“We are gathered in the Oval Office for the National Religious Freedom Day,” President Trump said on Thursday as childhood victims of religious persecution stood behind him. “This afternoon we are proudly announcing historic steps to protect the First Amendment, right to pray in public schools.”
“That’s a very important and powerful right,” President Trump added.
Prior to the event, NPR reported:
In an exclusive interview with NPR, White House Director of the Domestic Policy Council Joe Grogan said existing provisions to protect school prayer established under the No Child Left Behind law have been eroded over time with a hostility to religion and religious institutions.
“We’re trying across the board to invite religious institutions and people of faith back into the public square and say, ‘Look, your views are just as valid as anybody else’s,’ ” Grogan said. ” ‘And, by the way, they’re protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.’ “
Trump will announce that the Department of Education will be sending a letter to education secretaries and officials in all 50 states reminding them that students and teachers can’t be discriminated against for practicing their First Amendment religious rights.
According to NPR, the Trump administration isn’t changing any laws, but rather they are merely informing the rest of the country of the rights that exist, and providing a way to report if those rights are being violated.
“Whenever the president of the United States draws his megaphone upon a subject, people will pay attention,” Grogan said. “It’s important for all Americans, parents, teachers, administrators and citizens to understand that the First Amendment protects religious beliefs and protects people in expressing their spiritual life in the public square.”
During the event in the Oval Office, President Trump stated plainly that “a government must never stand between the people, and God.”
“Yet, in public schools around the country authorities are stopping students and teachers from praying, sharing their faith, or following their religious beliefs. It is totally unacceptable.
We are doing something to stop that.”
Nine federal agencies, including the Education Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department, are proposing rules that would reduce requirements for those religious organizations, according to the Washington Post. The rules would lift an Obama-era executive order that compelled religious organizations to tell the people they serve that they can receive the same service from a secular provider.
WaPo notes that the Education Department plans to issue guidance that will require local school districts to certify that they have no rules or regulations that conflict with students’ right to pray at school.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said her department intends to remind schools that students and faculty have a Constitutional right to pray, and that religious organizations should have the same access to school resources as secular groups.
“Our actions today will protect the constitutional rights of students, teachers and faith-based institutions,” DeVos said. “The department’s efforts will level the playing field between religious and nonreligious organizations competing for federal grants, as well as protect First Amendment freedoms on campus and the religious liberty of faith-based institutions. I proudly share President Trump’s commitment to religious freedom and the First Amendment.”
Conservative Daily Update 