On May 1, 2025, United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order that created a presidential commission to protect religious liberty, while openly questioning the separation of church and state. Should Sabbath-keeping Christians be concerned?
Trump signed the order surrounded by members of his cabinet, Congressmen, and Christian leaders who had been invited to the White House Rose Garden for the 74th National Day of Prayer. The group prayed fervently for America, then Trump addressed group, saying, “From the earliest days of our republic, faith in God has always been the ultimate source of the strength that beats in the hearts of our nation. We have to bring religion back. We have to bring it back much stronger. It’s one of the biggest problems that we’ve had over the last fairly long period of time. We have to bring it back.”
He added, “They say separation between church and state … I said, ‘All right, let’s forget about that for one time,’ They said, really there’s separation. I don’t know. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I’m not sure, but whether there’s separation or not, you guys are in the White House where you should be, and you’re representing our country, and we’re bringing religion back to our country, and it’s a big deal.”
An Executive Order to Protect Religious Liberty
Designed by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick of Texas, the new commission’s goal is to uphold freedom of religion and investigate threats to religious liberty. It states in part: “Americans need to be reacquainted with our Nation’s superb experiment in religious freedom in order to preserve it against emerging threats. Therefore, the Federal Government will promote citizens’ pride in our foundational history, identify emerging threats to religious liberty, uphold Federal laws that protect all citizens’ full participation in a pluralistic democracy, and protect the free exercise of religion.”
The commission “shall produce a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, the impact of religious liberty on American society, current threats to domestic religious liberty, strategies to preserve and enhance religious liberty protections for future generations, and programs to increase awareness of and celebrate America’s peaceful religious pluralism.”
A Swinging Pendulum
American Christianity has felt increasingly under threat by secular society during the last 60 years. Advocacy groups and court cases have removed all vestiges of Christianity from the public sphere. The Ten Commandments are outlawed in schools, prayer has been replaced with a moment of silence, and unbiblical morals are promoted to the public.
“The formation of the Religious Liberty Commission is a reaction of several religious groups that have felt discriminated against,” says Pastor Doug Batchelor, president of Amazing Facts. “Yet a swinging pendulum rarely stops at dead center. It usually over-corrects in the opposite direction.”
Protected Rights
Many of America’s Founding Fathers lived by religious and moral principles. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that references to God and the Bible are frequent in their writings. Yet they clearly understood the importance of the separation of church and state. The First Amendment of the Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
The First Amendment guarantees Americans two important rights. 1) The government shall not establish any state religion or make laws promoting one religion above another. 2) The government shall not prohibit anyone from freely acting out their religious convictions.
Over and over again, history has proven the importance of these two protections. Centuries of religious oppression during the Dark Ages show just how dangerous it is when a religious organization has political power. Catholicism was the only kind allowed. Any other form of religious belief or practice was treated as heresy and brutally eradicated.
Will Trump’s new Religious Liberty Commission lead to religious establishment laws and persecution of those who disagree?
Prophecy in Progress
Revelation clearly predicts an end-time alliance between the dragon (Satan, see Revelation 12:9), the beast with seven heads and ten horns (the Papacy), and the lamb-like beast (the United States). The lamb-like beast “deceives those who dwell on the earth” by making “an image to the beast” (Revelation 13:14). This image to the beast comes to life and brutally persecutes all who do not worship it.
“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result” (Great Controversy, p. 445).
Only time will tell whether Trump’s actions bring to life the “image to the beast.” A Sabbath-keeper is currently co-chair of the Commission, and there are Sabbath-keeping Jews in prominent positions around Trump. These people may help to slow the development of a Sunday law in the near future. Yet things could easily shift if we get a new pharaoh who does not know Joseph.
There is no question that Satan is doing his best to orchestrate things for the final showdown between right and wrong, love and hate.
“Given what we know about Bible prophecy, the development of this Religious Liberty Commission on the eve of the Catholic Church choosing a new Pope is especially intriguing,” comments Pastor Doug. “So keep looking up, friends. Jesus is coming!”
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