Paula White-Cain became the first female pastor to deliver the incantation in a presidential inauguration at President Donald Trump’s 2017 swear-in ceremony. White-Cain is an ultra-conservative televangelist who now heads the White House’s brand new Faith Office, established via executive order on Feb. 7. The office forms a part of the Domestic Policy Council and is charged with assisting “faith-based entities, community organizations and houses of worship in their efforts to strengthen American families, promote work and self-sufficiency and protect religious liberty.”
Though the EO includes a disclaimer guaranteeing “all executive departments and agencies honor and enforce the Constitution’s guarantee of religious liberty” and “any form of religious discrimination by the Federal Government,” it is difficult to believe Trump’s administration has the interests of all Americans at heart.
The EO claims the Faith Office will combat “anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and additional forms of anti-religious bias,” but considering Trump signed another EO dedicated to “eradicating anti-Christian bias” on Feb. 6, it is clear which religion his administration is interested in protecting. Trump has previously enacted Islamophobic policies and engaged in racist rhetoric based on Christian fundamentalism.
Religion in government is nothing new, despite the separation of church and state outlined in the founding principles of the Bill of Rights. From President George Washington to President Abraham Lincoln to Trump, the American government has continuously allied itself with Christian teachings and promoted the U.S. as one nation under God. Nevertheless, Trump’s new Faith Office is a hostile acceleration of bigotry and discrimination.
Even if the principles of the Faith Office are indeed meant to be tolerant of and fair towards all religions within the country, the appointment of White-Cain as its leader ensures its misuse. With White-Cain at the lead, the Faith Office will empower the teachings of prosperity theology, a belief of Charismatic Christianity that teaches material wealth as God’s reward to the faithful.
It is no wonder Trump, a rich businessman, has had someone with White-Cain’s beliefs acting as his long-time spiritual advisor.
“To say no to President Trump would be saying no to God,” White-Cain said back in 2019 when as a part-time special government employee she led the Faith and Opportunity Initiative during Trump’s first term. It is clear and concerning that she is so obviously loyal to Trump and his political agenda rather than the constitutional values the Faith Office — if it is to exist at all — should embody.
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Douglas Falknor • Feb 19, 2025 at 9:27 am
It boggles the mind that the majority of voters in the US wanted Trump again. We were so lucky to escape his first term without irreparable damage to the nation and our fellow citizens–except for COVID. Bird flu is pooling it’s DNA and threatens to give Trump another shot at the world’s health, but the guard rails are gone. Now it’s Trump’s every wish that’s our command.
Keeping it positive, Trump has done a skillful job of stringing together a winning coalition of, certainly, some republicans, haters of every stripe, evidently, including picking up the mysoginist vote, and those that just weren’t paying attention.
In order not to be condemningly disappointed in my fellow Americans, I have to assume the latter is a large group.
Otherwise, I’d have to conclude that America saw something they liked in Trump 1.0 and I shudder to think what that could have been.
In the camp of those not paying enough attention, there used to be a certain sense that we could put some trust in the presidential candidates that our parties would put forth. The unaware missed the sea change that took place in 2016 and was repeated in 2024 when Trump was the nominee.
The other aspect that the unaware, and that includes many of us, is what can happen when those with a fervent agenda have a goal and mount an attack on those of us how are peaceful, tolerant, and want justice for all.
I’m afraid that until it becomes painfully obvious that we’ve been overrun by those who don’t have everyone’s best interest at heart, we won’t correct the careening course of the ship of state.