Atheists Are Throwing a Fit Over Trump's "Secret" Bible Study
Over the summer the White House began holding a Bible study for President Donald trump’s cabinet sponsored by Vice President Mike Pence.
No big deal, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, this study wound up piquing the attention of the secularists at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which began hounding the Trump administration for additional information on these otherwise totally innocuous Bible study sessions.
The FFRF noted in a recent news brief that its purpose was to “determine whether or not the bible study uses government resources, whether staffers may feel coerced into organizing or even participating in the religious event, and to ascertain government access granted to Capitol Ministries, a group that seeks to evangelize elected officials.”
The radical foundation further pointed out that though nearly every White House department it requested records from “dragged its feet,” HUD has “thrown up additional arbitrary and illegal barriers.”
That might be because HUD Secretary Ben Carson is a proud Christian who I suspect has no tolerance for these ridiculous games.
“When FFRF asked for the records in August, it requested, as is typical with 501(c)(3) groups, a fee waiver. HUD denied that fee waiver the day of the request because the records were allegedly not in the public interest,” the foundation whined.
The foundation tried again by filing “a lengthy appeal,” but Carson again shut them down by refusing on the basis that “the records FFRF was seeking supposedly did not relate to HUD operations or activities.”
Carson was right. Whether or not members of the Trump administration sometimes meet privately to study the Bible is completely irrelevant.
In fact, even the left-wing blog Patheos admitted as much last year.
“Members of Congress hold Bible studies, too,” wrote atheist activist Hemant Mehta. “White House staffers held Bible studies during the George W. Bush era. As long as they’re voluntary and not funded by taxpayer money, there’s no legal issue here.”
“Even politicians are allowed to practice their faith,” Mehta added, noting that this is why former “President Obama could walk into a church on Sunday without violating any law.”
So what’s the problem? Apparently, the FFRF’s beef concerns Ralph Drollinger of Capitol Ministries, the man reportedly chosen to lead the Bible study sessions.
“The records are important because the pastor leading the bible study is an extremist with access to the highest levels of our government,” the foundation wrote, referencing Ralph Drollinger of Capitol Ministries, who’s reportedly made remarks in the past critical of homosexuality, Catholicism, etc.
So what? The president makes controversial remarks on a near-daily basis, yet he’s still our president.
It frankly sounds like the FFRF is suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, as it has a nasty habit of targeting the president and his administration over and over again for the most petty reasons.
That said, this non-controversy controversy reached its boiling point this week when the FFRF filed a joint suit with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog, against Carson’s HUD.
Will the foundation actually win its suit, though? As conservatives, let’s just hope not.
H/T FaithWire
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