Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday establishing the Religious Liberty Commission, a decree enacting “historic and robust protections for religious liberty” into federal law.
The president issued the order during a National Day of Prayer event in the White House Rose Garden. He said that his new statute would protect the country’s religious liberty from federal, state, and local threats.
The new commission is tasked with establishing reports on current threats to religious freedom, while issuing guidance on celebrating and increasing “America’s peaceful religious pluralism.”
The order also aimed to increase parental rights in religious education, provide freedom of speech for religious purposes, halt the reported de-banking of religious groups, and enforce Americans’ rights to exercise their faith without fear of governmental censorship or retaliation.
The president also tapped Texas GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson to lead the organization.
Patrick will serve as chairman, and Carson is expected to serve as vice chair, according to JustTheNews.
Television host Dr. Phil McGraw, Pastor Franklin Graham, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bishop Robert Barron, former Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean Boller, author and Ethics and Public Policy Center President Ryan Anderson, attorney Allyson Ho, radio host Eric Metaxas, First Liberty Institute CEO Kelly Shackelford, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik and Pastor Paula White are also serving on the commission.