Trump has tried to divert attention from his impeachment and trial by revving up fears that “religious freedom” is under attack in the nation, and he alone will protect it.
This is complete nonsense, but helps to explain why he appointed two new Supreme Court justices who have a history of overturning any efforts to separate church and state or to protect the secular nature of state action. Trump judges can be counted on to allow plaintiffs to discriminate against anyone who offends their religious beliefs. A pending decision by the High Court in the Espinoza case from Montana threatens to abolish state laws that prohibit public funding of religious schools.
Trump held a meeting in the Oval Office with representatives of religious groups who want official endorsement of prayer in the schools, and Trump assured them, as Valerie Strauss wrote in The Answer Sheet, that there is “a growing totalitarian impulse on the far left that seeks to punish, restrict and even prohibit religious expression” and said the steps his administration was taking “to protect the First Amendment right to pray in public schools” were “historic.” Actually, students and anybody else in a public school already have the right to pray in public schools, and his administration’s new guidance changes little from that of earlier administrations.
Valerie Strauss included the transcript of his inflammatory and false statements in her post.
Greene finds it amusing that Trump has inserted himself into two issues–religion and education–in which he literally has no interest at all.
The editorial board of the Los Angeles Times notes that Trump has appealed to evangelicals’ fear that the secular state is persecuting them. It is a divisive and false message.
In an editorial published on January 17, the Times wrote:
Not for the first time, President Trump is trying to score political points with his evangelical supporters by unveiling a “religious freedom” initiative that suggests, cynically, that Christianity in America is under sustained attack and that the federal government must come to its rescue. Needless to say, that is not the case.
The initiative unveiled on Thursday is best seen not as a considered response to a real problem but as a political statement in which the president is aligning himself with Christian conservatives whose support could be essential to his 2020 reelection. Its centerpiece is a “guidance” letter from the Department of Education reminding public schools that they must certify that they allow students to engage in “constitutionally protected prayer.” That’s a reference to voluntary prayer, not the official prayers that were outlawed by the Supreme Court in the 1960s.
In other words, the heart of this initiative is a reaffirmation of existing law. Trump isn’t the first president to put schools on notice that they must respect religious expression by their students. Substantially similar guidance was issued by the Clinton administration in 1995. But Trump is a past master of repackaging existing law involving religious freedom to make it appear that he is delivering to his religious supporters.
Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, took issue with Trump’s efforts to politicize religious issues.
When President Donald Trump leaked, at a rally for evangelical supporters in Florida on Jan. 3, that his administration would issue guidance about prayer in public schools, he started a mini-firestorm, and not just among the fired-up crowd.
When the guidance was released on Thursday (Jan. 16), however, it turned out to be hardly worth the excitement. According to long-settled legal and constitutional protections for religious expression in the public schools, public school students are free to pray, wear religious clothing and accessories and talk about their beliefs. Religious groups can meet on school grounds, and teachers can teach about religion as an academic subject. Religious liberty, in short, is already a treasured value in our nation’s public schools.
So why are the president and White House staffers making inflammatory and misleading statements, claiming our constitutional rights are under attack?
It could be that the administration simply wanted to remind public schools of their constitutional duties. But some comments officials made before and in their announcement of the guidance vastly overstated the supposed problem and echoed the claims of Christian nationalism, a dangerous movement that harms both Christianity and the United States by implying that to be a good American, one must be Christian…
For decades, public schools across the nation have modeled how religiously diverse populations can build relationships of trust and care, respecting the unique role that religion plays in people’s lives. Like our neighbors of all faiths, we are empowered by the First Amendment to live our beliefs in the public square, which includes the public school….
The law cannot anticipate the nuances of every situation that might arise at a given school, and sometimes a misunderstanding or misrepresented incident spurs a call to “bring back prayer” to our schools. In most cases, these misunderstandings simply create an opportunity to reaffirm commonsense guidance and constitutional principles that support voluntary, student-led religious exercise.
