Kara Lee
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.