President Trump Signs EO Protecting Religious Liberty at National Day of Prayer
For the second consecutive year, President Donald Trump signed a faith-based executive order on the National Day of Prayer, sending the strong message that he is continuing his commitment to the issues important to the Christians and evangelicals who helped send him to the White House.
Townhall editor Katie Pavlich reported Thursday that Trump’s newest EO—the White House Faith-Based Opportunity Initiative—will allow religious organizations to obtain resources from federal government programs.
Best-selling author of God and Donald Trump and award-winning journalist Stephen E. Strang said the signing of the order is evidence Trump is keeping issues of religious liberty front and center, as he has from the start of his presidency.
Strang noted in God and Donald Trump that the president, just three months into his term, chose the 2017 National Day of Prayer to announce an executive order to help neutralize the effect of the so-called Johnson Amendment and promote free speech and religious liberty.
“This decisive action by President Trump further cements his commitment to the faith community,” Strang said. “Those who hold religious convictions dear have already been marginalized and forced into decisions or behaviors that are against their beliefs. Those who refused to give in lost their businesses and reputations, and even their homes were at risk. This executive order will ensure that religious groups will have the same opportunity as everyone else to grow their organizations, stay true to their beliefs and make a difference in their communities.”
Trump added from the Rose Garden at Thursday’s National Day of Prayer ceremony: “The faith initiative will help design new policies that recognize the vital role of faith in our families, our communities and our great country. This office will also help ensure that faith-based organizations have equal access to government funding and the equal right to exercise their deeply held beliefs. We take this step because we know that, in solving the many, many problems and our great challenges, faith is more powerful than government, and nothing is more powerful than God.”
In God and Donald Trump, Strang gives an inside look at the Donald Trump campaign, election and presidency, including how Trump engaged with evangelicals and other faith groups to claim victory.
Strang is an award-winning journalist and successful businessman who began his career as a newspaper reporter at the Orlando Sentinel. He later founded a Christian publishing house and media company while interviewing and writing about nearly every Christian leader in the country over the past four decades.
For more information on God and Donald Trump, visit GodandDonaldTrump.com. {eoa}
God and Donald Trump is published by Frontline, an imprint of Charisma House, which has published books that challenge, encourage, teach and equip Christians, including 14 New York Times best-sellers.
