President Trump establishes a landmark Religious Liberty Commission

During last week’s National Day of Prayer, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Religious Liberty Commission, which will produce a report on how to safeguard religious liberty in the United States.

“It shall be the policy of the executive branch to vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty enshrined in Federal law,” the order says.

“The Founders envisioned a Nation in which religious voices and views are integral to a vibrant public square and human flourishing and in which religious people and institutions are free to practice their faith without fear of discrimination or hostility from the Government.”

The order continued:

“In recent years, some Federal, State, and local policies have threatened America’s unique and beautiful tradition of religious liberty.  These policies attempt to infringe upon longstanding conscience protections, prevent parents from sending their children to religious schools, threaten loss of funding or denial of non-profit tax status for faith-based entities, and single out religious groups and institutions for exclusion from governmental programs.

Some opponents of religious liberty would remove religion entirely from public life.  Others characterize religious liberty as inconsistent with civil rights, despite religions’ vital roles in the abolition of slavery; the passage of Federal civil rights laws; and the provision of indispensable social, educational, and health services.

Therefore, the Federal Government will promote citizens’ pride in our foundational history, identify emerging threats to religious liberty, uphold Federal laws that protect all citizens’ full participation in a pluralistic democracy, and protect the free exercise of religion.”

The Religious Liberty Commission has 14 members, comprised of clergy, religious leaders, politicians, and attorneys who specialize in the First Amendment.

The order tasks the commission with delivering a report on the history of, threats to, and strategies for protecting religious liberty.

The report will cover a wide array of topics, including:

• The First Amendment rights of pastors, religious leaders, houses of worship, faith-based institutions, and religious speakers.
• Attacks across America on houses of worship of various religions.
• Debanking religious entities.
• The First Amendment rights of teachers, students, military chaplains, service members, employers, and employees.
• Conscience protections in the health care field, including their concerns on vaccine mandates.
• Parents’ authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children, including the right to choose a religious education.
• Permitting time for voluntary prayer and religious instruction at public schools.
• Government displays with religious imagery.
• The right of all Americans to freely exercise their faith without fear of government censorship or retaliation.

The Religious Liberty Commission will also advise the White House Faith Office on policies regarding religious freedom.

In addition, the President will appoint different advisory boards — one made up of religious leaders, one of lay leaders, and one of legal experts — to advise the commission.

The tenure of the commission will end on July 4, 2026, unless extended by the President.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will chair the new commission. According to the White House, Patrick led the effort to place ‘In God We Trust’ in the Texas Senate and add ‘Under God’ to the state’s pledge of allegiance.” He also started a four-year seminary program in Texas prisons and wrote The Second Most Important Book You Will Ever Read, a book which encourages readers to study the Bible.

Dr. Ben Carson, an acclaimed brain surgeon and the secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the first Trump administration, will serve as vice-chair.

Some other notable members include Ryan T. Anderson, who is president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center; Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York; Pastor Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse; author, speaker, and radio host Eric Metaxas; and Kelly Shackelford, the president and CEO of First Liberty Institute.

A number of commission members responded to their appointment on social media, including Carson, who wrote, “I’m truly honored to serve on President Trump’s Commission on Religious Liberty alongside bold, principled leaders like @DanPatrick. Faith has always been the foundation of our great nation—and now more than ever, we must stand firm to protect the freedom to live by it. Grateful to @realDonaldTrump for his unwavering leadership on this critical issue.”

Shackelford, whose organization has been on the frontlines of defending religious liberty in the public square and represented Joe Kennedy, aka the “praying coach,” in the Supreme Court case of Kennedy v. Bremerton, said in a statement:

“For too long, government officials have been hostile to expressions of faith…“It will be a privilege to do everything we can to protect religious liberty and restore our First Freedom for all Americans.”

Elections have consequences. The prior administration waged war on religion in the United States, especially Protestantism and Catholicism.

Whether it was trying to force nuns to pay for transgender treatments and surgeries, trying to force doctors to perform abortions, attempting to force religious Americans to embrace LGBT ideology, indoctrinating children in schools, labeling and targeting concerned parents as domestic terrorists, or prosecuting and jailing peaceful pro-life protesters, the previous administration routinely showed their outright hostility to religious liberty and religious Americans.

Now there’s a new administration in the White House with a very different view of religious freedom.

The promise of religious liberty means that religious Americans should never have to compromise their convictions.

No radical activist should be able to force a Christian business owner to celebrate a homosexual wedding. No school district should be able to force Catholic, Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, or Muslim children to read sexually explicit books on transgender ideology. No Christian should be forced to take an experimental vaccine against their sincerely held beliefs. No religious organization should be forced to hire an employee whose views do not align with the organization’s.

And no government should be allowed to deny a public benefit to a religious organization or school simply because it is religious or to deny religious Americans the right to participate in public service because they don’t embrace secular dogma. Religious liberty means that the government cannot treat religious groups or citizens less favorably than secular ones.

By establishing this commission, the Trump administration is working to ensure that all Americans can practice their religion without interference or hostility from the government. It’s the foundation of American life and freedom — and it’s about time we got back to basics.

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