Week in Review 10/20/2017

This week President Trump spoke to the Family Research Council's (FRC) Values Voter Summit. The FRC has been described as the most powerful and influential political organization on the evangelical far right. The Summit's gathering was an opportunity to engage the extreme religious right's mission "to preserve the bedrock values of traditional marriage, religious liberty, sanctity of life and limited government that make our nation strong," according to the group's website. 

Trump was the first sitting president to appear before the group, where he boasted that,"if we have faith in God then America will prevail."  This message clearly resonates with the religious right, where their agenda has become intertwined with Trump's agenda. Trump's push against LGBTQ rights, abortion rights and other social issues emboldens social conservatives and religious extremists.

Trump'sappointment earlier this year of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education was seen as the crowning achievement of the Christian right's campaign to infiltrate America's secular institutions. 

Today the extreme religious right has found strength within the alt-right movement. Tony Perkins, the head of the FRC has courted close ties with Breitbart News. He has openly admitted that FRC's message appeals to the Alt-Right and far right.

Our religious freedom hinges on the separation of religion and state - a key JAC issue. Attempts to weaken this important principle are a danger to all. JAC was founded after the 1980 election when the extreme radical right opposed Israel and the values of mainstream American Jewry. We must continue to be diligent in our efforts to fight the religious right's influence in government. 

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source:  RollingStone, Rewire