Religious Freedom is an overlooked issue that is at stake in the 2020 Presidential Election. While Donald Trump has made huge advancements in the area of Religious Freedom during his first presidential term, the Biden-Harris ticket threatens our First Amendment rights in the United States of America.
Presidential hopeful Joe Biden claims his politics and Catholic faith “coincide” despite his radical pro-abortion and anti-religious freedom policies. What are the facts? Biden has promised that if elected, he would enact the “Equality Act” within his first 100 days in office. The “Equality Act” would add anti-discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity to existing protections for race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and religion in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit, and the jury system. Despite its name, this act would actually further inequality by penalizing institutions and everyday Americans on their beliefs about biological sex and marriage. The “Equality Act” would threaten citizens’ free speech and conscience, thus threatening the free exercise of Religious Freedom.
In addition, the “Equality Act” would exempt itself from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which “prohibits any agency, department, or official of the United States or any the government from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion.” In short, Joe Biden’s commitment to enacting the so-called “Equality Act” would have devastating consequences for Religious Liberties in America.
On the contrary, President Trump has been a champion for Religious Freedom since he took office in 2016. He has consistently made a commitment and taken strong action to protect and advance Religious Liberties in the United States and abroad.
In an executive order issued on May 4th, 2017, the President signed off to greatly enhance religious freedom and freedom of speech; taking action to ensure that religious institutions may freely exercise their First Amendment right to support and advocate for candidates and causes in line with their values; and ensuring that religious Americans and their organizations, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, would not be forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.
This Executive Order requires agencies to “vigorously enforce Federal law’s robust protections for religious freedom… to the greatest extent practicable and to the extent permitted by law.” They are ordered to “respect and protect the freedom of persons and organizations to engage in religious and political speech.”
President Trump has also made a commitment to safeguarding the Right to Religious Freedom in schools by protecting students’ constitutional right to pray. The listed orders and commitments made by President Trump are only two examples of his consistency in making Religious Freedom a priority.
It is clear that Joe Biden threatens the First Amendment Rights of every American citizen, and the crucial issue of Religious Freedom should not be overlooked in this election.
“Our Founders understood that no right is more fundamental to a peaceful, prosperous, and virtuous society than the right to follow one’s religious convictions,” President Donald Trump said at the United Nations event on Religious Freedom.
Without a doubt, if Americans want to keep their First Amendment rights that are the bedrock of the nation, there is only one candidate that will protect and defend their right to Religious Freedom: Donald J. Trump.
