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Religious Liberty Commission Urges Ending Strict Church-state Separation and Abolishing Johnson

A draft report from the Religious Liberty Commission, created by the Trump administration and dominated by conservative Christians, calls for replacing the separation of church and state with a policy of building bridges between religion and government.The 224-page draft urges abolishing the Johnson Amendment, expanding religious expression in schools and public spaces, increasing public funds for faith-based groups, broadening conscientious objection exemptions that would cover COVID-19 vaccine refusals and pronoun use, and creating federal "Know Your Rights" materials and complaint hotlines.Civil rights groups and advocates for church-state separation say the commission lacks ideological diversity, overlooks anti-Muslim and antisemitic concerns, would privilege conservative Christian practices, and faces legal challenges while conservative states move to implement similar measures.
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