• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
ReligiousLiberty.TV / Founders' First Freedom®

ReligiousLiberty.TV / Founders' First Freedom®

religious liberty and religious freedom news

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Articles
  • Podcast
Home » Trump’s troubling evasion of basic religious liberty questions

Trump’s troubling evasion of basic religious liberty questions

April 18, 2016 by ReligiousLiberty.TV

DepositPhotos.com - Trump's position on religious freedom remains mystery

Donald Trump gave non-committed and evasive answers to questions about religious discrimination in the workplace and tax-exempt status of religious organizations that were posed to him by a group of Orthodox Jewish reporters last Thursday at his office in Manhattan.

In the 20-minute session, Trump answered questions about a number of issues. When it came to whether religious employers should have the right to discriminate on the basis of religion when hiring, JTA reports his response:

“That’s the question that’s been asked and discussed very brilliantly on many different levels    over the last short period of time,” Trump said. “And I’m going to really leave that decision to you. That’s your personal decision. What would your answer be to that question?”

In all fairness, the question itself is somewhat of a double-edged sword since many people who want the right to discriminate against others on the basis of religion do not want to be discriminated against themselves. But at least Trump should have been willing to state his support for Title VII non-discrimination standards.

Then Trump was asked about whether religious groups should be tax-exempt. Trump said.

“It’s really become a very big point of discussion and a very complex point of discussion and  it’s something that I’m very interested in and I’m really forming policy on it and I’m actually going to be announcing something that I actually think you’re going to be very happy with. OK?”

That Trump even thinks that the tax-exempt status of religious groups “a very big point of discussion” is troubling since the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status of most religious organizations has been a given for decades. What does Trump want to change?

If anything, while Cruz may lean too far to the religious right when it comes to the issues of church and state, at least it is clear where he stands. Trump is uncommitted. Testing the waters is fine early in an election season but for a front-runner to keep the answers to these questions hidden, or simply not know the issues, is troubling.

Trump is either trying to be mysterious, or he simply doesn’t have even a basic grasp of the issues and is trying to wing it by appearing mysterious, or he is being uncharacteristically diplomatic and non-committed. We should not have to wait until after Trump is elected to find out what he really thinks, or more importantly, what he plans to do.

###

Filed Under: Church and State, Employment Law, Politics

Primary Sidebar

Geneva, Switzerland - December 03, 2019: World Health Organization (WHO / OMS) Headquarters - DepositPhotos.com

Biden admin could hand over US control of health emergencies to WHO next week

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The ultimate control over America’s health care and its national sovereignty will be put up for a vote next week at a meeting of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) governing legislative body, the World Health Assembly (WHA).  On May 22-28, 2022, the 75th World Health Assembly will convene at the United Nations […]

Statement on the Leak in Dobbs

The leak was intended to disrupt the processing of the decision and we are not going to dignify the leak or the unidentified leaker by analyzing it prematurely. As a constitutional republic we cannot go down that road without doing severe damage to the institution of the Supreme Court where there must be professional courtesy between the justices and their staffs.

Boston City Hall - photo from Supreme Court Opinion

Supreme Court rules 9-0 that Boston violated 1st Amendment in refusing Christian flag at City Hall

This morning the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Shurtleff v. Boston (Dec’d 5/2/2022) that the city of Boston violated the free speech rights of a Christian group when it refused to allow them to participate in a city flag raising program.

Active Liberty - a survey of Justice Stephen Breyer's religion clause jurisprudence - Supreme Court

Active Liberty: A Survey of Justice Stephen Breyer’s Religion Clause Decisions

A comprehensive review of retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s decisions in Free Exercise and Establishment Clause cases.

Canadian gov’t calculates that expansion of assisted suicide will save taxpayers millions of dollars

In Canada, it is easier for the disabled who do not suffer terminal illness to get approval for assisted suicide than approval for affordable housing. The government has calculated the cost of providing healthcare versus providing assisted suicide.

Random Quote

Religion separated from the political control of the state can be a powerful force for public good. But religion used by the state to further its political purposes will ultimately destroy the state and compromise the effectiveness of the church.

— Lee Boothby, Esq.

Get the ReligiousLiberty.TV Newsletter!

Comes out a couple of times a month. Unsubscribe anytime automatically, no questions asked.
* = required field
unsubscribe from list

powered by MailChimp!

Copyright © 2022 Founders' First Freedom is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Articles
  • Podcast
0
0
0
0