Brussels [Belgium], Aug 28 (ANI): The European Parliament has asked Pakistan to protect the rights of women and girls after rising incidents of honour killings, acid attacks and social restrictions on movement and jobs reported from the country.
Recently, a question was raised that despite the fact that Pakistan benefits from the EU GSP, both the current and former Pakistani Governments have done little for Pakistan’s women and girls.
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an official circular forcing school girls to wear the hijab or the abaya was issued a few months ago. After widespread outrage, the local Government had to revoke the decision.
Ishaq Khakwani, a former federal minister and one of the leaders of the current ruling party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, has admitted that the Government has not paid enough attention to addressing the issue of violence against women.
In a reply, the European Commission said, “The Report shows that Pakistan is making some progress on effective implementation, e.g. on the elimination of honour killings, the protection of transgender persons and the protection of women’s and children’s rights. The report also notes that more progress is needed, including with regard to discrimination and violence against women and girls”.
It further added, “Within the GSP monitoring process, the Commission sent a list of salient issues to Pakistan in June 2020 recalling the need to take effective measures to prevent child marriage across the country, make progress on the bill raising the legal age for marriage to 18 years and on the bill on prevention and protection from domestic violence against women”.
It is waiting for a response from the Pakistan government, which is expected by September 2020.
The reply also added, “Discrimination and violence against women and girls were also discussed during the 10th EU-Pakistan Sub-Group on Democracy, Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights in November 2019″.
The European Commission also raised concerns over growing child labour in Pakistan.
“The EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore raised the tragic case of Zohra Shah, and the matter of child labour more broadly, with Federal Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari on 27 June 2020, highlighting the EU’s serious concerns. Minister Mazari informed of legislative efforts to ensure that domestic child labour below 14 years of age would stop”, said the Commission in a question raised over the issue.
It further added, “The topic of child labour features prominently on the agenda of the EU-Pakistan Joint Commission’s Sub-Group on Human Rights, and is also addressed in the context of the Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP), the 2018-2019 Report on the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) and its assessment on the implementation by Pakistan of the conventions on labour and human rights covered by GSP”.
Extreme poverty in some provinces of Pakistan forced many children to work as laborious. The situation is grim in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. (ANI)
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Pasko: This may be one Christmas season different in so many ways from previous ones because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Western Europe and the United States, where Santa Claus figures prominently as Father Christmas planners are already figuring out ways to bring him to children without endangering them through strict adherence to distancing and other safety protocols.
London holiday planner Ministry of Fun is determined to see that British children get to experience meeting Santa as in previous years, but this time he will be wearing a face mask. It will be made of red velvet with white fur as Santa’s beard. Santa won’t be handing gifts directly to the children, but place them on a sleigh between them for proper distancing.
“You can’t have Christmas without Santa,” it said. “A child meeting Father Christmas is a really big deal.” It is still early in the year, it said, but people are already looking forward to the Christmas season at the end of the year and “people need reassurance that Father Christmas can appear.”
Our Christmas in the Philippines is less about Santa as about Belens and parols, carols about Pasko, Christmas programs in schools, exchange of gifts, giant Chrismas trees in malls and parks, Simbang Gabi starting December 16, and finally the Christmas Eve Mass that ends on Christmas Day.
Two days from today, on November 1, we will start hearing Pasko carols on radio. It is the start of the “ber” months and Filipinos see these months as part of the holiday season, although it is the dawn masses of the Simbang Gabi starting December 16 that stand out in the Filipino celebration of Christmas. It is a tradition that many Filipinos observe even when they have come to live and work in Europe, the US, and other countries.
The world today is still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. It may take two more years before it will cease to be a problem, according to the World Health Organization. There should be vaccines by December that will hasten the end of the pandemic.
With or without COVID-19, Christians around the world will celebrate Christmas, this dearest of Christian holidays. In the last six months, so many people could not go to church on Sundays; even now, only 10 percent are allowed in churches in Metro Manila. All these restrictions, we hope, will soon be lifted and we will celebrate Christmas with joy as we have always celebrated it.
