The Trump administration is as soon as once more blurring the road between church and state—this time by turning the State Division right into a Christian grievance hotline.
In keeping with Politico, division workers have been instructed to report their colleagues for any perceived “anti-Christian bias” as a part of a sweeping new initiative tied to an govt order geared toward “protecting” Christian federal employees. The division even created a proper tip kind, encouraging workers to snitch on each other anonymously.
The directions are clear: Give names, dates, and places of the alleged bias, with a job pressure set to fulfill on April 22 to evaluation the “evidence.” The aim? To gather examples of spiritual discrimination below the Biden administration, as a result of nothing says “freedom of religion” fairly like your coworkers quietly documenting your each transfer for a federal job pressure.
In keeping with The Guardian, examples of “bias” embody “mistreatment for opposing displays of flags, banners or other paraphernalia,” a not-so-subtle reference to Satisfaction flags at U.S. embassies. Workers are additionally inspired to report repercussions for refusing to take part in occasions that “promote themes inconsistent with or hostile to one’s religious beliefs.”
The directive was despatched to U.S. embassies worldwide below Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s title—a curious transfer, on condition that Rubio has reportedly clashed with different Trump officers, notably co-president Elon Musk. He additionally bought warmth for not firing sufficient State Division workers whereas Musk hacked away at the remainder of the federal workforce. This newest stunt might be Rubio’s try at clawing again favor in Trumpland.
The tip kind isn’t refined, and neither is the agenda. As soon as tasked with selling democracy overseas, the State Division now moonlights as a surveillance arm of President Donald Trump’s evangelical safety racket.
Trump, for his half, has made it abundantly clear that he solely cares about defending one faith. In March, he accused Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer of “not being Jewish anymore,” saying he had “become a Palestinian.” It was a part of a protracted sample of alienating Jews, Muslims, and different non secular minorities whereas positioning Christians as a persecuted class in want of federal safeguards.
Christian nationalism is clearly ascendant in Trump’s America, however only a few People subscribe to that ideology. A February Pew Analysis Middle survey discovered that solely 18% of adults say being Christian is “very important” to being American. Whereas 58% of U.S. adults establish as Christian, most don’t fall into the Christian nationalist camp, so this effort to “protect” them appears to be like extra like political theater than critical coverage.
Nonetheless, Trump’s February govt order launched a “task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias,” regardless of Christian conservatives already holding huge sway in authorities. The State Division initiative looks as if simply one other transfer to pander to the bottom.
The Interfaith Alliance informed Politico that it’s frightened the initiative could declare to fight anti-Christian stigma—particularly towards Catholics—however in actuality, “it will weaponize a narrow understanding of religious freedom to legitimize discrimination against marginalized groups like the LGBTQ community.”
One State Division official, in the meantime, informed Politico the entire thing felt “very ‘Handmaid’s Tale’-esque.”
They usually’re not fallacious. This isn’t about non secular liberty; it’s about weaponizing faith to police speech, silence dissent, and entrench Trump’s tradition conflict politics deeper into the federal paperwork.
