Americans United Calls On President-Elect Biden To Reverse Trump And Adopt Policies That Respect The Separation Of Church And State

Americans United for Separation of Church and State called on President-Elect Joe Biden to right many of the wrongs of the Trump administration by committing to an agenda that restores and protects religious freedom for all; an overview of that agenda is available here.

Americans United President and CEO Rachel Laser issued the following statement in response to the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States:

“The people have spoken. Americans voted for democracy, diversity and the Constitution. Voters have reasserted our ownership over our core American values, including religious freedom for all of us and not just some of us. The days of tear-gassing peaceful protestors in order to brandish a Bible in front of a church as a dog-whistle to Christian nationalists are over.

“The Trump administration’s misuse of religious freedom to harm others was unprecedented. During the last four years, the Trump administration corrupted the concept of religious freedom, using it to sanction discrimination, deny access to health care and require taxpayers to fund religion.

“We call on President Biden to take immediate action to reverse Trump’s harmful policies and adopt policies that respect the separation of church and state. Americans United’s “Agenda to Restore & Protect Religious Freedom” for the Biden-Harris administration includes:

• Repealing the Muslim Ban that unjustly targets adherents of one religion from entering or remaining in the United States.
• Ensuring that people will not be denied access to health care, including insurance coverage for birth control, because of other people’s religious beliefs.
• Protecting federally funded employees from religious discrimination.
• Supporting the Do No Harm Act to prevent future attempts to use religious freedom to discriminate against or harm others.

“Now more than ever, we need to take a stand for church-state separation. Americans United looks forward to working with the Biden administration to make sure the United States lives up to its ideals of being a place where people of all faiths and none are welcome, equal and free to practice their beliefs as they choose, as long as they don’t harm others.”

The overview of the “Agenda to Restore & Protect Religious Freedom” is available here.

Americans United is a religious freedom advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, AU educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. Learn more at www.au.org.

PHOTO CREDIT: Biden For President Campaign.