The European Union is deeply saddened by the death of Ebru Timtik, a lawyer who has been on hunger strike for 238 days following her conviction last year for alleged membership of a terrorist organisation. She is the fourth prisoner to die this year as the result of a hunger strike, following the deaths of Helin Bölek and Ibrahim Gökçek, two musicians from the Grup Yorum band, and Mustafa Koçak. We offer our condolences to their families.
The tragic outcome of their fight for a fair trial painfully illustrates the urgent need for the Turkish authorities to credibly address the human rights situation in the country, which has severely deteriorated in recent years, as well as serious shortcomings observed in the judiciary.
Turkey urgently needs to demonstrate concrete progress on the rule of law and fundamental freedoms.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports to the European Union (EU) increased by 3.3 per cent under the generalised system of preferences plus (GSP+) scheme, a report produced by the Democracy Report International and European Commission showed on Friday.
Before the GSP+ scheme, Pakistan’s exports to 28-member union stood at €4.54 billion in 2013, which jumped to €5.51bn in 2014. In the second year of the GSP+ scheme, exports further jumped by 10pc to €6.09bn.
Since 2016, exports proceeds have stagnated at €6.30bn at 2016, €6.69bn in 2017 and €6.88bn in 2018.
Of the €6.739bn exports to the EU in 2018, Pakistan was able to avail tariff concessions on €5.885bn. From 2013 to 2019, Pakistan was able to considerably enhance its exports to the EU with an increase of 65pc.
The findings were reported by the ‘EU’s GSP+ Assessment Report 2020: How has Pakistan progressed in its compliance?’.
Growth marred by lack of action on forced labour; curbs on freedom of expression
The European Commission inked a law in 2013 allowing Pakistan the GSP+ status under which exporters will be exempted tax on certain categories of goods exported to the EU.
The preferential scheme is conditional on implementing international conventions on human and labour rights, and freedom of speech in Pakistan. The current EU report states that some provinces have demonstrated an improvement in compliance with labour conventions, yet much of the issues reported in its 2018 report not addressed by 2020.
Weak occupational safety can be attributed to weak labour inspections. Low numbers of labour inspection officers and lack of training and capacity affect law enforcement. Freedom of association and collective bargaining is an issue which the EU noted as having ‘limited progress’. This, like occupational safety, had also been mentioned in the EU’s previous report.
Pakistan ranks 8th in 167 countries by the global slavery index ranking and classified as one of the worst countries in terms of its government response. The EU report uses strong language while describing the lack of compliance with the abolition of forced labour and states that despite existing laws “the issue is that of non-implementation and is rooted in either political unwillingness or inability to implement the law.”
The EU suggests “more industrial and economic zones need to be initiated in the country to address increasing bondage labour, as the higher number industrial zones can reduce the chances of the forced labour.”
The data on female workforce participation and remuneration for Pakistan reflects a dismal situation. The 2018 Labour Force Survey shows less than 15pc participant rate of women in the labour market as compared to 46pc for men. Added to this is discrimination towards women in terms of their representation in high skilled occupations and positions of senior management.
The report praised merger of the Former Federal Administered Tribal Areas as part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the extension of the High Court and the Pakistan Supreme Court, representation for former FATA residents at the federal Parliament and in the KP Assembly.
However, there is also mention that these developments have been undermined by the passage of the KP Action (in aid of civil power) Ordinance, 2019, which allows the military in the merged districts to detain without reason or the need to produce arrested individuals at a court of law, which the report recognises as ‘serious concern’.
Freedom of expression was cited as restrictive in Pakistan’s 2018 Universal Period Review, same as in 2017 report. In its report in 2020, the EU again repeats its call to improve freedom of expression, as stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Restrictions on freedom of expression only increased during the reporting period with curbs of broadcasting, self-censorship by journalists and disruption to the distribution of a national newspaper.
“Despite a new wave which began on 25 July which Viet Nam is now also in the process of bringing under effective control, it is globally recognized that Viet Nam demonstrated one of the world’s most successful responses to the COVID-19 pandemic between January and April 16. After that date, no cases of local transmission were recorded for 99 consecutive days.
There were less than 400 cases of infection across the country during that period, most of them imported, and zero deaths, a remarkable accomplishment considering the country’s population of 96 million people and the fact that it shares a 1,450 km land border with China.
