Executive Order forms Religious Liberty Commission

by Lilly Gioia

In May 2025 President Trump issued an Executive Order forming his RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION made up of 12 members, many of them his allies: 11 CHRISTIANS & 1 ORTHODOX JEW. The Commission was to hold hearings and issue a report on the history and state of religious liberty in America. Its draft report just issued in June focused on witnesses and members who basically spoke about RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE and INTIMIDATION primarily faced by CHRISTIANS!

In case you were not aware of the persecution and discrimination against American Christians, you can read the 224 page Religion Liberty Commission report online containing dozens of policy and legal recommendations. It calls for establishing a Religious Liberty Violation Hotline, expanding school choice funding, appointing judges with a proven commitment to religious liberty and forming a Justice Department Religious Liberty Task Force. I watched the testimony on C-SPAN as a supporter of the Interfaith Alliance.

The Interfaith Alliance filed a lawsuit forcing the administration to publish Religious Liberty Commission records that had been kept secret from the American people. The suit was a multi-faith coalition effort represented by Democracy Forward, and Americans United for Separation of Church & State, arguing the Commission violated federal law as an unbalanced, biased panel operating in near secrecy. Facing the lawsuit, the Commission allowed public comment on its draft report. 1,700 people flooded an email portal with objections.

The Religious Liberty Commission is what Christian Nationalism looks like when it has the power of government and weaponizes language of religious freedom, critics said. Not only have the Interfaith Alliance, the Secular Coalition for America, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu organizations strongly objected to this Commission’s narrow focus, but also Catholic Bishops voiced criticism. Critics have attacked the Commission for ignoring issues like Islamophobia.

Basic takeaways from the report are the Commission’s argument that there is a misunderstanding of SEPARATION of CHURCH & STATE. They claim the “wall of separation between church and state” has been misapplied and  weaponized to restrict religion’s place in public life. They assert that the term separation of church and state never appears in the Constitution. That religious liberty is the “bridge” between church and state. They recommend that the Department of Justice issue guidance clarifying that.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation was among organizations raising an alarm because the Fourteenth Amendment’s Establishment Clause bars passing any laws that favor one religion over another. Freedom From Religion Foundation said, “The Establishment Clause exists precisely because the government must remain neutral on matters of religion.”

The Commission also recommends REPEALING the Johnson Amendment that forbids nonprofits, including houses of worship, from endorsing political candidates. Repealing the Johnson Amendment has the potential for turning churches into tax exempt Political Actions Committees able to endorse candidates. This Religious Liberty Commission report fails to discuss the rights or experiences of the religiously unaffiliated, who make up roughly one-third of all Americans today.

The Secular Coalition for America said: The report is “not a blueprint for protecting religious freedom. It is a roadmap for expanding religious privilege.” The Interfaith Alliance (to which our congregation has donated) said: The report and the Commission behind it fail to represent and uplift the importance and tolerance for all faiths in our country—not just a special, chosen few.”

On July 28 a federal judge dismissed the Interfaith Alliance lawsuit. In a statement the Alliance said that with multi-faith partners they intend to keep standing up to Christian Nationalism wherever it threatens our democracy. A coalition built to promote a true and inclusive religious freedom will outlast any single ruling.

On a positive note last week we saw a meeting of the Third Annual Congressional Freethought Caucus Reception. Sponsored by the Secular Coalition for America, the American Humanist Society and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, there are now 37 members of Congress in the Freethought Caucus on Capitol Hill. Their keynote speaker was Mary Trump as they gathered to celebrate Constitutional Democracy, Reason, and the rights of non-religious Americans. They reflect increasing support for religious equality and secular government.