Religious freedom has always been an understood pillar of America, not to be criticized or looked down upon. Lately, the left seems to have launched a “war on religion” in several attempts to take God out of schools, eliminate faith-based policies, and paint the religious as blind followers of the far-right. Today, the New Yorker had some attacks of their own for Sarah Huckabee Sanders – the President’s Press Secretary.
In a detailed article tracing Sarah’s religious influence beginning during her youth and throughout her father’s presidential campaigns as a conservative Christian candidate, the reporter sarcastically uses Sarah’s faith to explain the beliefs of other Christian Trump Voters across the country.
The headline “attacks?” Sarah attends a church that teaches creationism – the belief that God created the world, and intelligent design – the belief that the world was purposefully designed by a higher power by choice. She often refers to the Bible during press briefings and believes being pro-life is the difference between ‘right and wrong, good and evil.’ Since when is believing in the Bible the negative angle to a story? We can’t allow the media to treat Christians, or any faith group, this way.
The real reason these attacks are so prevalent is because the left is threatened. In the 2016 election, 81% of white evangelicals voted for Trump – a huge voting group. According to a post-election poll, Trump led 16 points over Hillary among voters who attended weekly church services. It’s no secret the faithful backed the President. But rather than attacking the President’s political issues, the left has moved on to attacking the religious people who agree with him.
Huckabee Sanders isn’t the only Trump official outspoken about her faith. Several leaders in the Trump Administration belong to various faith groups, and for some reason, the left thinks it’s okay to criticize that. The President’s daughter and son-in-law, both Jewish, have both been vocal about faith communities, and similarly, the Pence family is incredibly open about their commitment to Christian values. Vice President Mike Pence has said that his Christian faith is ‘probably the most important thing in his life.’ Trump’s choice for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Ben Carson told the Adventist Report in an interview, “I’m proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I’ve said many times that I’ll defend it before anyone.” These individuals are just a few of the Trump officials who have had their faith tested in the media. Headlines like “Is Ben Carson Too Religious for a Free Country” and “Mike Pence: Holy Terror” are just a few of the hateful articles the media has published to question Trump officials’ fitness for the job, solely based on their faith.
Articles like the New Yorker’s attack on Sarah Huckabee Sanders are wrong and disrespectful, but it’s so much more than that – attacks on the faithful are a direct threat to our religious freedom. The government shouldn’t be allowed to force us to participate in something that violates our religious beliefs – which is why Supreme Court appointments are all the more important. We should be able to attend church, read the Bible, and discuss God without criticism – and especially without criticism from the media.
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