Trump's Religious Liberty Commission Presents Danger To Freedom, Liberty & Followers Of Christ

Article posted with permission from the author, Suzanne Hamner

While the Constitution for the united States of America’s First Amendment prohibits Congress from creating law establishing a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, one would surmise it would mean any branch of government cannot interfere in the religious practices of the people. After all, the Constitution limits the authority of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government to their respective listed powers. At the time of the founding of the united States, it was understood that “no one in the federal government had any authority to cancel, abridge, restrain or modify rights of any denomination or the States’ essential rights of liberty of conscience.” And, the founders did not anticipate “false religions” being allowed to flourish in an established Christian nation. During the time of the founders, the First Amendment actually addressed the differing denominations of Christianity and still does not apply to theocracies masquerading as “religions”. Moreover, our founders recognized the definition of “established religion” as a particular denomination being selected by civil government existing on taxes & tithes extracted from the people by force. The First Amendment limited federal government, not the States, as some States retained their “established religion” after the ratification of the Constitution for the united States of America. Later, many of these States dis-established their chosen religions with amendments.

What does this mini-history lesson have to do with today? Donald Trump, presidential office holder, has established “The Religious Liberty Commission” to “tackle tough questions about the balance between the government and religion.”

What tough questions are there? There is a one-way street when it comes to government and religion – government is not to interfere, period. Government is charged with upholding God’s moral laws and securing God-given unalienable rights of the people. Christianity has every authority to be in government as God granted man authority to institute government as “ministers of good” – to punish evil and uphold the righteous.

The commission is a team of 13 religious leaders, scholars, and celebrities from different faith backgrounds, including television host “Dr. Phil” McGraw, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Rabbi Meir Soloveichik.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Dr. Ben Carson, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, are chair and vice chair, respectively.

The interfaith panel met for the first time June 16 to discuss its objectives: eliminating religious discrimination by the federal government, and promoting the public good through encouraging moral principles held in common by various faith groups.

Can someone explain what “moral principles” Christianity holds in common with Islam, Satanists, pagans, and other false “religions”? What exactly is this panel defining as “faith groups”? Does that include Hari Krishnas, Buddhists, Hindus, etc.? “Promoting the public good through encouraging moral principles held in common by various faith groups” sound a lot like interfering in the free exercise of religion. There is no doubt there is unlawful, immoral religious discrimination by the federal government where the Christian faith is concerned. It has been blatantly obvious for quite some time, particularly in Supreme Court decisions, defining of terrorists by unconstitutional federal agencies, and persecution of Christians who refuse to bend the knee to the LGBTQrstuvwxyz community.

In their opening remarks, the commission’s members touted the advantages of religion to society, quoting Founding Fathers such as John Adams, who said the Constitution ”was made only for a moral and religious people.”

Expert witness Gerard Bradley, former director of Notre Dame’s Natural Law Institute, encouraged the panel to ditch the modern concept that “religious and secular are opposites,” and instead “think about government promoting religion for the sake of the common good.” [Is this promotion of religion and which religion to promote going to be similar to the promotion of vaccines and bioweapon shots? Or is it just going to be promotion of any religion, including false religions?]

The members were keenly aware of the potential problems of such an approach.

“We’re talking about the government promoting religion, and that kind of gets a little scary,” Dr. Phil said.

He said that everyone brings his or her own bias.

“Are we talking about promoting religion, or are we talking about promoting liberty to choose religion—if that’s what you choose?” [There is already liberty regarding religion. Is this discussion on religion about choosing heretic gospel peddlers like Paula White, Julie Green, Joel Olsteen, etc. or promoting the true Gospel and Word of God?]

Dr. Ben Carson raised questions about the darker side of religious governance, citing examples from the past when “basically good people” punished citizens for falling short of strict religious observance. [Here is where it gets interesting. Is Ben Carson talking about Christianity or Islam’s “punishment” of homosexuals, promotion of honor killings, subjugation of “infidels” or promotion of Sharia law? One can bet a dollar to a doughnut the only religion Ben Carson cited was Christianity.]

Attorney General Pam Bondi also addressed the group, thanking them for their work, calling the commission “the tip of the spear” in undoing past government overreach against religion, and promising that the Department of Justice would guard against such excesses in the future.

“Our Founding Fathers understood that every individual must be free to worship without fear, without coercion, and without government interference. They also understood the liberty of conscience is the cornerstone of religious freedom,” she said.

