Kerby Anderson
The election of Donald Trump will advance the cause of religious liberty. That is the conclusion of First Liberty President Kelly Shackelford. On my radio program he talked about Trump policies in his first term that offer hope for the future of religious liberty and then quoted from the speech Trump gave at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention.
We’ve provided a link to an article with a complete list of policies, along with a link to a video by Kelly Shackelford. Here are just a few reasons why the future of religious liberty in this country looks bright.
Former President Trump’s executive orders on religious liberty made a difference when he was in office. His 2017 Executive Order on Protecting Religious Liberty was able to advance religious freedom across all federal executive agencies. His 2019 Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism prohibited discrimination against Jewish communities and believers.
Kelly Shackelford also talked about the establishment of the HHS Conscience and Religious Freedom division. One of his former employees was able to direct the agency’s efforts to protect religious freedom and people of faith in the healthcare industry.
What will a Trump administration do in the future? Trump’s speech at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention delineated seven major actions.
One was the development of a Religious Liberty Task Force. Trump explained that he would “create a new federal task force [to fight] anti-Christian bias” and it would “investigate all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment, and persecution against Christians in America.” He also promised he would protect Christians, religious symbols, and religious expression and speech.
The election of Donald Trump is good news for those of us concerned about the future of religious liberty in America.

Kerby Anderson
Donald Trump won, and Kamala Harris lost, for many reasons. Certainly, the economy was one of the major reasons. Pundits and economists tried to tell the voters that the economy was doing just fine. The voters didn’t agree. Neither did the financial markets. Stocks rose immediately the moment it was obvious that Trump won.
The editors of The Wall Street Journal argued that the stock market rally suggested “a groundswell of growth optimism. Voters have taken off the table a big tax increase and continued regulatory barrage.” Voters and investors were fearful of looming higher taxes and had already seen enough of a regulatory assault that took place under Biden-Harris.
The editors do warn that stocks could fall in the future if the Trump policies turn out to be a disappointment. Concern over tariffs might be the next concern on Wall Street and on main street. But those concerns pale in comparison to the last few years of the highest inflation in 40 years and lower real wages. If you run the numbers, inflation-adjusted weekly earnings remain lower than when President Biden took office.
Inflation wasn’t the only issue; so were interest rates. High interest rates made it even more difficult to buy a home or to afford a new car. The average mortgage payment doubled over the last four years. “The bottom 40 percent of earners accounted for 6 percent of new auto purchases last year, compared to 18 percent in 2019.”
Millions of voters who didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020 voted for him this time. A significant percentage of them “never voted for a Republican for President in their lives.” They were ready to say bye to Bidenomics.