President Donald Trump signed the much-anticipated religious freedom executive order “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty” on May 4 — the National Day of Prayer. The order says:
• The administration’s policy will be to enforce vigorously the “robust protections for religious freedom” in federal law.
• The Department of Treasury, which includes the Internal Revenue Service, will not penalize a person, house of worship or other religious organization for speaking “about moral or political issues from a religious perspective,” thereby providing relief from a six-decade-old law known as the Johnson Amendment.
• The secretaries of three federal departments will consider revising rules to protect the freedom of conscience of religious objectors to the abortion/contraception mandate imposed by the Obama administration.
Marriage not included
The executive order does not include protections for faith-based and other federal contractors who have established their employment practices on a biblical sexual ethic. Nor does it protect individuals and institutions from being penalized by the federal government for acting in support of their belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
“Freedom is not a gift from government; it is a gift from God,” Trump said in remarks before signing the order, according to christiannews.net. “Our Founding Fathers believed that religious liberty was so fundamental that they enshrined it in the First Amendment of our great and beloved Constitution.
“We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced any more,” he said. “And we will never, ever stand for religious discrimination.”
Former Southern Baptist Convention president Jack Graham was among the religious leaders who prayed and stood behind Trump while he spoke and signed the order during a White House Rose Garden ceremony. (BP, TAB)
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