On Monday Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Justice will create a “religious liberty task force,” according to a Department of Justice statement.
Sessions said in a speech at the departments Religious Liberty Summit in Washington that the force will assist the implementation of Donald Trump’s religious liberty legal “guidance,” which he issued last year. The new unit would be in charge of helping to protect religious communities across the United States.
The attorney general said that the freedom to practice religion in today’s “cultural climate” in America has come “under attack.”
“We’ve seen nuns ordered to buy contraceptives. We’ve seen U.S. senators ask judicial and executive branch nominees about dogma — even though the Constitution explicitly forbids a religious test for public office. We’ve all seen the ordeal faced so bravely by Jack Phillips,” Sessions said in reference to the Supreme Court religious liberty case won by the Colorado baker.
The guidance Sessions issued in October has 20 fundamental principles for the branch to follow, which includes the freedom to exercise a right to act or abstain from action. The government shouldn’t get involved in people’s purpose or beliefs.
“In short, we have not only the freedom to worship — but the right to exercise our faith. The Constitution’s protections don’t end at the parish parking lot nor can our freedoms be confined to our basements,” he said in Monday’s speech.
And to everyone who likes to scroll through our social media feeds as much as I do. Here is what the people of Twitter had to say about Jeff Sessions “religious task force”:
The first meeting of the Religious Liberty Task Force is now convening. pic.twitter.com/k7FKgmOBHv
— Scott Stapf (@stapf) July 30, 2018
I want to see the Religious Liberty Task Force fight the Space Force.
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) July 31, 2018
I’m having the weirdest déjà vu about this Religious Liberty Task Force. pic.twitter.com/GQMDpKPhuF
— Soren Bowie (@Soren_Ltd) July 30, 2018
I am delighted that Religious Liberty Task Force will finally protect people who face problems because of their religions: Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and other religious minorities.
What? Oh, this is just about hating gays and forcing people to say Merry Christmas? What a shock.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) July 30, 2018
In some states, it’s technically illegal for atheists to run for office.
The president wants to ban Muslims.
Jews face anti Semitic hate everyday.
But apparently, a Religious Liberty Task Force is needed to protect the MOST hurt group, the Christians.
Give me a freaking break.— emilia (@PoliticalEmilia) July 30, 2018
Sessions said the department is looking to accommodate people’s faith, and that “religious Americans are no longer an afterthought.”
The religious task force will be co-chaired by Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio and Beth Williams, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy.