Thursday, May 4, 2017

Trump signs "religious liberty"E.O.

I have a longer post on this at my blog for those who want to read more. Here's just the beginning ...

Trump has signed an executive order on "religious liberty" as his Religious Right supporters, including the US Bishops, have been urging. Trump tries to link his action to the First Amendment, the Amendment he wants to change so that he can sue the press, but he misreads our Founding Fathers, who were mostly Deists. And he and the Bishops have made up their own definition of religious liberty ... when John Courtney Murray SJ helped Catholic JFK become president and when he championed the concept at Vatican II, religious liberty meant keeping religious out of politics: separation of church and state.

More: Trump’s Religious Liberty Executive Order Is a Triumph of Fake News ... and ... 1,300 Faith Leaders Denounce Trump’s Bigoted Religious Liberty Executive Order ... and ... Trump’s “religious liberty” executive order is meant to legalize anti-LGBT discrimination — and may be unconstitutional

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13 comments:

  1. Anne CMay 4, 2017 at 1:59 PM

    I wonder how many days will pass before this one is challenged in court.

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  2. crystalMay 4, 2017 at 3:11 PM

    The ACLU has vowed to take them to court over this if it means discrimination. Thanks God for the court system!

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  3. tom blackburnMay 4, 2017 at 5:35 PM

    Cardinal Wuerl called down blessings on Our Most Christian President as the Little Sisters of the Poor looked on. I wonder how that played with our Hispanic co-religionists. And if there is anything that would embarrass our annointed leaders.

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  4. crystalMay 4, 2017 at 6:06 PM

    The US Bishops do seem completely oblivious to the stance of most American Catholics.

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  5. Jack RakoskyMay 5, 2017 at 9:03 AM

    I think the IRS regulations are a blessing for Catholic pastors. Since most Catholic parishes are divided among Democrats and Republicans, any endorsement will likely cause a backlash at the collection basket. This will just put more pressure on pastors, and may cause a decline in collections even if they fail to endorse.

    Pastors know well that they can court wealthy Republicans in private (and even wealthy Democrats at the same time). Money is the bottom line for most pastors and bishops.

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    Replies
    1. Katherine NielsenMay 5, 2017 at 10:04 AM

      I don't know that money is the bottom line, but for sure you can't run a parish without it. The pastors I know want to see people in the pews on Sunday (or Saturday night). They pretty much accept that only a third of the households on the books are going to contribute financially. If they get too political from the pulpit, the smart ones know some of those faces in the pews are going to disappear.

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    2. crystalMay 5, 2017 at 11:43 PM

      Money is involved also in that the church gets a lot of government grants and contracts. The church can't get those when it discriminates against citizens because of religious beliefs. Thomas Reese SJ wrote about this - Obama to forbid LGBT discrimination by federal contractors

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  6. Jack RakoskyMay 5, 2017 at 4:48 PM

    "Of course, there were partisans on both sides who proceeded as if the nothingburger were a fully loaded quarter pounder"

    -Mark Silk at Religious News

    http://religionnews.com/2017/05/05/trumps-religious-freedom-nothingburger/

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  7. crystalMay 5, 2017 at 5:30 PM

    Yeah, it was hard to know, before it was actually signed, what it might be like, given Trump's rhetoric. I'm sure the US Bishops are terribly disappointed they still can't freely discriminate against people.

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  8. Anne CMay 6, 2017 at 10:49 AM

    Another summary from the NYT. Apparently this measure was just for show, to the point that the ACLU is not filing a lawsuit.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/us/politics/religious-organizations-executive-order-trump.html

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  9. crystalMay 6, 2017 at 12:31 PM

    While it's true that the EO is not as bad as feared, it's still a negative thing because of "dark money" ...

    "As Laycock explains, as currently drafted, the Johnson Amendment serves an important function, because it currently prevents churches and other 501(c)(3)s from becoming “a huge loophole in the campaign finance laws” that would allow churches to participate more freely in pouring dark money into elections, without any fear of disclosure requirements. All of this comes with the added benefit that donations to churches or 501(c)(3)s are tax-deductible. The electoral consequences of giving special status to church money could be profound."
    Trump’s Churches Order Is a Nonsolution to a Nonproblem—With a Dangerous Side Effect

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  10. crystalMay 6, 2017 at 12:44 PM

    You can read more about the dark money worry here ... How Trump’s Plan to Repeal the Johnson Amendment Could Unleash ‘Super Dark Money’ Into Our Elections

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  11. Stanley KopaczMay 8, 2017 at 9:38 AM

    More dark money. As long as there are many weak minded people who can be swayed by TV commercials and Fox, money will win. Then there's the shallow corporate media.

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