Trump signs executive order to further protect religious liberty

This is good as far as it goes. How far it goes is limited because the primary threat to religious liberty is cultural more than it’s governmental. And I think the Christian community is taking its eye off the ball if it thinks access to government funding is the key to ushering forth the Kingdom.

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But as a matter of law, a government that’s willing to fund a given activity shouldn’t be less willing to fund it because a religious organization is behind it. Last year President Trump issued an executive order establishing that idea as policy, and today he issued a new one designed to make sure the executive branch of the government is actually following the policy he has full authority to establish:

During the annual National Day of Prayer commemoration at the White House on Thursday, President Trump signed the latest executive order of his presidency, to establish a faith-based office, the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. He said it would focus on protecting religious freedom and ensuring that “the faith-based and community organizations that form the bedrock of our society have strong advocates in the White House and throughout the federal government.” “Prayer has always been at the center of the American life. America is a nation of believers, and together we are strengthened by the power of prayer,” said Mr. Trump at the Rose Garden ceremony. In addition to making recommendations to the administration, the office will also inform the administration of “any failures of the executive branch to comply with religious liberty protections under law.” The initiative will be led by a newly appointed White House adviser to the group and will be supported by various faith leaders from outside the federal government. The order also aims to ensure faith based organizations have “equal access to government funding and equal right to exercise their deeply held beliefs.”

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Trump understands that when he sets something as policy, the federal bureaucracy doesn’t exactly stand up and salute. Far more often, it looks for ways to slow-walk or undermine the implementation of the president’s policies. The establishment of this office is basically designed to identify and point out when the deep state is trying to prevent this policy on religious liberty from being implemented successfully. And no one is talking about funding crusades here. The situations where this is relevant involve things like playgrounds, which might be eligible for federal funding simply on the basis of what they are. Yet the federal government had a habit, particularly during the Obama Administration, of denying grant applications if they came from churches – even if they would approve the same grant for the same purpose if it was requested by anyone else. Refusing to approve the grant for that reason isn’t maintaining neutrality on the matter of religion. It’s engaging in out-and-out hostility toward religion, and that’s the practice Trump intends to reverse with this pair of orders. He is right to do so. Having said that, I’ll warn again against Christians thinking the successful pursuit of our mission is furthered in any meaningful way by access to public funding. It will always be a political sticky wicket to go after such funds, and it’s a huge mistake to rely on them. God’s people have to finance Kingdom activities from the resources He provides. It’s good not to be discriminated against, but trying not to be persecuted is not the mission God gave us.

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