Kamal Malhotra is the UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam. , by UN Viet Nam/Nguyen Duc Hieu
Viet Nam’s success has drawn international attention because of its early, proactive, response, led by the government, and involving the whole political system, and all aspects of the society. With the support of the
World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners, Viet Nam had already put a long-term plan in place, to enable it to cope with public health emergencies, building on its experience dealing with previous disease outbreaks, such as SARS, which it also handled remarkably well.
Viet Nam’s successful management of the COVID-19 outbreak so far can, therefore, be at least partly put down to the its investment during “peacetime”. The country has now demonstrated that preparedness to deal with infectious disease is a key ingredient for protecting people and securing public health in times of pandemics such as COVID-19.
As early as January 2020, Viet Nam conducted its first risk assessment, immediately after the identification of a cluster of cases of “severe pneumonia with unknown etiology” in Wuhan, China. From the time that the first two COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Viet Nam in the second half of January 2020, the government started to put precautionary measures into effect by strengthening entry-screening measures and extending the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday for schools.
Teachers and students were able to return to school in Lao Cai, Viet Nam, in May.
By 13 February 2020, the number of cases had climbed to 16 with limited local transmission detected in a village near the capital city, Hanoi. As this had the potential to cause a further spread of the virus in Viet Nam, the country implemented a targeted three-week village-wide quarantine, affecting 11,000 people. There were then no further local cases for three weeks.
But Viet Nam had simultaneously developed its broader quarantine and isolation policy to control COVID-19. As the next wave began in early March, through an imported case from the UK, the government knew that it was crucial to contain virus transmission as fast as possible, in order also to safeguard its economy.
Viet Nam therefore closed its borders and suspended international flights from mainland China in February, extending this to UK, Europe, the US and then the rest of the world progressively in March, whilst requiring all travelers entering the country, including its nationals, to undergo 14-day mandatory quarantine on arrival.
This helped the authorities keep track of imported cases of COVID-19 and prevent further local transmission which could have then led to wider community transmission. Both the military and local governments were mobilized to provide testing, meals and amenity services to all quarantine facilities which remained free during this period.
No lockdown required
While there was never a nationwide lockdown, some restrictive physical distancing measures were implemented throughout the country. On 1 April 2020, the Prime Minister issued a nationwide two week physical distancing directive, which was extended by a week in major cities and hotspots: people were advised to stay at home, non-essential businesses were requested to close, and public transportation was limited.
Such measures were so successful that, by early May, following two weeks without a locally confirmed case, schools and businesses resumed their operations and people could return to regular routines. Green One UN House, the home of most UN agencies in Viet Nam, remained open throughout this period, with the Resident Coordinator, WHO Representative and approximately 200 UN staff and consultants physically in the office throughout this period, to provide vital support to the Government and people of Viet Nam.
Notably, the Vietnamese public had been exceptionally compliant with government directives and advice, partly as a result of trust built up thanks to real time, transparent communication from the Ministry of Health, supported by the WHO and other UN agencies.
Innovative methods were used to keep the public informed and safe. For instance, regular text updates were sent by the Ministry of Health, on preventive measures and COVID-19’s symptoms. A COVID-19 song was released, with lyrics raising public awareness of the disease, which later went viral on social media with a dance challenge on Tik Tok initiated by Quang Dang, a local celebrity..
UN Viet Nam/Nguyen Duc Hieu
Young people in Viet Nam take part in International Youth Day 2020 festivities in June.
Protecting the vulnerable
Still, challenges remain to ensure that the people across the country, especially the hardest hit people, from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and poor and vulnerable groups, are well served by an adequately resourced and effectively implemented social protection package.
The UN in Viet Nam is keen to help the government support clean technology-based SMEs, with the cooperation of international financial institutions, which will need to do things differently from the past and embrace a new, more inclusive and sustainable, perspective on growth.
Challenges remain
As I write, Viet Nam stands at a critical point with respect to COVID-19. On 25 July, 99 days after being COVID-free in terms of local transmission, a new case was confirmed in Da Nang, a well-known tourist destination; hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the city and surrounding region over the summer.
The government is once again demonstrating its serious commitment to containing local virus transmission. While there have been a few hundred new local transmission cases and 24 deaths, all centered in a major hospital in Danang (sadly, all the deaths were of people with multiple pre-conditions) aggressive contact tracing, proactive case management, extensive quarantining measures and comprehensive public communication activities are taking place.