But using any incident to institute state-sanctioned prayer, written and delivered by school officials, should be deeply concerning for all Christians. For a Baptist, as I am, voluntary prayer is an important part of my religious practice, and it has been since I was a student in Texas public schools. Why should government schools have a say in how and whether our children pray?
Importantly, ensuring faith freedom for all isn’t only an issue of concern for Christians. If Christian nationalists were able to realize their goal and prioritize Christianity over other traditions in public schools, it is religious minorities who will suffer the most. In our religiously diverse society, why should our schools favor Baptists over Buddhists, Anglicans over atheists, or Methodists over Muslims.
Instead of demanding that a distorted vision of state-sanctioned Christianity be upheld by public schools, Trump should celebrate what public schools already are: a place where religious liberty ensures that Americans can work and learn together across lines of religious difference.
To guarantee religious freedom for students of all faiths and nonreligious students, we must embrace our nation’s constitutional vision that has served us well and push back against the dangerous influence of Christian nationalism.
Trump learned a lot reading “Two Corinthians.” LOL.
Oh. OK. Sorry, a correction: he can’t read.
“So why are the president and White House staffers making inflammatory and misleading statements, claiming our constitutional rights are under attack?”
Trump does nothing but lie. He makes up problems and then declares that ONLY he can fix everything.
For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I’m proud to be a Christian, and as president, I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now.
—-Donald Trump
Why do I have to repent, why do I have to ask for forgiveness if [I’m] not making mistakes?
—Trump
I support these two organizations which fight for continued separation of church and state:
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
https://www.au.org/
American Civil Liberties Union
https://action.aclu.org/content/giving-american-civil-liberties-union-and-american-civil-liberties-union-foundation-what?redirect=node/4577
I see the ACLU is getting involved in some of the voucher for religious school cases. They are also helping in cases of classified students that are not receiving services in charter schools.
Trump is supported by such televangelist hustlers, scam artists, money grubbers and phonies as Jim Bakker (ex-con con) and Paula White. White became chair of the evangelical advisory board in Donald Trump’s administration. She delivered the invocation at his inauguration, on January 20, 2017. She’s in the White House and on the federal payroll. You cannot make this stuff up.
The conservative Evangelicals are continually bleeding members from the flock as the teens grow up, go to college, move around and find that there is more to life than the inside of the church walls and some empty fire and brimstone sermons about burning in Hell. This is the Evangelical’s Hail Mary pass that likely won’t make it into the end zone or even advance the play. On another note, my 2nd child attends a private Catholic HS and he has the right NOT to pray, but to sit respectfully and silently while/if others do. The school makes it a point in their advertising that you don’t need to be Catholic to attend their school.
There’s nothing liberal about the freedom not to pray along in the priv Catholic sch, it’s just something they do because they plump their enrollment with non-Catholics.
OTOH, in public schools since the 1960’s, there are no situations where non-Christian students feel pressured to join another religion’s prayer in order not to stick out and brand themselves as different/ minority. Before that law, at schoolday typically beginning with school-led Lord’s Prayer, Catholic children too had to either identify themselves, or mouth along with the ending doxology.
From PEW Forum: Political ideology by religious group
44% of Buddhists in America are liberals
22% of Catholics are liberals
13% of Evangelical Protestants are liberals …
This PEW study lists 12 religious traditions showing the ratio of conservatives, moderates, liberals and those that do not know for each religious or spiritual group.
https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/political-ideology/
What a weird & interesting lineup, thanks for the link!
I wonder why the % is so low for Catholics? Could it be that their opinions on abortion, birth control, divorce and LGBQT rights has caused people to leave the flock? I know many Catholics (in name only) that no longer practice their religion and choose to identify with other more liberal religious groups.
A trial with no witnesses? McConnell has already determined the outcome. Does Trump have something over McConnell or is he just stupid? Does Pence possess a brain?
……………………..
Lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Trump’s impeachment defense team, said Sunday there will be no need to call witnesses during the Senate trial if his legal arguments are successful.
