Washington, United States. A Trump administration-backed celebration of U.S. religious heritage on Sunday is highlighting conservative Christian leaders’ ties to the president as critics say the gathering does not reflect the country’s diverse faith landscape.
Program and participants
The nine-hour program, called “Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” mostly features speakers from two Christian traditions — evangelical Christianity and conservative Catholicism.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in a video message while senior Republicans including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will speak on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Organizers said the event is meant to “prepare for the nation’s 250th birthday with Scripture, testimony, prayer, and rededication of our country as One Nation to God.”
Organization and purpose
The gathering is organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership created by the White House to coordinate 250th anniversary celebrations alongside federal agencies.
Criticism over church-state separation
Advocates of church-state separation said the event blurs government and religion.
“This government-sponsored prayer fest is the epitome of exactly what our secular Constitution forbids our government from doing,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a statement.
“It is a fusion not only of church and state, but also of our federal government with Christian nationalism,” Gaylor said.
Concerns about representation
Some critics pointed to the absence of religious groups such as mainline Protestant churches including Lutherans, Methodists and Episcopalians. Also not represented are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
More than a quarter of all U.S. adults identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to figures from the Pew Research Center. About 23% and 19% identify as evangelical Protestant and Catholic, respectively, and about 11% identify as mainline Protestant.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged the organizers to include speakers from other religious groups. Muslims arrived in North America before U.S. independence, said Corey Saylor, the organization’s research and advocacy director.
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