Trump and religious freedom, revisited

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Wednesday morning, with bleary eyes and a large mug of coffee, I got to work on post-election coverage, exploring the significance of former President Donald Trump’s win.
I wrote about how people of faith voted, what religious groups said and which abortion-related ballot measures passed.
But I didn’t get a chance to reprise my coverage of Trump’s religious freedom legacy — and what religious freedom moves to expect over the next four years.
So let me share some thoughts here, along with a look at a survey that asked American voters to make some broad predictions.
First, I think it’s safe to say that Trump will lean on the same type of faith-related advisers in his second term as he did in his first term. These advisers will be proponents of religious freedom protections and work to strengthen or expand the protections that are currently available in federal rules.
These legal shifts will affect a number of ongoing policy debates, but especially debates over LGBTQ rights. Under Trump, it will likely be easier for faith-related organizations to gain exemptions from laws aimed at reducing anti-LGBTQ discrimination.
The expected surge in exemptions will further inflame the culture war, and it’s doubtful that the Trump administration will invest resources in trying to calm it. That could be bad news in the long run, according to some religious freedom advocates, since religious freedom is most secure when Americans of all stripes understand its importance.
The Trump administration likely will invest resources in international religious freedom by, for example, putting religious advisers in the State Department in front of microphones more often. The Biden administration did a lot with international religious freedom, but that work often got lost amid other foreign policy debates.
Last but not least, I think there will be plenty of storylines to follow related to Trump’s relationship with the Supreme Court, but I think religious freedom cases will be overshadowed by cases on presidential authority and immigration. It seems like the court is intentionally sidestepping faith-related battles right now and I expect that to continue for a bit.
Let me close with a stat from Pew Research Center, which has explored what Americans expect from a second Trump term.
Pew found that more than half of registered voters (52%) believe Trump will be at least an average president. Twenty-two percent said he’ll be “great” and 19% said he’ll be “good.”
Why NFL fans have a newfound love for Pope Francis
What religious leaders said about Trump’s win
The faith vote in 2024 — and how it compared to 2020
How abortion measures fared on Election Day
The final girl trope is a horror movie standard. It refers to the common practice of having a wholesome, innocent girl defeat the bad guy in the final moments of a movie.
My colleague, Tad Walch, wrote about the final girl trope as part of his coverage of the new movie “Heretic.”
Sister missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are key characters in the film. In service of the trope, the young women are presented as naive and vulnerable.
That portrayal has frustrated Latter-day Saints and others, who know firsthand that sister missionaries have complex, interesting backstories and a deep, nuanced relationship with their faith.
“We are taking these young, vulnerable 19- and 20-year-olds who are just incredible — they’re sacrificing a year-and-a-half of their lives to do something really wholesome and good — but instead of focusing on that, (the filmmakers) look at their immaturity and their naiveté, which certainly is there because they’re young, and want to make that kind of the center of the discussion, kind of a point of humiliation on the entire faith,” said Christine Blythe, co-host of the podcast “Angels and Seerstones: A Latter-day Saint Folklore Podcast,” in an interview with Tad.
Some young women who were frustrated with the outcome of the 2024 election have turned to South Korea’s 4B movement for solace. The feminist movement, which has been criticized for being too extreme, encourages women to withdraw from men and focus on their own needs and interests, according to The Washington Post.
Muslims and Jews in Amsterdam and around the world are reeling after a recent soccer match turned violent. Local authorities are still trying to figure out what went wrong — and to determine how to tackle antisemitism and Islamophobia moving forward, per The New York Times.
Christianity Today looked into the interesting history of the unofficial hymn for the U.S. Space Force.
As I noted in a recent story, Pope Francis has started using the same social media hashtag that’s used by New Orleans Saints fans — #Saints. The NFL team is having lots of fun with the coincidence, including after its big win on Sunday. “We weren’t losing after this,” the team wrote on X after Sunday’s game, referencing the pope’s tweet about becoming #Saints with a joyful heart.