There are currently 53 Republicans in the Senate, meaning McConnell can execute his plan for a speedy trial as long as the caucus stays united.
Vice President Mike Pence urged Senate Democrats to break ranks and “stand up against” the articles of impeachment in a Wall Street Journal op-ed comparing the Senate trial of President Donald Trump to President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial in 1868.
“The question naturally arises: Who, among the Senate Democrats, will stand up to the passions of their party this time? Who will stand up against ‘legislative mob rule’ and for the rule of law? Who will be the 2020 Profile in Courage?” Pence wrote in the op-ed.
A true profile in courage, he said, “would be a Senate Democrat willing to stand up and reject a partisan impeachment passed by the Democrat-controlled House.”
What does Trump and dysentery have in common? very loose lips
Trump will be forever known as the most divisive president in history, as well as corrupt, ignorant, and just plain disgusting as an individual. History will not treat him or his family well. I only hope our Republic can survive the turmoil and strife that is in our immediate future because of his rhetoric and ignorant followers.
Trump. Religious. Oh, Lord. Now THAT is funny.
I especially like the photos of him when the preachers are laying their hands on him and praying with him. He looks like he’s taking a nap instead of reflecting on his sins…and sometimes he looks like he is trying to hold back laughter.
lol yes
Those photos of Trump and the preachers crack me up. OK. Nadir of Western Civilization reached.
I often think of the actions used to expel demons…
It depends on the religion. Religions can be anything. For instance, Theistic Satanism.
Or, how about the Church of Greed?
This helps explain why I do not trust religions.
Yes, Trump has one god, Mammon.
I had a friend a long time ago who grew up in Lynchburg, VA. He described the climate of the religious institutions as the essence of cooperation, with a feeling of good will that permeated not just the churches but the whole town. Then Jerry Falwell came in. He recalled how Falwell needed church members for his own church, so he started inventing conflicts that split not just church members, but whole churches and people in the town. Falwell saw his personal power increase at the expense of peace and harmony.
Such are human beings. They are more inclined to become alarmed than to perceive a positive circumstance with a need for addressing problems logically. Our human tendancy kicks in and some of us start to feel that the sky is falling. Sounds like the Trump playbook. Sounds like Nation At Risk. Sounds like all the pundits out there. They make their living carping about perceived threats to their civil liberties and ignoring those who really need to worry about their sons spending time I jail.
Hitler came to power by convincing the Germans that there was a plot against them. All the time he was the plot.
“Falwell saw his personal power increase at the expense of peace and harmony.”…..Falwell saw his bank account increase and to hell with peace and harmony. How people don’t see this charade, I will never know?
Hello, friends.
The article below is unrelated to this post about Trump (except that he appointed so many U.S. Supreme Court justices), but I wanted to share some important news from Montana, news that may affect the whole nation, as far as the funding of religious schools. This article is by Gail Schontzler, an experienced reporter for the Bozeman (Montana) Daily Chronicle:
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/constitutional-showdown-montana-school-choice-case-heads-to-u-s/article_e75727cf-8e45-5adc-981e-ab5435d353ec.html
text from end of the article:
“Weingarten said it was only when Eric Feaver, president of the Montana Federation of Public Employees, brought the Espinoza case to national union leaders’ attention that “we realized we have a four-alarm fire.”
The entire Montana public school community opposes the Espinoza case, Feaver said, from rural schools to professional associations to the Montana School Boards Association. They oppose anything that would erode financial support for public schools, he said.
“I’m sorry this is before the Supreme Court,” Feaver said. “It’s embarrassing this is before the Supreme Court.”
Montana is a poor state, Feaver said, but it believes we have an obligation to provide a free quality education “for all our kids.” “
It’s theocracy in plain sight. Read Udi Greenberg’s article in the Journal of the History of Ideas (July, 2018) “Catholics…”
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops state at their site that they have been strong supporters of parental school choice since the beginning. State Catholic Conferences are political machines eroding separation of church and state e.g. Tennessee’s. The alliance of evangelicals and Catholics is evident in the Manhattan Declaration.
