6 Things Trump’s Religious Liberty Memo Does (and Doesn’t) Do

Justice Department’s new 20-point guidance falls between advocates’ hopes and opponents’ fears.

A 25-page report issued Friday by the Justice Department follows up on President Donald Trump’s repeated pledge to offer more legal protections for people—and organizations—of faith.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions echoed the sentiments of many American evangelicals and religious liberty advocates, writing:

Religious liberty is not merely a right to personal religious beliefs or even to worship in a sacred place. Except in the narrowest of circumstances, no one should be forced to choose between living out his or her faith and complying with the law. Therefore, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, religious observance should be reasonably accommodated in all government activity, including employment, contracting and programming.

The memo offers federal guidance on 20 points of religious liberty—not establishing new laws or precedents, but highlighting where the Trump administration’s views lie regarding the proper balance of church and state.

While critics have characterized such protections as a “license” to discriminate, religious liberty experts state that the memo—while a major move—does not do everything that advocates have hoped or that opponents have feared.

Here are six points of clarification on the memo’s actual impact.... Read More