The Freedom From Religion Foundation is sounding the alarm about the first public meeting of the newly established Religious Liberty Commission to take place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 16. FFRF will closely monitor the first and subsequent meetings and share updates and analysis on its social media platforms.
“The ostentatious Christian location for the premier meeting reveals that this commission is not about protecting everyone’s liberty. It’s about enshrining the narrow religious beliefs of a political movement into government policy,” charges FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “A public meeting on religious liberty shouldn’t be a platform for Christian nationalist ideology.”
The commission, created on May 1 by presidential executive order, is not truly tasked with upholding the First Amendment, FFRF asserts, but instead to advance religious privilege and promote a Christian nationalist agenda. Like President Trump’s “Anti-Christian Bias Task Force,” this body aims to erode the constitutional wall between state and church.
Chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and co-chaired by former HUD Secretary Ben Carson — both outspoken Christian nationalists — the commission’s mandate includes reviewing federal policies for “religious liberty compliance,” proposing regulatory changes and “amplifying the voices of faith leaders” in public policy. The White House’s fact sheet makes clear this is a vehicle for religious influence in government, indicating its mission is “to end the anti-Christian weaponization of government and unlawful targeting of Christians.”
Patrick, who pitched the commission to Trump, used the announcement to repeat the tired, debunked myth that the United States was “birthed by prayer” and founded on a “Judeo-Christian ethic.” He also falsely accused the Biden administration of targeting believers. Other commission members include religious hardliners such as Kelly Shackelford of First Liberty, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and TV personality Phil McGraw.
“Religious liberty is a cherished constitutional right — but it’s being manipulated as a weapon to carve out legal privileges for a favored religious majority,” adds Patrick Elliott, FFRF’s legal director. “When the government allows religion to override generally applicable laws — particularly civil rights laws — it puts the rights of countless Americans at risk.”
According to the White House release, the commission’s likely priorities include:
- Weakening safeguards that prevent direct federal funding of religious activity.
- Redefining the Establishment Clause to favor religious groups’ “free exercise” — even when it harms others.
- Pushing for expansive religious exemptions from civil rights laws protecting women, the nonreligious and LGBTQ-plus individuals.
The commission aligns with the goals of Project 2025, a sweeping Christian nationalist playbook aimed at reshaping the federal government to reflect ultraconservative religious ideology.
The agenda includes “the history of religious liberty in America, from the founding to the present day.” It indicates the meeting “will provide historical context of the founders’ intent to protect religious liberty in the First Amendment, and how the Supreme Court has interpreted those rights, particularly since the mid-twentieth century.” The commission will also “discuss the meaning of separation of church and state.”
Based on the rhetoric used to justify the commission’s formation, FFRF expects this meeting will center on the fabricated history and grievances of the Christian right.
“The goal is to embed a specific religious perspective into our laws and institutions,” adds FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “That’s not freedom — that’s theocracy.”
When the president says religion should shape national policy, he’s rejecting the secular principles our government is founded on, FFRF avers.
FFRF will be closely watching for signs that the commission plans to target the rights of nonreligious Americans, LGBTQ-plus rights, public education and reproductive freedom and will call out any attempt to turn the machinery of the state into a tool for religious control. The nonreligious — now nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population — deserve equal protection under the law, not second-class status under religiously motivated policy.
Follow FFRF on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram for updates and analysis following Monday’s meeting.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
