Sessions Issues Sweeping Religious Liberty Guidance to Federal Agencies
(CN) – Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a sweeping directive to federal agencies Friday to do as much as possible to accommodate those who claim their religious freedoms are being violated. But critics say the guidance could undermine protections for the LGBT community.
The guidance, an attempt to deliver on President Donald Trump’s pledge to his evangelical supporters that he would protect religious liberties, effectively lifts a burden from religious objectors to prove that their beliefs about marriage or other topics are sincerely held.
The 25-page memo maps out 20 guiding principles reminding agencies that freedom of religion is a fundamental right and that the free exercise of religion “includes the right to act or abstain from action in accordance with one’s religious beliefs.”
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