When President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission met in Dallas, witnesses shared stories of religious discrimination – and suggested fixes to uphold the 1st Amendment.
Commission members met in Dallas’ Old Parkland complex beginning at 8:30 a.m. on December 10, to hear testimony from witnesses regarding religious discrimination, especially in the military. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick chaired the commission, which included leaders like Dr. Phil McGraw, Rev. Franklin Graham, and Dr. Ben Carson.
First Baptist Dallas Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress, who testified before the committee, told The Dallas Express that many people feel religious liberty is under attack, from banning nativity scenes or wearing religious jewelry at the workplace.
“Religious liberty is not just another issue. It is the issue. Our founders mentioned it in the 1st Amendment as the first freedom – before freedom of the press, or freedom of assembly, is the free exercise of faith,” Jeffress said. “To ban that is to ban what our forefathers gave their lives’ blood to purchase for us, and that is the right to worship any way we want.”
Local businessman and civic leader Harlan Crow, whose company Crow Holdings owns and developed Old Parkland, told The Dallas Express he opened the venue to foster civil discourse. He said he first learned about the event from Patrick, whom he called a “great Texas leader.”
“The idea of the conference is so overdue; the idea of taking up these important issues is urgent,” Crow said. “Thank God the Trump administration is doing that, and so I’m grateful.”
When Crow’s company first built the campus, planners spent much of their time focusing on civil discourse, he said. Crow explained that he wants to hear opinions from those on the political left, right, and middle.
“I want to hear from everybody, absolutely everybody. I want to hear all of you,” Crow said. “We want to talk about it all in an atmosphere of civility.”
“We’re all Americans,” he added. “I happen to be a conservative, but we’re Americans first.”
‘Coercion And Isolation’
The commission heard stories of numerous military service members who faced religious discrimination.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, who attended the hearing, told The Dallas Express he feels religious liberty is a very important issue.
“The way the government, and specifically certain factions and people within our government, have attacked Christians and compromised our religious liberty for decades – this commission is badly needed,” O’Hare said.
O’Hare explained that he trusts Patrick to steer the commission in the right direction and hopes Trump can advance reforms to protect religious freedom.
“What an esteemed group of individuals helping some of the top experts in America,” he said. “It is time for us to stand up and restore America to its original intent, and this commission will go a long way towards doing that.”
Blake Martin was a Navy SEAL when the military began enforcing COVID-19 vaccine requirements in 2021. He said he requested medical and religious accommodations but was denied, and that officials never answered his appeal.
“Throughout this period, I received no meaningful engagement for the sincerity of my religious beliefs,” Martin said. “I experienced escalating administrative and operational restrictions that hindered my ability to serve.”
Martin was placed on a no-travel list and forced to take weekly invasive COVID tests. When he requested to re-enlist, officials denied this. Ultimately, he faced “involuntary separation.”
“After the Navy invested upwards of $2 million into me and all my training, I was separated from the service despite my honorable record,” he said. “These actions created an environment of coercion and isolation, leaving me effectively forced out of the Navy because of my religious beliefs.”
This also meant he lost access to benefits, including those for dependents.
“Can this committee make a recommendation to the president to make this whole, to make him whole?” Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, asked.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said they could.
Retired United States Marine Corps. Col. Mike Berry said he faced a similar denial of his request for a religious accommodation for the COVID vaccine in 2021, after which he was placed on “inactive” status.
“I even received an email from a senior Marine Corps official stating that, because I was unvaccinated, I ‘had interests adverse to the United States,’” he said. “The message was clear.”
This created what Berry called a “crisis” for his family, taking away healthcare coverage from his children. But he fought the denials – and today, he is still a Marine reservist.
“I will never be promoted again – that was made very clear to me the day I submitted my religious accommodation, and my retirement is now approximately two years delayed,” he said. “But I didn’t join the Marines so that I could acquire a particular rank, or even a pension check. I joined because, like each of us here this morning, I wanted to make a difference.”
Retired Marine Capt. Sukhbir Singh Toor follows Sikhism, an Eastern religion that requires adherents to wear beards and turbans. He joined the service in 2016.
“I never saw a conflict between my faith and my calling. Sikhism teaches the concept of saint-soldier, someone committed to confronting injustice, both morally and physically,” he said. “The Marine Corps is the most effective fighting force in the world, representing the pinnacle of military excellence.”
