Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Religious Leaders Have Have Variety of Top Agenda Items For President Trump

In advance of Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, religious leaders have a variety of suggestions for Trump's top agenda items.  Here is a sampling:

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research council, says:
To start, religious liberty in the military needs to be addressed. Over the past several years we have witnessed chaplains being disciplined for their faith, and religious speech being censored. President-elect Trump can direct that religious liberty in the military be clarified and strengthened, and that appropriate training is conducted to ensure the law is followed.
In addition, our foreign policy, contrary to the law, has not prioritized religious freedom like it should. President-elect Trump must direct that religious freedom be properly integrated into all foreign policy of the United States at every level....
[G]overnment nondiscrimination legislation is needed to protect supporters of marriage between one man and one woman.  People of faith should not be punished by the government for living in accordance with their beliefs.
Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute says:
Abolish the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.
Even though there is long-standing precedent for government at all levels to contract with various church-affiliated organizations, such as the Lutheran Samaritas or Catholic Charities USA, these organizations end up going to great lengths to separate their services from their religious mission. This alters the genius of faith-based charities, their effectiveness and their very mission.
This well-intentioned subsidy obfuscates the nature of religious charities by incentivizing them to draw a stark line between their faith and their works. What animates believers to care for the poor is precisely their religious belief — not to serve the interests of the state, politicians and their bureaucracies.
Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, says:
I think maybe God has allowed Donald Trump to win this election to protect this nation for the next few years by giving maybe an opportunity to have some good judges.
Elijah M. Brown, general secretary of North American Baptist Fellowship, says:
President-elect Trump should ... demonstrate his sincere commitment to the many individuals and faith communities around the world living at the edge of extinction by nominating in his first 100 days an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.