Religious Liberty on the Offensive as Trump Declares War on Anti-Christian Bias
Will His Foreign Policy Mirror Pro-Christian Values?
Is Trump reframing America’s commitment to Christianity?
On Thursday, February 6, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias.” This order establishes a task force, led by newly-confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi, with a mandate to address and investigate alleged anti-Christian bias within the federal government. The task force is charged with identifying and correcting instances of discrimination, prosecuting anti-Christian violence, and advocating for the interests of Christian Americans in federal policies and institutions. Trump has vowed to:
“move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide.”
Trumpeted as a victory for religious liberty, this order is seen as a response to what Trump described as the imposition of radical leftist ideologies and the unfair treatment of Christians, particularly amidst reports of the FBI targeting churches under the previous administration. He also accused the Biden administration of engaging in an "egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses."
Trump, speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast yesterday, specifically mentioned the Department of Justice bringing federal criminal charges against several peaceful pro-life Christians for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities and referenced the sentencing of Paulette Harlow, an anti-abortion activist who was given a prison sentence for obstructing access to an abortion clinic.
Trump claimed that the Justice Department, IRS, and FBI were major contributors to what he described as religious persecution, echoing conservative assertions that these agencies were used to advance a biased agenda against conservative Christians under the Biden administration. The order also shifts U.S. domestic policy toward stronger protection of evangelical groups, Trump’s most loyal political base.
But could Trump’s foreign policy equally be affected by his pro-Christian position?