I am confident that the country will be successful in its efforts to once again successfully contain the virus, once more over the next few weeks.”
Ukraine: EU and UN transfer special oxygen equipment for treating COVID-19 to medical facilities in Luhansk Oblast
Equipment will help provide oxygen therapy to people with respiratory disorders typical of coronavirus infection.
Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, August 28, 2020 – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine has transferred 50 specialized oxygen concentrators worth U.S. $25,000 to 23 medical facilities in Luhansk Oblast.
The oxygen concentrators (with output rates of 5 litres per minute) are special devices that separate oxygen from air and supply high concentrations of oxygen (more than 90 percent) – vital in oxygen therapy for people with the kind of respiratory disorders that are especially typical for coronavirus infection.
The coordinator of the Local Governance and Decentralisation Reform Component of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, Olena Ruditch, noted that with the rapid spread of COVID-19, the need for essential medical devices and equipment is also growing.
“People with lung disease and patients with COVID-19 can suffer from mild to very severe symptoms,” Ms. Ruditch said. “Oxygen concentrators are extremely useful, because they deliver pure oxygen and help stabilize the patient’s health. We’re striving for as many medical institutions in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as possible to be provided with this high-quality and vital equipment.”
Serhii Haidai, Head of the Luhansk Oblast State Administration and Head of the Regional Civil-military administration, said that through joint efforts with the world community Ukraine would be able to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and save human health and lives: “We’re grateful for the help we regularly receive from international and Ukrainian organizations. This is very important at a difficult time for Luhansk Oblast and the whole country.”
The oxygen concentrators were supplied to six oblast hospitals, as well as medical institutions in Lysychansk, Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, Bilovodsk, Bilokurakine, Kreminna, Markivka, Milove, Novoaydar, Shchastya, Novopskov, Popasna, Svatove, Stanytsia Luhanska, Starobilska and Troitske.
The equipment was purchased under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, with the financial support of the European Union, to meet the key needs of Luhansk Oblast health facilities combatting the COVID-19 outbreak.
Maksym Kytsiuk, Communications Associate, the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, [email protected], +380 63 576 1839
Background
The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Thirteen international partners support the Programme: the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland & the UK.
The European Union is preparing to sanction Turkey over its actions in the eastern Mediterranean, where a confrontation between Turkish and Greek military ships is raising the risk of open conflict between NATO allies over claims of drilling rights for natural gas.
Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borell on Friday said EU was expressing solidarity with Greece and Cyprus and against Turkey’s violation of their territorial waters. Ankara maintains that the sovereign boundaries of the waters are contested.
“We are clear and determined in defending European Union’s interests and solidarity with Greece and Cyprus,” Borell said, following an informal meeting of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers.
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“Turkey has to refrain from unilateral actions. … For this reason, we must walk a fine line between preserving a true space for dialogue and, at the same time, showing collective strength in the defence of our common interests,” he added.
Borell said the sanctions will first target persons identified by Cyprus as participating in the illegal activity of drilling in the eastern Mediterranean, but could expand to sanctioning assets such as ships or the use of European ports, technology and supplies.
The sanctions against Turkey come amid increasingly sour relations between Ankara and its NATO allies. Borell said wider discussions surrounding Turkey’s behavior are essential but that the EU is focusing on supporting Greek and Cyprus first.
“We will have to talk about a lot of pending issues that are poisoning our relationship,” he said.
“But for the time being, the most pressing and urgent thing is to solve the question of the drillings and the presence of Turkish boats in Greek and Cypriot waters, which is something dangerous,” he added. “I do not think that the other things are not important, but they are not so urgent.”
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Turkey has increasingly encroached in the eastern Mediterranean in territorial waters claimed by Greece and Cyprus and are believed to be a deep well of resources for natural gas.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected the E.U.’s stance and told NATO Secretary-General Jens Stotenberg that Turkey will continue to protect its rights and interests everywhere, Reuters reported.