The Massachusetts Catholic Conference spells out at its site, its prejudice against public schools.The Knights of Columbus are led by a former Republican operative and legislative aide to Jesse Helms.
When I moved back to Tennessee from North Carolina, I kept my registration in NC so I could vote for Jesse Helms’ opponent. He was always driving wedges in the electorate to give himself power. Sound familiar? He was also very protestant. Ironic.
If anyone wants to know what the future will be if the Catholics and Trumps faux evangelicals get what they want, all we have to do is look at what happened to Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire and before the Renaissance. Crusades and inquisitions, anyone? Then there will be the religious wars between The Chosen One’s faux religious armies, and all the rest of the religious that reject him as The Chosen One.
Oligarchs masquerading as libertarians are using religion to keep Republicans in power. Greenberg makes the point that the Catholic Church abandoned the pluralism, modernism and acceptance of U.S. democracy that described the religion in the 60’s and 70’s.
The progress that America achieved is now at risk.
Thank you for sharing. I was disappointed that your governor had to drop out of the race. Steve Bullock was my first choice….I even donated to his campaign. In addition to other qualities, he seemed to understand education issues.
The “angry base” has a face in ads created by a Republican super pac.
The face is, ” Stacy, local mom, wife, teacher”. The blonde, long-haired Stacy is local to N.Y., N.M., N.J., PA., Iowa, Nev. and Utah.
Paying taxes in all of those states?
Well, the email was obviously typed in there by mistake. Not that it is a secret. Send money.
So, Jeffrey Epstein was fabulously wealthy even though he was a terrible stock trader (supposedly his business). It seems that he was holding parties, filming and/or photographing these, and then blackmailing many of the wealthiest, most powerful people in the world. U.S. authorities have by now raided all his homes. Where are the films and photos?
Corruption, thorough-going corruption, at the highest levels.
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” –Orwell, 1984
Ofc, Trump kinda knew the guy but never liked him. And he didn’t know who Lev Parnas was either.
“Remember, what you’re seeing and reading is not what’s happening.” –Donald (J for Jabba) the Trump
We are now a Banana Republic. Thorough-going criminal rule at the top.
It’s worth reflecting on what that term Banana Republic means. There is, of course, an American clothing chain called Banana Republic.
Banana Republics were countries in Central America with corrupt governments that allowed US companies like United Fruit and Standard Fruit and Cuyamel to take over most of the land and convert it to banana plantations, driving out small farmers and the cultivation of crops for local use and turning the local people into near-slave laborers working under brutal conditions for next to nothing in order to survive (barely). In the 1930s, bananas in the US cost ONE TENTH what apples did because of this exploitation. Americans got cheap bananas and the Marx Brothers singing “Yes, we have no bananas,” and ordinary people in Central America got brutal subsistence living.
Naming a clothing company Banana Republic is akin to naming one Buchenwald because it sells clothes from Germany. (Buchenwald was one of the death camps located within the Nazi German state.) So American that a company would do that and that it wouldn’t bother anyone.
This comment should be a Blog Post so it could be Reblogged far and wide.
Oops. It wasn’t the Marx Brothers (though they did reference this song in at least one movie). The song was recorded by Billy Jones, Billy Murray, Arthur Hall, Irving Kaufman, and others.
Perhaps Drumpf derives this power to protect Christians from that magic orb he molested in Saudi Arabia…
You can say many things about Trump, whether good or bad, but I don’t think anyone could say he was a Christian, in the sense of embodying the virtues of love, charity, humility, kindness, compassion, and care for strangers.
That doesn’t matter to the 80% of evangelicals and 60% of white Catholics who voted for Trump, knowing he had children with 3 different women, fooled around on an ex-wife without repentance, cheated creditors, cheated Trump U. students and his charity and said he could get get away with murder on 5th Avenue.
