Published August 5, 2026

Imagine you walk into a doctor’s office suffering from a spreading infection. The doctor takes one look, decides you’re actually suffering from an allergic reaction to your own immune system, and prescribes a course of immunosuppressants.

That’s essentially what happened this June, when the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission released its 224-page draft report after months of airing selective grievances in hearings that, notably, only certain people were invited to attend. The report, which has all the trappings of a real diagnosis — analysis, findings, solutions, footnotes — goes on to call the separation of church and state a myth, calls for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment, and recommends more government meddling in the religious formation of school children. 

In all, it reads less like a medical chart and more like a chart drawn up before the patient arrived. A misdiagnosis slapped with the government’s seal of approval.

To read BJC’s full comment, follow the link below, and find out what the Commission’s recommendations would actually cost — for pulpits, classrooms, and service members alike.

July 13, 2026

To the Religious Liberty Commission, 

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on your June 2026 draft report. Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) is an organization that, for 90 years, has supported faith freedom for all. Rooted in a Baptist commitment to soul liberty, we work to cultivate and expand religious freedom for everyone. We believe religion must be freely exercised and that the government should refrain from promoting or denigrating religion. 

With nearly a century of experience advocating for these principles, we are deeply concerned that the draft report misunderstands and misrepresents the foundation of religious freedom upon which this country was built, and it offers recommendations that would harm rather than help the cause of religious freedom. In that spirit, we offer the following comments.