Newest Campaign Addition Reflects Ted Cruz’s Commitment to Religious Liberty

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced Monday the creation of a new 19-member Religious Liberty Advisory Council.

The council will guide his policies to protect religious liberty and reverse the unprecedented attacks on freedom both at home and abroad. The following faith leaders have joined the council:

• Tony Perkins
  President, Family Research Council

• Ryan Anderson, Ph.D.
  William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation
• Dr. Tony Beam
  Vice President for Student Services and Christian Worldview, North Greenville University

• David Benham, entrepreneur

• Jason Benham, entrepreneur

• Ambassador Ken Blackwell
  Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN for Human Rights

• Teresa S. Collett
  Professor, University of St. Thomas
• Jim Garlow, Ph.D.
  Pastor, Skyline Church, San Diego, CA

• Dr. Mark Harris
  Pastor, First Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC

• Pastor Jack Hibbs
  Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, CA
• Bishop Harry Jackson
  Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church, Bishop, International Communion of Evangelical Churches
• Richard Lee, Ph.D.
  President, There’s Hope America
• Paige Patterson, Ph.D
  President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
• Everett Piper, Ph.D.
• President, Oklahoma Wesleyan University

• Jay Richards, Ph.D.
  Assistant Research Professor, School of Business & Economics, The Catholic University of America
• Steve Riggle, Ph.D.
  Senior Pastor, Grace Community Church
• Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, Ph.D.
  President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

• Kelly Shackelford
  President and CEO, First Liberty Institute

• Carol Swain, Ph.D.
  Professor of Political Science and Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University

“Religious liberty is the first freedom guaranteed to Americans under the Constitution, and ensuring the protection of that right has been a priority my entire adult life,” Cruz said. “Increasingly, renegade government officials seek to coerce people of faith either to act in a manner that violates their faith or forfeit their career. When I am elected President, that will change. It is time for our liberties to be respected in Washington. The right to religious liberty built America, and denying that right is both un-American and morally wrong.

“Religious liberty is the top issue for Americans of faith in this election. People of faith must be free to live according to their convictions without being second-guessed or shut down by the federal government. Today I am proud to be joined by such a knowledgeable and committed group of leaders to advance our first freedom.”

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, who will chair the Cruz campaign’s religious liberty council. He said he was honored to serve at “such a critical time in the history of this nation.”

“Never before has religious freedom been more endangered than it is today under the policies of the Obama administration,” he said. “We need a president who upon entering office will immediately begin reversing the damage done to our freedom to believe and our ability to live according to those beliefs.

“While Ted has been effective on an array of national issues, he hasn’t strayed from his theme, which is that 2016 is going to be a ‘religious liberty election.’ This continues to resonate with Americans, who open their newspapers every day to a new story of religious hostility. I am confident that Ted Cruz, who has spent his career defending religious liberty in the courts and in the Senate, can be trusted and is prepared to make freedom mean something again in America.

“Unfortunately, the future of freedom in America rests largely in the hands of the courts, which is why we need a president who can spot liberal jurists and who will fight to ensure constitutionalists who respect the rule of law are seated on the Supreme Court. The formation of this Religious Liberty Advisory Council will be an encouragement to the American people. Help is on the way.”

Cruz has pledged on day one of his administration to issue an instruction to the Department of Justice, the IRS and every other federal agency that the abuse of religious liberty will be stopped.
 
Last fall, his campaign hosted rallies for religious liberty in Iowa and South Carolina that featured the stories of religious liberty heroes and highlighted recent acts of government-sanctioned religious persecution against Americans of faith.

More than 44,000 Americans have joined the campaign’s Faith and Religious Liberty coalition.