But for years, Toor said he had to go without his beard and turban, until he and others sued in 2021 – ultimately, forcing the Marines to accommodate religious hair and head coverings. He expressed concern that the new Department of War grooming standards may not leave room for religious accommodations.
“Marines judge me as they should, on my competence, my character, my commitment – not the articles of faith I believe,” he said. “This was not a personal fight for me; it was an American one.”
Government Censorship Hits Dallas
Jeffress and Dr. Ben Lovvorn, senior executive pastor at First Baptist Dallas, shared about the church’s fight against the IRS during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
The church held its annual Celebrate Freedom service at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center on June 8, 2020, to honor America’s “Christian heritage,” according to Jeffress. Dr. Carson, who is currently the National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and then-Vice President Mike Pence attended, sharing their testimonies of becoming Christians.
“We carefully followed the guidelines the IRS had for treating potential candidates who speak in the church,” Jeffress said. “Neither I nor anyone else during the service officially endorsed Vice President Pence, President Trump, or anyone else.”
Soon after, the secular Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint with the IRS, challenging the church’s tax-exempt status. The IRS informed church officials of the inquiry on May 6, 2021.
“It’s interesting that we did not hear anything from the IRS for 11 months – and four months after Joe Biden became president,” Jeffress said.
Jeffress explained that he often encourages pastors to follow IRS regulations and not endorse candidates from the pulpit, though the church encourages attendees to vote according to scripture.
“The IRS identified these beliefs as ‘Bible teachings typically affiliated with the Republican Party and candidates,’” Jeffress added.
He appeared on Fox and Friends on November 1, 2020, to explain why the church does not endorse candidates, then reiterated the same message to the church, according to Jeffress. The same day, Biden held a campaign rally at a church in Pennsylvania.
The IRS dragged on its investigation, costing the church hundreds of thousands of dollars, Jeffress said. Then on July 8, 2022, the IRS dropped it – acknowledging the church had not done anything wrong.
“We believe that our church’s steadfast resolve not to waver on this issue and vigorously defend the rights of all churches is what led the IRS to suddenly close the examination,” he said.
Lovvorn pinpointed the deeper issue to the Johnson Amendment, approved in 1954, which bans churches from supporting political candidates or causes from the pulpit.
For roughly 200 years before this, he said, churches often served as outlets for positive change in American civic life.
“The Johnson Amendment is unconstitutional on its face, and it’s unconstitutional as applied – and yet it has rarely been challenged, because it has rarely been enforced,” Lovvorn said.
Lovvorn explained that the IRS often makes threats but rarely enforces the amendment, thereby closing any opportunity to challenge the rule. He said the agency often targets “churches that support conservative values.” He suggested reforming or repealing the Johnson Amendment.
Jeffress concluded with a message for the federal government: “What I preach from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, or any pastor preaches from his church, is none of the government’s business.”
Moving Forward
Patrick and Dr. Carson, the commission’s vice chair, held a press conference immediately after the event. The Dallas Express asked if they left the hearing with any specific reforms or recommendations for Trump.
“We’re getting them from the people who testified,” Patrick told DX. “We have all those, and we’re going to put them all together, our vice chair and myself. We’re going to put them all together with all of our members, and then we’ll sit around and decide what areas we have to focus on.”
“We have a pretty significant category of very accomplished people, and I think they’re going to come up with very good recommendations,” Dr. Carson added.
Patrick said he feels the separation of church and state has been “totally hijacked from the left.” During the hearings, witnesses explained that this originated from Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist Church, which promised to protect the church from state intrusions, not vice versa.
“We asked that question, ‘Does the principal, or the superintendent, or the chancellor of Fresno University just not know what the Constitution says?’” Patrick said. “They know that – they just don’t believe it. They want to change it.”
Dr. Carson said that, as early as kindergarten, small children learn that America is “one nation under God.”
“Maybe we need to grapple with that issue,” he said.
The Dallas Express also asked what avenues they are considering for permanent fixes, rather than ones a future administration could change.
“Give us time to get to that point – we still have three more hearings, maybe four, but three hearings for sure,” Patrick told DX. “We’re going to be writing this report as we go, but we’re going to work on that internally, and then we’ll release it at one time.”
Still, Patrick said he would like to see Congress take action on a “number of issues,” including the Johnson Amendment.
Dr. Carson emphasized the need for clarity about the separation between church and state – “We need to make that clear, pointing out the great discrepancies that occur if we don’t have legislation.”
