One member calls for aPresidential Medal of Freedomfor abaker who refused to create a wedding cakefor a same-sex couple.
Another calls for court interventions by the Department of Justice on behalf of Amish parents fighting New York vaccine requirements and Catholic nuns challenging that state’s requirement that they accommodate hospice patients’ gender identities.
And the chair of theReligious Liberty Commissionis calling for a federal hotline with this automated recording: “There is no separation of church and state.”
These are just some of the recommendations thatmembers of the advisory panelformed by President Donald Trump last year want to see included in the commission’s final report.
That report is still in the works, but commissioners had an opportunity to describe their wish lists during their most recent meeting in April. There was little dissent as the commissioners, most drawn fromTrump’s baseof conservative Christian supporters, covered the items they want in the report.
Their ideas reflect the prevailing perspectives on the definition of religious liberty among many conservative Catholic and evangelical activists: increasing avenues for religious expression in public schools; expanding opportunities for faith-based organizations to receive public money; and allowing for religious-based exemptions in areas ranging from labor law to classroom lessons to healthcare mandates.
Such views have also been reflected inSupreme Courtdecisions issued in recent years by its conservative majority.
Critics of the commission say it embodies a one-sided perspective of Trump’s supporters and is threatening a well-established constitutional separation of church and state, despite the chair’s claims.
A lawsuit by a progressive interreligious coalition argues that the commission fails to comply with federal law requiring advisory panels to feature diverse members and viewpoints.
The lawsuit echoes criticism thatmost commissionersare conservative Christian clerics and commentators; one is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi. The coalition says members have asserted that America is specifically a Judeo-Christian orChristian nationand notes that most commission meetings took place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, an institution with Christian leadership.
Source: Drudge Report
