Reuters, Washington :
US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order on religious liberties designed to ease a ban on political activity by churches and other tax-exempt institutions.
The order also mandates regulatory relief to religious employers that object to contraception, such as Little Sisters of the Poor.
It does not include provisions to allow government agencies and businesses to deny services to gay people in the name of religious freedom, as was feared by some civil liberties and gay rights groups.
The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement it would file a lawsuit challenging Trump’s order.
Trump, addressing religious leaders in a signing ceremony at the White House, said: “We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced any more”. “No one should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors,” he said. Trump’s order directs the Internal Revenue Service to “alleviate the burden of the Johnson Amendment,” the White House said in reference to a 1954 law sponsored by Lyndon Johnson, then a Texas senator who later became president.
Under the tax code, organizations that enjoy tax-free status, such as churches, are prohibited from participating in a political campaign or supporting any one candidate for elective office. This includes a ban on making financial contributions to campaigns and candidates, but the law does allow certain non-partisan political activity such as voter registration or get-out-the-vote drives.
Trump would need Congress to rescind the Johnson Amendment, but he can instruct his administration not to enforce it through executive order.
More than 1,000 faith leaders have signed a letter condemning Donald Trump’s anticipated executive order on “religious liberty”. The President is expected to enact a new law this week which would protect individuals and organisations that discriminate against LGBTQ people on religious grounds.
In an open letter published independently online, 1,300 religious leaders called on Mr Trump to abandon the bill, saying it would turn freedom “into a weapon to discriminate against broad swath[e]s of the nation”.
Although a final version of the order has not yet been published, a draft leaked to the Nation in February suggested conservative Christians could legally deny LGBTQ people goods and services under the new law. White House officials confirmed some of the contents of the draft to Politico this week.
Faith leaders pointed out that religious freedom is already protected by the constitution and existing law; rather than enhancing this, the draft executive order privileges one religious perspective above all others.
“Although it purports to strengthen religious freedom, what this order would actually do is misuse this freedom, turning it into a weapon to discriminate against broad swath[e]s of our nation, including LGBTQ people, women, and children in foster care,” the letter says.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order on religious liberties designed to ease a ban on political activity by churches and other tax-exempt institutions.
The order also mandates regulatory relief to religious employers that object to contraception, such as Little Sisters of the Poor.
It does not include provisions to allow government agencies and businesses to deny services to gay people in the name of religious freedom, as was feared by some civil liberties and gay rights groups.
The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement it would file a lawsuit challenging Trump’s order.
Trump, addressing religious leaders in a signing ceremony at the White House, said: “We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced any more”. “No one should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors,” he said. Trump’s order directs the Internal Revenue Service to “alleviate the burden of the Johnson Amendment,” the White House said in reference to a 1954 law sponsored by Lyndon Johnson, then a Texas senator who later became president.
Under the tax code, organizations that enjoy tax-free status, such as churches, are prohibited from participating in a political campaign or supporting any one candidate for elective office. This includes a ban on making financial contributions to campaigns and candidates, but the law does allow certain non-partisan political activity such as voter registration or get-out-the-vote drives.
Trump would need Congress to rescind the Johnson Amendment, but he can instruct his administration not to enforce it through executive order.
More than 1,000 faith leaders have signed a letter condemning Donald Trump’s anticipated executive order on “religious liberty”. The President is expected to enact a new law this week which would protect individuals and organisations that discriminate against LGBTQ people on religious grounds.
In an open letter published independently online, 1,300 religious leaders called on Mr Trump to abandon the bill, saying it would turn freedom “into a weapon to discriminate against broad swath[e]s of the nation”.
Although a final version of the order has not yet been published, a draft leaked to the Nation in February suggested conservative Christians could legally deny LGBTQ people goods and services under the new law. White House officials confirmed some of the contents of the draft to Politico this week.
Faith leaders pointed out that religious freedom is already protected by the constitution and existing law; rather than enhancing this, the draft executive order privileges one religious perspective above all others.
“Although it purports to strengthen religious freedom, what this order would actually do is misuse this freedom, turning it into a weapon to discriminate against broad swath[e]s of our nation, including LGBTQ people, women, and children in foster care,” the letter says.
