“The Trump administration took aim at the separation of church and state Friday, issuing a draft report from the president’s Religious Liberty Commission that says the separation concept is a legal error and that Americans should view religion as an ‘essential support’ and always remember ‘the Creator who made us and bestows our rights,'” the Washington Post reports.
PBS: Trump receives report from Religious Liberty Commission in the Oval Office.
“The state education board in Texas approved a required reading list for K-12 students on Friday that includes several Bible passages — part of a wider state push from the right to include Christian teachings in the classroom,” NOTUS reports.
Vice President JD Vance says in his new book that his meeting last year with Vatican diplomats in Rome was “unsettling” as they uttered what he describes as “trite platitudes” and “clichés,” adding that he preferred the direct rebukes offered by Pope Francis, the Washington Post reports.
New York Magazine: “One of the problems with abandoning the separation of church and state, as Christian nationalists like Pete Hegseth are attempting to do, is that it puts government in the position of adjudicating the legitimacy of various religions. It can be tricky. Hegseth has inaugurated unprecedented monthly worship services at the Pentagon, and presumably he makes the call as to who officiates.”
“These aren’t open to the public, but at least two services have been presided over by ministers of the Defense secretary’s own ultra-conservative, neo-Calvinist Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches denomination, which was founded by the very controversial Rev. Doug Wilson of ‘men should have the vote for their families’ fame.”
“At least attendance at those services is voluntary. But now Hegseth’s religious views are impacting how chaplains are assigned to men and women in the military.”
Washington Post: “The Defense Department on Monday edited its new list of religious ‘codes’ for service members so that no group is labeled ‘Christian’ — drawing praise from Mormon lawmakers who were angered last week when their faith was categorized as outside of Christianity.”
Indiana Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith (R) doubled down that he “hates Islam” and wants all Muslims in Indiana to convert from the “demonic death cult” to Christianity, NewsNation reports.
Said Beckwith: “I am going to call on others to hate it, because I hate Islam. It is a death cult. Now I love Muslims, because they make great Christians when Jesus gets a hold of them, but I hate Islam. And we need to be okay with hating again.”
“Vice President JD Vance praised Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday for issuing a new theological document rife with warnings about unbridled advancements in AI,” NBC News reports.
“The text, Leo’s first encyclical since his installation as pope last year, urged a restraint that doesn’t stop progress but, rather, functions as the “exercise of responsible care for the human family.”
Said Vance: “What I read of it sounds very profound, and the sort of thing that you would expect and hope from a leader of the church. The thing about morality is that the principles never change, but the way you apply those principles does, because the world changes, right?”
“America’s fastest-growing religious group is also one of the hardest — and costliest — to reach: the ‘nones,’” Axios reports.
“Religiously unaffiliated Americans now make up a large and growing share of the electorate. But without church-based networks, they’re significantly more expensive for campaigns to reach and mobilize.”
“Evangelical preacher Franklin Graham claimed America is a morally bankrupt nation that is headed down the tubes because it has shunned the Bible in favor of ‘sick’ modern trends like transgenderism and gay marriage,” Mediaite reports.
“A crowd of thousands, many in red, white and blue, transformed a block of the National Mall into an evangelical-style worship service Sunday morning at a White House-led, day-long prayer festival for the country’s 250th anniversary,” the Washington Post reports.
“The event, supported with millions of dollars in public funding, featured Christian clergy, music and appearances by multiple senior government officials, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson.”
President Trump and several top administration officials are joining with conservative Christian clergy this Sunday on the National Mall in Washington for a prayer gathering billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation Under God,” the AP reports.
“The Trump administration is hosting an all-day prayer festival on the National Mall on Sunday that organizers say will reflect the country’s Christian origins and, they hope, spark ‘a movement of renewal’ in America,” the Washington Post reports.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pope Leo XIV met Thursday at the Vatican to discuss the situation in the Middle East and other matters, a meeting that came after weeks of tension between the American-born pontiff and President Trump,” CBS News reports.
“Americans are deeply uncomfortable with recent religion-related statements by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — a striking rebuke in a closely divided country,” according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
“The poll finds positive ratings for Pope Leo XIV, who has criticized U.S. actions on immigration and in Iran, clashing with Trump.”
“Eighty-seven percent of Americans have a negative view of Trump’s social media post appearing to depict himself as Jesus.”
“President Trump escalated his public feud with Pope Leo XIV, accusing the pontiff of endangering Catholics by opposing U.S. military action against Iran,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Justice Department on Thursday accused the Biden administration of pushing policies that were unfair to Christians, releasing a report that amounted to the latest rhetorical broadside by the Trump administration over what it calls the ‘weaponization’ of government,” the New York Times reports.
New York Times: “Over the past decade, many white evangelicals have overlooked Mr. Trump’s complicated relationship with religion in favor of achieving political goals ranging from restricting access to abortion to hanging copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.”
“They are less likely than other religious groups to see a problem with the Trump administration’s handling of files related to the investigation of the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the fallout from which has clouded Mr. Trump’s second term. And they have largely embraced the religious framing that administration officials have used to justify the war in Iran.”
“But Mr. Trump’s latest rhetoric, particularly on matters of faith as the war continues, has, according to polls and religious leaders, threatened to splinter a powerful coalition of religious voters who returned him to the White House, a group that includes white and Latino Catholics as well as Latino evangelicals, all of whom swung Mr. Trump’s way in 2024.”
New York Times: “The Republican Party is struggling to hold onto the support from Hispanic voters who helped propel Mr. Trump back into the White House in 2024. Yet as many party leaders have acknowledged the urgent need to stop the backsliding among Latinos, the president has enraged many of even his strongest supporters by clashing with the pope.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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