Trump at Religious Liberty Commission: ‘We have to bring back religion in America’

At the second hearing of the Religious Liberty Commission Sept. 8, President Donald Trump announced the Department of Education will issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in public schools and declared that America must return to its religious roots.

"I am pleased to announce this morning that the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools,” Trump said, though he did not elaborate. His announcement drew loud applause from the crowd. 

The hearing, which took place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C, was focused on defending religious liberty in public education. 

Throughout his remarks, Trump cast religion as central to the nation’s identity: “When faith gets weaker, our country seems to get weaker. When faith gets stronger, as it is right now — we’re having a very good period of time after some rough years — good things happen for our country.” 

“To have a great nation, you have to have religion,” he added. “I believe that so strongly. There has to be something after we go through all of this — and that something is God.”

He said the Trump administration is defending religious rights and restoring America’s identity as a nation under God, declaring, “We are one nation under God, and we always will be.”

The President highlighted cases of young students who were punished for living their faith, including high schooler Hannah Allen from Texas and 12-year-old Shay Encinas from California, who both attended the hearing. 

He invited Encinas to the stage to describe how he was forced to read a book to a kindergarten student promoting gender ideology that contradicted his religion. Allen was punished by her principal a few years ago after she “organized a group of classmates to pray for an injured peer,” Trump said. 

Trump also pointed to his record on religious liberty. He cited an executive order that, he said, cut federal funding for schools promoting “transgender insanity,” as well as measures banning chemical and surgical mutilation of children, prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports, repealing the Johnson Amendment, and creating a task force to combat anti-Christian bias. The Johnson Amendment restricts churches and nonprofits from endorsing political candidates. 

He vowed to “always defend our nation's glorious heritage.”

“We will protect the Judeo-Christian principles of our founding,” he added, “and we will protect them with vigor. We have to bring back religion in America. Bring it back stronger than ever before.”

Trump said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who suggested that rights come from government rather than God at a Senate hearing Sept. 3, should be “ashamed of himself for many things.” 

The President also took a moment to reflect on the Aug. 27 shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis that killed two children and injured several others. He called the shooter “demonic” and said his administration would not tolerate terrorism, political violence, or hate crimes.

“Our hearts are shattered for the families of those beautiful children,” he said, adding that Attorney General Pam Bondi is investigating the causes of repeated attacks on people of faith. 

Trump established the Religious Liberty Commission May 1 through an executive order, charging it with protecting Americans against threats to religious liberty, CatholicVote reported.