Sessions announces 'religious liberty task force'

[Mrs. Overall]

Source: The Hill

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Monday that the Department of Justice is creating a "religious liberty task force."

Sessions said the task force, co-chaired by Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio and the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, Beth Williams, will help the department fully implement the religious liberty guidance it issued last year.

The guidance was a byproduct of President Trump’s executive order directing agencies to respect and protect religious liberty and political speech. Sessions said on Monday that the task force will “ensure all Justice Department components are upholding that guidance in the cases they bring and defend, the arguments they make in court, the policies and regulations they adopt, and how we conduct our operations.”

The announcement came during the department’s religious liberty summit.

Sessions said the cultural climate in this country — and in the West more generally — has become less hospitable to people of faith in recent years, and as a result many Americans have felt their freedom to practice their faith has been under attack.

Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/administration/399482-sessions-announces-religious-liberty-task-force

[drray23]

1. sounds like the religious police they have in iran and saudi arabia.nt.

[Biden My Time]

22. Beat me to it

DAMN YOU!

[elmac]

28. He needs troops to uphold

christian sharia law.

[TEB]

37. Your correct very scary

[SunSeeker]

42. My thoughts exactly. nt

[htuttle]

52. First thing that came to my mind as well

[Doitnow]

61. Ditto all the above. More projection. Funny how much they keep telling us just who they are.

[workinclasszero]

71. Rule by republican mullahs

coming right up.

[katmondoo]

2. I call this BS

[George II]

3. "Religious liberty" - does this mean that Muslims can worship without retribution?

[lillypaddle]

51. This

And freedom FROM religion too?

[Chemisse]

75. Of course! That MUST be what it means.

[CanonRay]

4. The Inquisition 2.0

[Achilleaze]

9. Maybe the republican Perjurer General is lying about this, too?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Pandering to his base. If not that, then it is much worse. . . . nt

[Girard442]

6. Suppose they'll call themselves "Angels"?

As per "The Handmaid's Tale".

[geardaddy]

58. I thought it was "Eyes."

And "Guardians"

[Va Lefty]

7. Simple explanation of relgious freedom

[progree]

17. ++++++++++++++

[Lindsay]

36. So much

this.

[LittleGirl]

48. That is perfect. thank you.

saved for future reference.

[Initech]

8. So it means right wing Christians can be even further jackasses?

[sarcasmo]

81. Republican Jesus Hate Force.

[Liberalagogo]

10. Show much for separation of church and state

n/t

[Kablooie]

11. So people can't have negative views towards Christian sects..

But are free to tear at Muslims all they want.

That's religious freedom.

[Squinch]

12. How much is that shit going to cost me?

[DetlefK]

13. I have a proposal for religious liberty:

Nobody should be forced to obey the religious rules of somebody else's religion.

[SergeStorms]

74. And people's religion....

should stay the hell out of politics. If they can't manage to do that, then thou loseth thy tax exemption.

[bucolic_frolic]

14. and my religious freedom not to listen to these morons?

because, you know, I believe religion is a personal choice so I live and let live.

Can I still eject Moonies and JW's from my front porch? Will they respect my no trespassing signs?

[KPN]

15. Absurd! "freedom to practice their faith has been under attack" my ass.

More like freedom to impose their beliefs on everyone else -- but we all already know that. Geezuz H. Cripes!

[The Liberal Lion]

16. Like it or not

America is in a dark age and it's dragging the rest of the world down with it. It's no longer a matter of saving the union, it's already destroyed, just many are failing to acknowledge it. What is at stake is cutting the loses and removing this tumor of a nation before it has a chance to do anymore harm.

[Fred Sanders]

18. Liberal Lion? Funny...Dr. Putin says: - scalpel, stat, the patient has signed the death 💀 form!?

[bronxiteforever]

23. +1

[The Liberal Lion]

31. I don't understand

[sandensea]

49. You don't agree, Fred?

Liberal Lion treads a little heavily - but it's the sad truth.

[orangecrush]

47. Agree!

[LanternWaste]

83. Wrong.

Notice how I supported my conclusion with precisely the same amount of objective evidence as did you... that being a big ol' zero.

But yea, hold onto your hysterical and dystopian fantasies. My grandad did the same thing-- he's been predicting we'll never make it another year too since Ike left office. He tells me it keeps him warm.

[The Liberal Lion]

86. Well good luck

[NCjack]

19. First order of business, we need a government preferred and

sponsored religion and church. The Church of England held that role when were a collection of English colonies. I really like their efficiency in operating within the revenues from the universal church tax. (It gave the Church priests great pleasure getting that revenue from non-members, especially suspected non-believers.) And, that income was supplemented by their priests' sales of protection from lightning strikes -- a church business that Benjamin Franklin wrecked with his invention of the lightning rod. In America today, there are so many opportunities for us to be sheared financially and socially.

