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The Associated Press reported this week on a new effort to use allegations of anti-Christian bias within the State Department to target officials who worked at the agency during President Joe Biden's administration.
The outlet cited a cable the State Department sent to employees, encouraging them to report the allegations — even anonymously — to Trump’s so-called task force on anti-Christian bias, which will apparently determine whether any officials involved will face discipline. MSNBC hasn't yet confirmed the report.
As The Associated Press notes, “there is no immediate indication that such discrimination, as defined by President Donald Trump’s State Department, took place under Biden.” Nonetheless, employees are being asked to submit their complaints to Heather Olowski, the head of the State Department’s office of civil rights and wife of Lew Olowski, a pro-Trump, anti-immigration lawyer who currently leads the Bureau of Global Talent Management, which is essentially the State Department's HR office. The examples the State Department cable cited as potential infractions make this effort seem like little more than a way to exact vengeance upon officials who helped enforce vaccine requirements or supported pro-LGBTQ policies.
According to the AP:
Examples of potential violations include formal or informal actions taken against a person because they requested religious accommodation “from taking mandatory vaccines or observing religious holidays ” and “mistreatment for refusing to participate in events and activities that promoted themes inconsistent with or hostile to one’s religious beliefs, including policies or practices related to preferred personal pronouns,” according to the cable. Others include “mistreatment for opposing displays of flags, banners or other paraphernalia on or in government facilities because of religious objection or for opposing official media content due to religious objections, forcing employees to remove personal displays of religious faith or conscience, whether as part of clothing/accessories items on desks or in personal workspace,” the cable said.
The hypocrisy displayed by Trump and his administration on the subject of anti-Christian bias is especially egregious. They have publicly denounced Christians who show compassion to immigrants and have tried to strip funding from Christian groups known to provide immigrants assistance. Even some faith leaders from the conservative-leaning Southern Baptist Convention have said the administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown, and particularly its refusal to rule out raids on churches, tramples on religious freedom. So it seems many Christians are discovering what many Muslims and many Jews have also discovered about Trump — that he is no ally to their free religious expression. Far from protecting religious liberty outright, Trump seems only interested in protecting expressions of religion that serve his and his movement's political goals — and using any means available to punish his perceived adversaries.