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Analysis
It’s Simple: The National Prayer Breakfast Hurts Our Country
On February 6th, President Trump attended the National Prayer Breakfast—an annual event that already blurs state and religious lines and agendas—and gave remarks that should trouble every American.
The coordination of this event with the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation, which two senators co-chair, clearly disrespects the foundational principle of religious freedom that this country was built upon. The National Prayer Breakfast has a history of promoting divisive Christian nationalist visions, and President Trump’s endorsement of the event lends it an unwarranted legitimacy.
Trump used exclusive religious rhetoric to support one kind of Christianity, furthering the idea that Christian nationalism is a welcome part of our government and society. Trump proudly raised his hands and stated that “Americans are reasserting our true identity as a people ordained by God” and went on to say that America is a nation that “trusts in the Providence of an Almighty God”. The United States is a country composed of people from diverse faiths as well as those with no religious affiliation. By failing to recognize this and upholding only one religious viewpoint, Trump disrespects the religious diversity of this nation.
After Trump finished his prayers, he quickly moved into action and boasted of his administration’s plan to create a new task force. This task force, led by the US Attorney General, aims to seek out supposedly rampant “anti-Christian bias” across our government and society. While this task force will operate under the guise of religious freedom, many political and religious leaders are worried that bigotry, invasions of privacy, and discrimination will ensue.
Interfaith Alliance believes that the National Prayer Breakfast clearly violates the separation of church and state and does not honor the true spirit of religious freedom. Our elected officials have a civic duty not to hold one religion as more significant than others, as done in the National Prayer Breakfast. We must reject all attempts to use religious rhetoric to justify oppressive policy and stay vigilant in the protection of religious freedom and separation of church and state.
Rosa Casey-Teeley is a Policy Intern at Interfaith Alliance.
Transcript
True Religious Freedom Means Protecting Our Faith Leaders, Not Detaining Them
In early July, Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his asylum status was terminated in June. In response, local faith leaders organized a prayer vigil, rally, and peaceful march; during the march at least 15 protesters were detained by local police and charged with felony rioting.
New Research Finds the Supreme Court Shows Bias Towards Christian Groups
In a recently published article in the Cambridge Journal of Political Affairs, Adam Hamdan offers a statistical analysis of the role religion plays in Supreme Court cases. The article builds on previous studies examining the interplay between religious beliefs and Supreme Court cases to find that under the Roberts Court, the Supreme Court has sided with religious groups more than previous courts, especially when it comes to Christian groups. This finding mirrors public perception of the Supreme Court, as a recent PEW Research Center study found that 35% of Americans see SCOTUS as friendly toward religion, a significant increase from the 18% of Americans that believed that in 2019.
Speaker Mike Johnson’s Attack on Church-State Separation Violates 250 Years of American Religious Liberty
On July 12, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson posted an article on X titled “The True Meaning of ‘The Separation of Church and State.’” In it, Speaker Johnson argues that the original intent of the “separation of church and state” doctrine was to allow religious groups to influence the government while protecting them from government regulation.