Citing the Biden administration’s “egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians,” President Donald Trump launched a task force yesterday to protect religious liberty and focus on eradicating anti-Christian bias in the federal government.
President Trump announced the task force at the 73rd annual National Prayer Breakfast, his second prayer breakfast speech Thursday morning, and then signed the executive order titled “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias.” Recently confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi will lead the task force, which will include the secretaries and heads of at least 16 federal entities, including the FBI, and the departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services.
According to the order, agencies under the Biden administration “sought to squelch faith in the public square” by prosecuting peaceful pro-life protesters, ignoring more than 100 violent attacks on faith-based churches, charities and pregnancy centers, labeling Catholics as “domestic terrorists,” and forcing Christians in the workplace to affirm radical gender ideology against their faith.
In response, President Trump invoked the “fundamental right to religious liberty” under the First Amendment in order to protect that liberty and end this “anti-Christian weaponization of government.” The order honors the Founders’ original intent of having a nation where people could freely practice their faith without discrimination or retaliation by their government.
The order reads, “My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians. The law protects the freedom of Americans and groups of Americans to practice their faith in peace, and my Administration will enforce the law and protect these freedoms. My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”
At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump declared a halt to all forms of discrimination targeting Christians.
“While I’m in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals, and in our public squares, and we will bring our country back together as one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all,” said President Trump. “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.”
The order directs federal agencies to:
- identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices, or conduct from the previous administration and provide recommendations to revoke or terminate them.
- identify deficiencies in existing laws, law enforcement, and regulatory practices that have contributed to unlawful anti-Christian conduct by the government.
- recommend actions to remedy failures to fully enforce the law against acts of anti-Christian hostility, vandalism, and violence.
- engage with a broad range of individuals and groups, including Americans affected by anti-Christian conduct and faith-based organizations, to ensure the task force is informed by a broad spectrum of ideas.
The order stipulates that the task force will be disbanded after two years unless extended by the president.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The federal government should be a shield to religious liberty, not a weapon against people of faith. President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias is a needed step to correct the previous administration’s unprecedented hostility toward Christians. Jailing peaceful pro-life advocates while ignoring violence against churches and faith-based organizations has been a grave injustice. America needs to be a beacon of religious liberty where people are free to live according to their faith.”
