The unknown staffers cited in the Politico article are troubled by these and other changes, which sharply contrast the department’s actions under the Obama administration, which critics accused of directly violating the First Amendment rights of religious exercise and freedom of association. Among the changes Diamond cites are an effort to highlight pro-life voices in public comments to the agency, and a “vast outreach initiative” to religious groups in asking them how HHS can better serve them.
“Anti-abortion, evangelical leaders now shape HHS’ daily communications and overarching legal strategy — a major departure from the Obama administration and arguably leaving them more empowered than under previous Republican administrations,” he writes.
It’s understandable that some HHS staffers don’t like the direction Trump is taking the agency, given that their predecessor directed them to pursue opposite policies. Also, yes, there are some evangelicals in positions of power now, but there doesn’t seem to be anything necessarily “evangelical” going on here. Take the issue of abortion. Catholics are notoriously pro-life. It’s not just Catholics, though: decades of polling have consistently found most Americans are pro-life concerning most circumstances. Just 18 percent polled in 2017 said abortion should be legal under any circumstances.
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..... the story continues to conjure up an image of some kind of evangelical boogeyman running the show at HHS. Further, replacing “evangelicals” with “religious activists” is itself another smear, suggesting that merely being a Christian impedes HHS staff’s ability to carry out their jobs and makes them more likely than people of any other religious persuasion to carry out a dangerous political or religious agenda. Have we seen, and would we ever see, Politico articles breathlessly arguing that atheist and agnostics HHS employees are “secular activists” on an “anti-religion crusade”?
Politico Botches Basic Fact In Hit Piece On Christian HHS Staffers
“Anti-abortion, evangelical leaders now shape HHS’ daily communications and overarching legal strategy — a major departure from the Obama administration and arguably leaving them more empowered than under previous Republican administrations,” he writes.
It’s understandable that some HHS staffers don’t like the direction Trump is taking the agency, given that their predecessor directed them to pursue opposite policies. Also, yes, there are some evangelicals in positions of power now, but there doesn’t seem to be anything necessarily “evangelical” going on here. Take the issue of abortion. Catholics are notoriously pro-life. It’s not just Catholics, though: decades of polling have consistently found most Americans are pro-life concerning most circumstances. Just 18 percent polled in 2017 said abortion should be legal under any circumstances.
[clip]
..... the story continues to conjure up an image of some kind of evangelical boogeyman running the show at HHS. Further, replacing “evangelicals” with “religious activists” is itself another smear, suggesting that merely being a Christian impedes HHS staff’s ability to carry out their jobs and makes them more likely than people of any other religious persuasion to carry out a dangerous political or religious agenda. Have we seen, and would we ever see, Politico articles breathlessly arguing that atheist and agnostics HHS employees are “secular activists” on an “anti-religion crusade”?
Politico Botches Basic Fact In Hit Piece On Christian HHS Staffers
