{"id":27388,"date":"2025-05-05T12:01:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=27388"},"modified":"2025-05-05T12:01:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:01:44","slug":"trump-sets-aside-church-versus-state-establishes-religious-liberty-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/trump-sets-aside-church-versus-state-establishes-religious-liberty-commission","title":{"rendered":"Trump Sets Aside Church Versus State, Establishes Religious Liberty Commission"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The White House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Without much advanced notice among national pundits and media, President Donald Trump held a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden this week featuring members of his newly commissioned Faith Office, established this past February.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The event was held primarily to commemorate the 42nd annual National Day of Prayer. President Trump addressed the media shortly after the prayers subsided and an inspirational version of \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d concluded worship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey say separation between church and state \u2026 I said, \u2018All right, let\u2019s forget about that for one time,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s how the President set the tone for a historic morning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He unveiled a new <\/span>Religious Liberty Commission<\/span><\/a> whose sole focus is tackling religious liberties aimed against Christians and declaring his administration\u2019s efforts to \u201cstand up against religious persecution around the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re bringing back religion in our country, and we\u2019re bringing it back quickly and strongly because for America to be a great nation,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe must always be one nation under God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Religious Liberty Commission Trump said the Religious Liberty Commission would be led by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Dr. Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, during Trump\u2019s first term. He advised the new organization is<\/span> tasked<\/span><\/a> with producing a report on \u201ccurrent threats to religious liberty and strategies to preserve and enhance protections for future generations\u201d and recommending executive actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a staggering <\/span>81 percent of White Evangelicals<\/span><\/a> as the foundation of his base support, the President is not ashamed of the Gospel or this Commission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Patrick was in attendance and told Trump, \u201cThere\u2019s never been a president who\u2019s invoked the name of Jesus more than you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Paula White Cain, the head of the administration\u2019s new Faith Office, said, \u201cPrayer is not a religious act; it\u2019s a national necessity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her comments also underscored the need for this move and tried to delineate the newly blurred lines between church and state.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following her remarks, she prayed for the President: \u201cWe call for a spiritual reset in our nation, a return to what is right, a reverence for what is sacred, a real alignment with your divine purpose.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Commission will also recommend actions to secure domestic religious liberty. When enacted, those suggestions will create opportunities for the White House Faith Office to collaborate with the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom to promote religious liberty globally.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, really, there\u2019s separation. I don\u2019t know. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I\u2019m not sure, but whether there\u2019s separation or not, you guys are in the White House where you should be, and you\u2019re representing our country. We\u2019re bringing religion back to our country, and it\u2019s a big deal,\u201d Trump said following placing his signature on the new executive order.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Without much advanced notice among national pundits and media, President Donald Trump held a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden this week featuring members of his newly commissioned Faith Office, established this past February.\u00a0 The event was held primarily to commemorate the 42nd annual National Day of Prayer. President Trump addressed the media shortly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":27391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Sets Aside Church Versus State, Establishes Religious Liberty Commission<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Trump unveils Religious Liberty Commission on National Day of Prayer, vowing to \u201cbring religion back\u201d and defend faith.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/trump-sets-aside-church-versus-state-establishes-religious-liberty-commission\" \/>\n<meta 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