United States President Donald Trump is known to be not very keen on certain rights. He is known to be racist based on some incidents during his campaign period, he is also known to be a huge fan of social media and the National Rifle Association. Trump has been involved in a lot of controversies, which is why people were pretty surprised when the official website of the White House announced that Trump signed the presidential executive order for the religious freedom, continue reading to find out more about it.
People protesting about religious freedom
Trump’s Executive Order
Last Thursday, on the National Day of Prayer, Trump has decided to sign the executive order for the protection of religious freedom. According to the statement made by Trump, it is his duty as the president basically protect the religious freedom. This was even agreed on by Vice President Mike Pence who said that Americans have always had prayers in mind, will definitely like the newly signed executive order. He even mentioned how the best words he has ever heard the president say is that “I am praying for you”.
This executive order basically allows people to practice their own religious beliefs freely. This would also allow a faith-based organization to have an access to government funds whichever religion they belong to. This executive order also pushes the Treasury Department to see religious groups fairly especially when it comes to different political issues. The president indicated that the Department of Treasury must not take any sort of adverse action just because of what they have stated.
A lot of leaders of different Christian churches are indeed very glad about this executive order. This is because it would allow them to work closely with the members of their respective churches. According to Evangelist Franklin Graham, he is incredibly thankful because the country has managed to find a president who would actually pay attention to the significance of religious freedom in the United States.
He is grateful for the fact that Trump recognized how faith is essential to the nation. According to the spokesman of Trump’s group of faith advisors, Johnnie Moore, it is indeed good for the country that Trump’s actually prioritized the religious freedom. Moore also mentioned how this particular executive order is the president’s way of letting the nation know how important faith is to him. The Liberty of expressing one’s faith is something that everyone must have. It is also a way for the government to connect even more with the different religious communities in the country.
Religious Freedom = LGBT Discrimination
It may seem such a great value of courage when the president actually decided to sign the executive order. However, it may not be such a good news to everyone, just like those who belong to the LGBT community. According to the director of Lambda Legal which is a Constitutional Litigation for the LGBT legal advocacy group, Camilla Taylor, this executive order actually bothered a lot of members of the LGBT since it may seem like it is a nice thing but it could actually serve as an encouragement to discriminate those who belong to the third gender.
She said that people may technically use this as a weapon towards the LGBT community and they wished that it was cleared up that religious freedom does not mean that people would then be able to exercise their right to discriminate. The president of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Rachel Laser, agrees with the fact that this may actually be used by those who are not very keen on the idea of people choosing to be with the same gender as them. She even referred to it as something Trump would definitely do to redefine religious freedom.
The religious freedom that Trump just signed also contradicts what he has done back when he banned Muslims to protect the country from terrorist attack. Experts say that hasty generalization is what occurred and this might also be a way of the president moving on from what has happened. More than 90 percent of Americans actually believe that religion is something that is very important. There are a lot of people that even think religion can conspire as a fundamental human right regardless of which religious organization they are a part of.