. She's resuming a similar role she held in the first Trump administration. White-Cain — who also serves on the new Religious Liberty Commission — was one of the earliest high-profile Christian leaders to support Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and is considered Trump's spiritual adviser. Her office is designed to consult 'experts within the faith community' on 'practices to better align with the American values.' It also is tasked with religious-liberty training and promoting grant opportunities for faith-based entities; and working to 'identify failures' in federal protection for religious liberty. Also in February, Trump created a Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias , led by Attorney General Pam Bondi with representatives from several federal departments. Its mandate is to expose and reverse what Trump claims were 'egregious' violations of Christians' rights under former President Joe Biden. Many of those claims have been disputed, as has the need for singling out for protection the nation's largest and most culturally and politically dominant religious group. A White House action focused on a specific religion is not unprecedented. The Biden administration, for example, issued strategy plans to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia. Both Trump administrations have issued executive orders on combating antisemitism. An April hearing of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias featured witnesses from across federal departments, alleging that Christians during the Biden administration faced discrimination for such things as opposing vaccine mandates or 'DEI/LGBT ideology' on religious grounds. Some claimed that schools' legal or tax enforcement actions were actually targeted because of their Christian religion. The State and Veterans Affairs departments have asked people to report alleged instances of anti-Christian bias. The White House said the Justice Department formed specific task forces to respond to what it called a 'concentration of bias' against Christians and Jews, but that it's committed to combating discrimination against Americans of any faith. The latest entity to be created, the Religious Liberty Commission, has a mandate to recommend policies to protect and 'celebrate America's peaceful religious pluralism.' Patrick, the chair, has supported legislation requiring Texas school districts to allow prayer time for students and says he wants his state to emulate Louisiana in requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms. Among the commission's mandates: to look into 'conscience protections in the health care field and concerning vaccine mandates' and government 'displays with religious imagery.' Among the commissioners are Catholic bishops, Protestant evangelists, a rabbi and attorneys focused on religious liberty cases. Its advisory boards include several Christian and some Jewish and Muslim members. A commission member, author and broadcaster, Eric Metaxas, supported its work in a column Friday for the conservative site Blaze Media. 'This commission's goal is to strengthen the liberty of every single American — regardless of that person's faith and even of whether that person has any faith,' he wrote. 'It also aims to restore those liberties attacked by hostile and misguided secularists.' Fulfilling a priority for Trump's conservative Christian backers Charles Haynes, senior fellow for religious liberty at the Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation focused on First Amendment rights, said the various entities reflect Trump's attempt to fulfill an agenda priority of his conservative Christian supporters. He said the entities' work reflects their long-standing contention that the First Amendment has 'been misapplied to keep Christians out of the public square, to discriminate against Christianity, by which they mean their understandings of Christianity.' Trump's moves and recent Supreme Court cases are reversing a consensus dating at least to the 1940s that the First Amendment strictly prohibits government-sponsored religion at the federal and state levels, Haynes said. He said the First Amendment actually provides broad protections for religious expressions in settings such as public schools. He helped write a Freedom Forum guide on religion in public schools, endorsed by groups across the ideological spectrum. It notes that within some limits, students can pray on their own time in schools, express their faith in class assignments, distribute religious literature, form school religious clubs and receive some accommodations based on religious belief. But Haynes noted that the Supreme Court is now considering allowing Oklahoma to pay for a Catholic charter school , which he said could erase a long-standing standard that public-funded schools don't teach a particular religion. 'It's a very different day in the United States when both the Supreme Court and the president of the United States appear to be intent on changing the arrangement on religious freedom that we thought was in place,' Haynes said. 'It's a radical departure from how we've understood ourselves.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
