On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order on eradicating anti-Christian bias. It is important to address bias against any group, including Christians, but suggesting it is a widespread issue is unfounded. Protecting religious freedom is crucial, but claims of bias are often rooted in Christian nationalism rather than actual discrimination based on religion.
Anti-Christian Bias in America?
First of all: The separation of church and State. Republicans—especially Republican legislatures in red states, like Oklahoma—have been attempting to indoctrinate students in public schools. The Prager U video series is steeped in Christian propaganda.
The party has also been passing laws based on Christian ideology and beliefs—not science and facts.
Forcing the citizens of a country to abide by the religious beliefs of those in power is the same Christian Nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism we’ve fought against.
If we become a Christian Nationalist nation, there will be bans on more than abortion and gender-affirming care.
Republicans have already banned books and some states are trying to ban porn websites. Project 2025 wants to make pornography illegal and arrest anyone caught creating or distributing it.
The overturning of Roe v Wade was just one example of Republicans pushing religious beliefs onto Americans. In doing so, they have caused the death and suffering of countless women and babies in America.
Two women died in Georgia after doctors were afraid to do what was necessary to save their lives. The doctors at the hospital hesitated because they knew the procedure the women needed was sometimes used in abortions.
They didn't want to risk losing their licenses or going to prison. Instead, Republicans in the Georgia government decided women should die if an abortion procedure is the only way to save their lives.
In both of these cases, the women were already mothers of young children. The state government took mothers away from children because of a law based solely on religious ideology.
Abortion bans aren’t supported by facts and scientific evidence, yet they are implemented. If Republicans were serious, they would consult with medical professionals before drafting the legislation.
Claiming Christians are being persecuted while states like Oklahoma mandate the Ten Commandments be posted in public schools or that every classroom have a Bible available in it is ludicrous. Meanwhile, any book that mentions sex is banned.
Have these people ever actually read the Bible?
This video from Mother Jones is about the existence, or lack thereof, of a bias toward the most common religion in the country.
The sole example of so-called “bias” Trump cited at the National Prayer Breakfast was the case of Paulette Harlow, one of the nearly two dozen people he pardoned two weeks ago for blocking the entrances to abortion clinics
Some of the more serious violations included breaking into the clinics and stealing fetal tissue.
One woman, Lauren Handy, a Washington, DC resident, was arrested along with 8 other anti-abortion activists that broke into a DC abortion clinic in October 2020, live-streaming their blockade of the entrance.
When police searched her home, they found that Handy was keeping 110 fetuses in her apartment. She claimed that a biomedical waste truck driver gave her the box of fetuses, but the company denies the claim. Hardy was charged with violating the *FACE Act, along with others. She was not charged for the fetal remains.
*(The FACE Act is a federal law that prevents protesters from interfering with access to reproductive health clinics, according to the DOJ under President Biden.)
It’s Not Always Abortion
One thing I see missing from stories about Pro-life activists blockading or engaging in violence at clinics like Planned Parenthood is this: Women go there for pre-natal care, care during pregnancy, birth control, and treatment for STIs.
Just because a pregnant woman is entering Planned Parenthood does not mean she’s having an abortion! (Maybe the misconception about abortions performed later in pregnancy stem from rumors spread by Pro-life activists who witness pregnant women going inside).
Back to the anti-abortion activists pardoned by Trump. Trump claimed the anti-abortion activists he pardoned were prosecuted because they are Christian, which why he is launching the effort.
Harlow is a 70-something Massachusetts resident who was sentenced to two years in prison last May for being part of the group that broke into the DC abortion clinic.
She was found guilty of federal civil rights conspiracy and violating the FACE Act.
From Mother Jones:
In Trump’s rewriting of history on Thursday, he falsely claimed that Harlow “was put in jail because she was praying”—which even Harlow’s former attorney has said is not accurate.
In fact, according to court documents, Harlow was not a peaceful protester, but instead body-slammed the clinic manager into a waiting room chair.
Once law enforcement arrived, she told them she would not cooperate with arrest and that they would have to “use a power-saw to cut the bike lock she affixed to her neck” to attach herself to other protesters as part of the blockade, the court documents state.
Harlow denied the allegations against her at trial, despite video evidence proving otherwise. Harlow did not actually serve any prison time due to delays stemming from health issues, but she was scheduled to report to prison later this month.
Harlow’s lawyer pointed to a court record that stated that Harlow “passively resisted arrest by going limp,” and then quoted comments from Martin Luther King, Jr. about “passive resistance.”
She did not respond to a question about the allegation that Harlow body-slammed the clinic manager.
Trump's claim is not only baseless but dangerous, as it perpetuates a narrative that can fuel fascist ideologies. The concept of anti-Christian bias, when weaponized by Christian Nationalists, often serves as a breeding ground for fascist ideals, threatening the very essence of democracy and tolerance. We must fight back against the destruction of democracy at every turn. That’s what Resist Hate plans to do.
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