The Trump administration has ordered State Department employees to report their colleagues who exhibit “anti-Christian bias,” as part of its effort to implement a new executive order supporting federal workers’ Christian faith.
The department, as revealed by Politico, will work with a task force to collect information “involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration”.
The government is essentially encouraging agency employees to spy and snitch on each other via a reporting form by which they will maintain anonymity. “Reports should be as detailed as possible, including names, dates, locations (e.g. post or domestic office where the incident occurred,” reads the document intercepted by Politico.
The administration’s request has put State Department staff on edge. Some employees have said that the measure is based on the erroneous premise that anti-Christian prejudice reigns within the agency and will only foment a culture of fear among colleagues.
At present, the government has indicated that examples of anti-Christian bias will be collected to meet the requirements of the MAGA leader’s executive order, but that at the same time the agency will also be tasked with reporting incidents of discrimination against other religious faiths.
In February, the executive order signed by President Trump required all federal agencies to weed out “anti-Christian bias” from their ranks. At the time, the Interfaith Alliance, a left-wing religious liberty NGO, condemned the measure in question, arguing: “this effort may appear to address certain forms of stigma against Christians, particularly against Catholics. In reality, it will weaponize a narrow understanding of religious freedom to legitimize discrimination against marginalized groups like the LGBTQ community.”
