Christianity is by far the largest faith in America, and Christian conservatives have a strong grip on the levers of government.
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Christianity is by far the largest faith in America, and Christian conservatives have a strong grip on the levers of government. That dominance is leaving many to question why
President Donald Trump’s new task force on eradicating
anti-Christian bias is needed.
Critics see the task force initiative as unnecessary and pandering to Trump’s base. But some Christian supporters said it is overdue, claiming the Biden administration had discriminated against them through actions and inactions.
The two-year task force, chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi and composed of Cabinet and other government representatives, is assigned to review and “identify any unlawful anti-Christian” actions under the Biden administration, change any objectionable policies and recommend steps to rectify any past failures.
A debate over victimhood
Bruce Ledewitz, a law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, criticized the mindset behind the executive order as that of a powerful group claiming victimhood.
The Christian conservative movement — a core Republican constituency — now has significant sway on the Supreme Court and in numerous states, Congress and the presidency, Ledewitz said. And still, they declare, “We are victims,” he said.
“There’s a struggle for the soul of America,” said Ledewitz, who studies the relationship between constitutional law and religion. “We call this a culture war, but it’s very deep,” animated by the charge “that you people, the Democrats, you are not religious, and we are.”
Trump said exactly that at a National Prayer Breakfast gathering on Feb. 6.
“The opposing side, they oppose religion, they oppose God,” Trump claimed, accusing the previous administration of engaging in “persecution.” President Joe Biden, a regular Mass-attending Catholic, often spoke of drawing on the values of his faith and had warm relations with Pope Francis.
But Ryan Bangert, a senior vice president at the conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, said the task force is overdue.
He said the Biden administration was “deliberately targeting Christian beliefs through discriminatory policies” on issues such as abortion and gender. These are “not fringe beliefs” and are shared by other religious groups besides Christians, he said.
Prayer breakfasts are never good eating for secular Americans. Thursday’s doubleheader was no exception.
www.msnbc.com
Tonally, both events were, by Trump’s 2024 tachycardic rhetorical standards, restrained, cool, even calm. The implications of what was proposed at the second gathering, however, are incendiary. America’s non-conservative Christians, non-Christians and nonbelievers should take heed, as should all of those who believe that some form of secular governance is necessary for the well-being of any liberal democracy.
Secular governance, as we all know,
is not Donald Trump’s fancy. He made a torrent of statements to this effect at both breakfasts. But none were more alarming than
his announcement that he was appointing Attorney General Pam Bondi to head a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias”:
“The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI ... and other agencies. In addition, the task force will work to fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and Earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide. You never had that before, but this is a very powerful document I’m signing.”
For Trump, the word “Christian” refers to what we might call
MAGA Christians, or the types of Christians who voted for
him (i.e., evangelicals, Pentecostals, conservative Mormons and traditionalist Catholics). He is not referring to Christians who did not vote for him, such as liberal Catholics, mainline Protestants, members of various African American churches and so forth.
True, Trump did mention “religious believers” would be defended, though given Elon Musk’s attacks on
Lutheran charitable organizations and Vice President JD Vance’s
jousting with Catholic bishops, not to mention Trump’s repeated
criticisms of Jews, I find this hard to believe.
thesandb.com