The commission plans to hold seven to nine meetings over the next year; the next is scheduled for September.

It has three advisory boards; the first is made up of religious leaders such as San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Rabbi Yaakov Menken of the Coalition for Jewish Values, and Archbishop Elpidophoros, a member of the World Council of Churches.

Legal experts such as Kristen Waggoner, CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom, form the second board. The third board is made up of religious thought leaders such as Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, co-founder of the Muslim liberal arts college Zaytuna.

Does anyone see any protestant Christian denominations represented? Maybe there are but the article didn’t list any. What does “Dr. Phil” know about religion and faith in Christ? If this is about religion, why is a politician and a doctor chair and vice chair respectively? What is the need for lawyers?

This is a way for government to gain control over religion and religious practices. There is no need for this commission. All that needs to be done is for government to adhere to the Constitution in its entirety according to the meaning of the founding fathers found in the Federalist Papers. But, doing that would not garner government any control or power.

“We’re bringing religion back to our country,” Trump said during the event. “It’s a big deal.”

Religion never left. God never moved. It was the people who moved away from God, being seduced by government at all levels that supported false religions, urged the public to think of government as God, and waged an attack against God and followers of Christ using the full force of the Department of Justice and judicial system. The people abandoned God, succumbing to seduction, retreating into the four walls of the worship center, and cowering in fear instead of rising up with the full armor of God and the truth against persecution.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a statement on May 1 saying he was honored to be named chairman of the commission.

“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.”

…

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.

The commission has also been asked to consider specific topics such as vaccine mandates and voluntary prayer in public schools.

During the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the role of military chaplains was expanded to include clergy from various faiths. Roosevelt stressed the importance of spiritual guidance in the military and confirmed commitment to the spiritual well-being of military personnel. Since the Constitution authorizes Congress to establish land forces (Army for two years) and naval forces, and to make rules for governance and regulation for those forces, it would seem provision of chaplains and clergy for the forces could fall under this authority.

But, where did Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump get authority to create any commission on religious freedom and liberty?

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 group is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency that monitors freedom of religion abroad and makes recommendations to the president, secretary of state, and Congress.

The next administration, under President George W. Bush, created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2001 to welcome partnerships with faith-based and community organizations, calling them “indispensable in meeting the needs of poor Americans and distressed neighborhoods.”

The executive order said the goal of the partnership was “compassionate results, and private and charitable community groups, including religious ones.”

The partnership group was expanded by the Obama administration in 2009 to include a broader range of community organizations and was no longer limited to faith-based groups. Obama’s executive order called for the council to ensure that federally funded services were provided in a way that included equal protection regardless of religious expression.

During his first administration, Trump enacted the Department of Justice Religious Liberty Task Force, which was created in 2018 under the tutelage of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and worked on religious liberty litigation and policy.

A February executive order established the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, which was formed to end the alleged weaponization of government and unlawful conduct targeting Christians. [There was nothing “alleged” about government being weaponized against Christians. It is fact and was witnessed during the CONvid-1984 planned scam-demic and before.]

The task force had its first meeting on April 22, hosted by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The group included a number of Cabinet members, and each of the speakers highlighted cases within their agencies where they believe the Biden administration targeted Christians for their religious beliefs.

It wasn’t just the Biden administration. Trump was president in 2020 when lockdowns to “flatten the curve” occurred, social distancing was implemented, mask-wearing was mandated, and churches were shuttered unlawfully and immorally. There was no one in the Trump administration that stood up for religious liberty, freedom and free exercise. The Obama administration brought the full weight of the government to bear against bakers, florists, and magistrates who refused to violate their religious beliefs in “accommodating” homosexual “unions”.

Government has interfered with freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to petition government for a redress of grievances. And, it has been interfering for years with religious freedom, liberty and exercise. This is nothing new. But, with the delusional MAGA crowd, this will be heralded as a positive, instead of a way to put the wolf in charge of the sheep.

If you haven’t watched “Disciples in the Moonlight”, first appearing on Great American Pure Flix, it would be wise to give it a watch now. This is where things are headed for followers of Christ should government continued interference with religious liberty, freedom and exercise under the illusion of promoting religion. Remember, whatever government claims it is doing, in this case promoting religion, it is intent on doing the exact opposite.

Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media