'If You Can Keep It': Church And State, Continued

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🗓️ 30 June 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

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Summary

Last month, President Donald Trump openly questioned the separation of church and state during the establishment of the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty. He said that he is bringing religion back to the country.

We continue our "If You Can Keep It" series by assessing the boundaries of the separation between religion and the government.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
0:05.4	RWJF is a national philanthropy working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.
0:12.1	Learn more at RWJF.org.
0:30.8	Last month, the president openly questioned the separation of church and state during the establishment of a presidential commission on religious liberty.
0:37.4	They say separation between church and state, they told me. I said, all right, let's forget about that for one time.
0:43.0	We said, really, the separation? I don't know. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure.
0:53.6	We spoke about it in last week's edition of our weekly series, If You Can Keep It, where we take a look at the big political story of the moment and what it means for our democracy.
0:55.7	And we received a lot of messages from you. Hi, my name is Reverend Susan Baller-Shepard. I've been an ordained Presbyterian
1:01.3	minister for about 34 years. And I believe in the freedom of religion and the freedom from religion.
1:09.9	I really think our president needs to take a basic history course.
1:13.6	Our country was founded on the idea of religious freedom.
1:20.1	And in writing the Constitution, our forefathers respected that will of the people.
1:26.6	I find it extremely alarming that President Trump is trying to integrate religion into the government.
1:35.4	If we're going to introduce Christianity, then we need to introduce all religions, which we know he will not go for.
1:41.1	The response was so great that we've reconvened for a part two of our discussion of church and state in the Trump administration.
1:48.6	I'm Naila Boodoo, in for Jen White, and you're listening to the 1A podcast.
1:52.4	Back with more and just a moment.
1:57.8	This message comes from Wise, the app for doing things and other currencies. With Wise, you can send, spend, or receive money across borders, all at a fair exchange rate, no markups or hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and C's apply. Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
2:20.4	RWJF is a national philanthropy working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.
2:27.1	Learn more at RWJF.org.
2:31.0	So let's jump right into it with our guests.
2:33.5	Catherine Stewart is a journalist covering the anti-democratic movement and the intersection of faith in politics.
	...

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