Members include religious leaders, legal experts, and public figures, including Dr. Ben Carson.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission to “safeguard and promote America’s founding principle of religious freedom,” according to the White House.
“Americans need to be reacquainted with our nation’s superb experiment in religious freedom in order to preserve it against emerging threats,” Trump’s executive order reads.
The May 1 order directed the commission to create a comprehensive report about the nation’s history of religious liberty. The group will also outline threats to that liberty and create recommendations on how to protect religious freedoms.
“We’re bringing religion back to our country,” Trump said during the event. “It’s a big deal.”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a statement on May 1 saying he was honored to be named chairman of the commission.
“We will carry out the president’s important mission to preserve and strengthen religious liberty in our country,” Patrick said. “I thank President Trump for his steadfast commitment to ensuring our nation returns to our founding principles of faith and religious liberty.”
Members of the commission include religious leaders, legal experts, and public figures, including Dr. Ben Carson as the vice chair. Carson was secretary of Housing and Urban Development during Trump’s first term.
The order’s fact sheet stated that the key focus areas include parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections, attacks on houses of worship, free speech for religious entities, and institutional autonomy.
The commission has also been asked to consider specific topics such as vaccine mandates and voluntary prayer in public schools.
Previous Efforts
A February executive order established the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, which was formed to end the alleged weaponization of government and unlawful conduct targeting Christians.
The task force had its first meeting on April 22, hosted by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The group included a number of Cabinet members, and each of the speakers highlighted cases within their agencies where they believe the Biden administration targeted Christians for their religious beliefs.