But, it is the violation of the Constitution and the threat he poses to the United States that should result in his removal from office. If polled, how many Knights of Columbus would agree, given that they are led by a former Republican operative and legislative aide to Jesse Helms?
Is there any Protestant who doesn’t know that the book is referred to as “Second Corinthians,” not as “Two Corinthians”? Trump clearly has not exemplified Christian values in his life. Many former staff members have reported him making snide comments about Mike Pence’s and Jeff Sessions’s religiosity. The private man, Trump, thinks of religion as basically a joke, but he’s found it to be VERY USEFUL.
“. A pending decision by the High Court in the Espinoza case from Montana threatens to abolish state laws that prohibit public funding of religious schools.”
I’d like to hear that, say, California say “If this passes, we separate from the Union” and see what happens.
Here is a “religious freedom” bill that just waits for the Governor’s signature. It indicates that other states already passed similar bills, hence I smell ALEC’s dirty hands.
(Highlights from me)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee lawmakers passed a controversial measure this week that protects religious adoption agencies if they choose to discriminate against same-sex couples.
The bill declares that no licensed adoption agency would be required to participate in a child placement if doing so would “violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.”
It also prohibits the state from denying an agency’s license or grant application for public funds because of the group’s refusal to place a child with a family based on religious objections. The adoption agency would also be protected from lawsuits for such a refusal.
The state Senate passed the bill 20-6, with five Republican members declining to vote on the measure, including Lt. Gov. Randy McNally.
**The House passed the bill in April, and eight other states around the country have passed similar legislation. ** The bill, which never made its way to the Senate floor in 2019, will now head to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/15/tennessee-gay-adoption-bill-allowing-agencies-discriminate-passes/4483527002/
Máté Wierdl: At my age, I should no longer be shocked at the ignorance and hatred that is now flourishing in this country. Trump has allowed this hatred to come out from under rocks and be displayed with honor.
What kind of ‘religion’ hates people? Trump’s fake religion also hates browns, blacks, Muslims, women and the poor.
1 John 4:8 ESV / 257 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Mark 12:31 ESV / 216 ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
1 John 4:19 ESV / 76 We love because he first loved us.
ALEC’s founder, Paul Weyrich, identified himself as a member of a Catholic church. He left a conservative Catholic church to attend one that was more conservative. At Theocracy Watch, the Weyrich training manual that describes the nefarious intent of parallel schools, is posted. The Koch’s funded Weyrich’s activities.
Instead of choice, it’s now freedom which will warm our hearts and souls. Here is Betsy on ALECTV about education freedom
It’s the expected tactic. A legitimate indictment is leveled against them by their opponents which they, then, contort. They charge the opponent, with the same offense.
The politicians understand the fraud but the church sheeple believe that denying gay people the right to adopt, women the right to D&C’s and to birth control, the majority with the right to refuse to support their churches, etc. is infringing on them because that is what they are told to believe. The USCCB claimed the value of their schools was preserving civic order. Leaders of authoritarian religions are not a tolerant group. By civic order, they mean adherence to the theocratic rule of privileged, white men. Forty percent of American men and women belong to authoritarian religions
Won’t people’s heads explode when Muslim schools start seeking public funds? How can he exclude the religions he doesn’t like?
Trump tries with some success to exclude races that he dislikes from achieving U.S. Citizenship (legality not withstanding).
The politicians attached to the political machine of the evangelicals and, to state Catholic Conferences may have some ideas up their sleeves relative to other religions.
Trump did not mark MLK Day today in any way, shape, manner, or fashion.
His base might object.
He is leaving tonight for Davos, where he can embarrass us again on an international stage.
Catholic convert and Harvard Constitutional law professor Adrian Vermuele is the subject of an article, “There is no middle way between atheism and Catholicism.” His controversial views about immigration and religion are worth a read. Princeton’s professor of jurisprudence, Robert P. George (Catholic) has outsized influence in D.C.