[heaven05]

20. instigated by pence? nt

[sandensea]

24. And by his own state.

These Southern-fried Republicans have been wanting to impose a theocratic state for decades.

Except, of course, when it comes to their own personal lives - which more often than not involves a very busy closet and other "sins."

[heaven05]

68. yeah, exactly nt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

21. Here is Jeff Sessions' full speech on "religious liberty" and his new Religious Liberty Task Force.

RogueAltGov Retweeted:

Reminder that ~70% of Americans and over 80% of Congress self-identify as Christian, but health insurance has to cover birth control and suddenly Christianity is under attack

Link to tweet

Here is Jeff Sessions’ full speech on "religious liberty" and his new Religious Liberty Task Force.

Prepared remarks 1/2

Link to tweet

[Grins]

25. "Less hospital" you say...

"...has become less hospitable to people of faith in recent years..."

Yeah; because no one has been picked on in this country more than white, Reich-wing, "Christians. Maybe they are "picked" on because those same "people of faith" are:

OK with turning away the poor and desperate based on country or religion?
OK with separating children from their parents?
OK with cutting healthcare?
OK with enriching the rich at the expense of the poor?
OK with destroying education after founding a bogus "university"?
OK with cheating veterans out of the donations he promised them.
OK with treating women as chattel? (OK, I'll give you that one since that one IS in the Bible.)
OK with the lying which, in less than two years, more then 3,000 have been counted?
OK with bragging to the Boy Scouts about drinking and sex?
OK with calling for cuts in Social Security?
OK with calling for cuts in Medicare?

Screw those "people of faith" They worship anger, revenge, power. This is just Sessions reinforcing the Evangelical base's siege mentality that has led to self-induced dementia. They're literally going out of their minds, sliding from "Values" to Trump; and from Trump to Roy Moore. They started with wanting to save babies, and ended with supporting pedophiles and a rapist.

Any organization which overlooks a politician’s moral shortcomings because of policy - is a political organization - not a religious one. And therefore, should lose their tax-exempt status.

[azureblue]

32. .has become less hospitable to people of faith in recent years...

Sessions means his faith, not Islam or any other faith that is not Protestant Christian.. Actually, what he means is baptist is the one true faith... Remember, his faith believes that Catholics are not Christians because they worship idols.. And Presbyterians are not baptized because they do not fully immerse. Jews are Christ killers. IOW - a bunch of religious bigots.

[ancianita]

85. ++++++++ Thanks!

[elmac]

26. Just another recruiting effort for the KKK nt

[shenmue]

27. Ah, the Baptist Police

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

29. Someone send Sessions a copy of the First Amendment.

Of course, when he's talking about religious persecution, he's talking about Christian persecution. Other religions -- Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. -- can go burn in Hell, as far as he's concerned.

Meanwhile, 18 months into the Trump administration there has been no Science Advisor appointed. I think that tells you who Donnie Two Scoops knows can deliver the most votes.

[azureblue]

30. Dod you hear that loud bang?

that was the sound of this crap backfiring on Sessions. I can see the Satanists, Scientologists, polygamists, and about every cult in America using this to justify their whatevers. Some bunch of pedos can form a church and claim that their molestation is part of their religion..

These idiots never stop to think why division of church and state is written into the constitution.

[lunasun]

33. "Americans have felt their freedom to practice their faith has been under attack."

Most likely he is talking about attacks on synagogues and mosques

He also most probably wants to let atheists know they will not be attacked and that there is true freedom from any religion as well in this country .

[haele]

65. You forgot the sarcasm smilie.

just being helpful...

Haele

[barbtries]

34. right.

this strikes me as not much more than a vehicle to put friends in government and siphon more money from us hapless taxpayers. the phrase "taxation without representation" been running through my mind a lot lately.
alternatively, make trump's evangelical base happy - but there is not enough of them to him in office as long as sane people VOTE.

[dameatball]

35. To me it sounds like this will strengthen the "religious belief" defense to refuse to serve gays,

refuse abortion counseling, etc., by limiting the public's ability to file suit. It's all there in the quote.

[Harker]

41. Yes.

They've been beleaguered long enough by practitioners of all those other pesky religions, and by all those who don't share their beliefs.

[choie]

38. Because Christians are so persecuted

in the United States...