To your point, Laura, the State Capitol grounds in Florida now have winter holiday exhibits by Christians (nativity scene) and SATANISTS. What happens when the Church of Satan or the Pastafarians or the Church of Bob (yes, there is such a thing) or the Church of the Dude applies for public funds to operate schools? Ridiculous.
Laura G., you are so right. The evangelicals will not be happy to see that government funds are paying for madrassas, yeshivas, and varieties of religious schools you never heard of.
Who will adjudicate what is a religion and what is not?
Free government money–come and get it!
Those Christians who insist on prayer in school should refer to Matthew chapter 6 verse 5 where Jesus calls those who pray in public, hypocrites. For those of other religions, be prepared to be drowned out by the hypocrites.
Students can always pray, in Jesus words “in the closet” in school and anywhere else. All prayer in school is is a hypocritical power play having nothing to do with faith.
Why Does America Hate Its Children?..Paul Krugman
Jan. 16, 2020
Reasons child care should be a key election issue.
…Most advanced countries devote substantial sums to benefits for families with children; in Europe these benefits average between 2 and 3 percent of G.D.P. The corresponding number for the United States is 0.6 percent of G.D.P.
Even where the United States does help children, the quality of that help tends to be poor. There have been many comparisons between French and American school lunches: French schoolchildren are taught to eat healthy meals; American children are basically treated as a disposal site for farm surpluses…
What this means is that we’ve established a basically vicious system under which children can’t get the help they need unless their parents find jobs that don’t exist. And a growing body of evidence says that this system is destructive as well as cruel.
Multiple studies have found that safety-net programs for children have big long-term consequences. Children who receive adequate nutrition and health care grow up to become healthier, more productive adults. And in addition to the humanitarian side of these benefits, there’s a monetary payoff: Healthier adults are less likely to need public aid and are likely to pay more in taxes.
It’s probably too much to claim that helping children pays for itself. But it surely comes a lot closer to doing so than tax cuts for the rich.
Children have historically been viewed differently by modern people and by religious conservatives. Contrast the timing when public schools stopped corporal punishment with that of the religious schools.
Max Eden addressed the “rod” in his 2018 article of praise for Catholic schools, “Catholic Schools and Truth Decay”, which is posted at the Koch-linked Manhattan Institute.
These people believe that more guns makes America safer. Statistics prove otherwise. How does one reach people like this?
………………………………….
The Atlantic: Photos From the Pro-gun Rally in Virginia
Thousands of gun-rights activists took part in a peaceful rally on Lobby Day, today, in Richmond, Virginia. Demonstrators from Virginia and from out of state gathered around the state capitol to protest gun-control legislation being pushed by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and other Democratic state legislators, such as universal background checks and a military-style-weapons ban. Although many participants showed up armed, no arrests were reported.
Thousands gathered around Virginia’s state capitol to protest proposed gun-control laws.
Read this: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/01/photos-gun-rally-virginia/605230/?utm_source=atl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share
This is off topic, but one that should be noted. The US is getting closer to “S*itHole” [third world] country every year that the GOP and Trump are in charge.
The US ranked 35th on this index.
…………………………
These are the best citizenships to have around the world
JAMES GABRIEL MARTIN
Lonely Planet Writer
8 JANUARY 2020
The index took different factors into consideration, including passport mobility, human rights, women’s rights, parental leave, political democracy, equal marriage rights, property rights and healthcare performance. Each country was given a score out of five in each category before a total was added up.
Ranking as the best citizenship in the world was Iceland, thanks to the Nordic country’s efforts to provide benefits to its people. To have Icelandic citizenship means new fathers can take 12 weeks paid parental leave when a child is born, while same-sex couples can legally be married within the country. It also ranked the highest for women’s rights, as one of only seven countries to have closed at least 80% of the gender pay gap. Iceland also scored high (second only to Norway) in the political democracy category…
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/best-citizenship-global-study