[Snellius]

39. What about the right of Christians to discriminate against hateful Christian bigots?

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

[Botany]

40. Gee, when i drive through every small city and most towns in OH I see churches all over the place,

their "christian nonsense" spills out of my radio and TV, and you can't throw a dad cat w/out
hitting some kind of Christian elementary, high school, or college either. So why do they
this task force? Quick get sessions the !st amendment ASAP.

[Ferrets are Cool]

50. Hey, don't be cruel to dad cats.

[Botany]

55. Sorry .... I'm not the quickest cowboy on God's dude ranch.

Botany =

[truthisfreedom]

43. We only need one thing religion-related from our government:

Freedom from religion.

[Beartracks]

44. Finally, all religions -- and atheists, too! -- will be respected and protected!

I am positively, absolutely 100% sure that this is what Mr. Sessions has in mind. Because certainly he can't be contemplating protecting religious prejudice against the constitutional rights of others...


=============

[muntrv]

45. Christofacist task force is the real title.

[Ferrets are Cool]

46. Just FUCK

[democratisphere]

53. Correction: What is really meant is freedom to practice their stupidity

masquerading as their religion.

[Firestorm49]

54. Poll after Poll. ( If you believe polls)

Fewer and fewer people are attending organized religions, with perhaps the deep South being an exception. I’ve read for the past several years how attendance is diminishing, but Jeff will hold on to and inflict his beliefs, as with his party, on anyone he can.

[YOHABLO]

56. Their definition of ''religious freedom'' means to be able to discriminate against LGBTQ people.

[SummerSnow]

57. I can see it now...

Christain lanlord won't rent to a Muslim family

Christian employer won't hire gay applicants

Church refuses to hold wedding ceremony for gay couple

[NastyRiffraff]

59. The threat is worse than that.

Much worse. We're heading towards a theocracy, where Christianity will be REQUIRED. Oh, they'll phase it in; this "task force" is just the first phase. Then, it'll be the three elements you describe. Next, you'll be required to register your religion. Then, you'll be taxed if you're non-Christian.

The steps to theocracy may take slightly different forms, but the end result will be the same. Unless, of course, we stop it.

[Jedi Guy]

77. As for the last example you gave...

Are churches required to rent their facilities to just anyone, or can they currently decline to allow LGBTQ weddings on their premises?

I'm pretty sure they can decline. When my wife and I were planning our wedding, we looked into a little Catholic chapel as the venue. They declined to let us use it because my wife had been divorced from her first husband. So from that I would infer that they'd turn down an LGBTQ wedding as well.

[haele]

84. No, church facilites are maintained "for and by an organization" - not for general public use.

Those facilities fall under the same guidelines for "renting" services that a building that belongs to the Shriners or any other private club/organization does - they are allowed to set limits - and hell, just discriminate - as the primary use of church facilities is for the church, not to conduct public business.

Haele

[C_U_L8R]

60. So no Muslim ban, eh?

[matt819]

62. Oh my

First of all, this is outrageous.

Second of all, Muslims, Jews, Pastafarians, etc. should take full advantage of this task force.

[Oneironaut]

63. "You can have the model T in any color, so long as it's black"

- A Conservative’s view of religious liberty

[inanna]

64. Further down in the article

“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, according to his prepared remarks.

WTF?!

Am I reading this wrong? If I have a "Do Not Solicit" sign on my front door - does the above now invalidate that? Is anybody allowed to proselytise - ANYWHERE?

[underthematrix]

66. I responded with truth and love

Link to tweet

[maxrandb]

67. Religion is what keeps the poor from eating the rich - Napolean n/t

[workinclasszero]

69. Sounds better than an anti-gay, anti-science, anti-

any religion that doesn’t worship the golden calf Trump, anti-choice, anti women, task force.

Which is what this will be.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

70. Cuz we all need more Gawd in our lives.

[MarcA]

72. How about the freedom to pay taxes on their faith? n/t

[no_hypocrisy]

73. LGBT is just the top of the list.

No telling which priorities Sessions and his Christian Nazis will persecute.

Humanists
Atheists
Agnostics
Catholics
Mainline Protestants
Muslims
Buddhists
Sikhs
Hindus

[ancianita]

82. Don't forget women. Women will be the last to get out from under religion.

[elmac]

76. and this tweet

Link to tweet

[Maxheader]

78. Wheres sam brownback?

Hes all about religious guidance...Put it in charge..

[uppityperson]

79. So long as you believe and say what they want you to? Wtf

"and protect religious liberty and political speech."

[EarthFirst]

80. Fuck this!

If that’s your thing; fantastic!

I don’t need a government agency regulating religion in my life.