Secretary of State Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoOvernight Defense: House chair announces contempt proceeding against Pompeo | Top general says military has no role in election disputes | Appeal court rejects due process rights for Gitmo detainees European Union sets stage for sanctions on Turkey Meadows dismisses criticism of Trump using White House for acceptance speech MORE this month undertook rapid shuttle diplomacy between the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey following the accidental collision of warships in the eastern Mediterranean as both countries increased their military presence in the waters.
Pompeo at the time emphasized “the urgent need to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean” on the sidelines of his diplomatic travel to Central and Eastern Europe and the Dominican Republic.
Pompeo, who met with the Greek foreign minister in Vienna, underscored “the strong U.S.-Greece bilateral relationship” while at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart two days later, he “discussed issues of mutual concern.”
“Alert! #LouiseMichel assisted another 130 people – among them many women & children – and nobody is helping! We are reaching a State of Emergency. We need immediate assistance, @guardiacostiera & @Armed_Forces_MT. We are safeguarding 219 people with a crew of 10. Act #EU, now!” the vessel’s Twitter page said on late Friday.
“Louise Michel” is also said to have a dead person and several injured people on board.
“There is already one dead person on the boat. The others have fuel burns, they have been at sea for days and now they are being left alone in an #EU (!) Search and Rescue Zone. Don’t let it become a body count. Do your job. Rescue them,” the ship said.
The vessel has already asked the authorities of Malta and Italy for assistance but has not received it yet.
Europe has been experiencing a migration crisis since 2015 due to the influx of thousands of migrants and refugees fleeing crises in their home countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The migrants are trying to reach EU states using various routes, primarily via Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans. Many of them die in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea.
(RNS) — Accepting the Republican nomination for a second term, President Donald Trump framed his remarks with what he called “the great American story.”
Trump delivered the speech Thursday (Aug. 27) before a crowd of about 1,500 people seated outside the White House, with few wearing masks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, as masks were only “suggested” for attendees.
“Gathered here at our beautiful and majestic White House — known all over the world as the ‘People’s House’ — we cannot help but marvel at the miracle that is our great American story,” Trump said after accepting his party’s nomination.
That story includes figures like explorers Lewis and Clark and former President Abraham Lincoln, he said.
It also, in Trump’s telling, is a story rich in religious faith.
“What united generations past was an unshakable confidence in America’s destiny, and an unbreakable faith in the American people,” he said. “They knew that our country is blessed by God and has a special purpose in this world.”
Here’s how the president wove faith throughout that story on the last night of the Republican National Convention.
During his speech, Trump claimed Democrats see America as “a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins.”
He later added, “Our opponents believe that America is a depraved nation. We want our sons and daughters to know the truth: America is the greatest and most exceptional nation in the history of the world!”
The line is in keeping with Trump’s longstanding political refrain: that the United States was once “great,” that his administration made it “great again” and that re-electing him would keep the country “great.”
However, some may have considered it an unusual line to come from a Presbyterian, a branch of Christianity that Trump often claims as his own.
Presbyterians are rooted in the teachings of John Calvin, a 16th-century theologian who emerged as a leading voice in Europe during the Protestant Reformation. One of Calvin’s core teachings is that while humanity retains a concept of right and wrong, it remains “totally depraved” — and sinful — as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s “original sin” in the Garden of Eden.
In fact, this belief puts the “T” in TULIP — an acronym many Presbyterians and other Reformed Christians use to remember the five points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Preservation of the Saints.
Battle for the soul of America
“In this country, we don’t look to career politicians for salvation. In America, we don’t turn to government to restore our souls. We put our faith in almighty God,” Trump said.
He added that his Democratic rival Joe Biden is “not the savior of America’s soul” but the “destroyer of America’s jobs, and if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness.”
The lines were a direct rebuke of Biden’s campaign slogan — “a battle for the soul of America” — as well as a twist on a line that Trump has used for years during rallies and when speaking to religious audiences: “In America we don’t worship government, we worship God.”
The remarks were well received by some of the evangelical leaders in the audience at the White House.
“It felt like a revival service on the south lawn of the White House” when Trump uttered those words, tweeted Tony Suarez, chief operating officer of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
In a separate correspondence with Religion News Service, Suarez said he heard several “amens” in the audience during Trump’s address, which stretched for more than an hour.
President Donald Trump speaks from the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
‘Sanctuary cities,’ and a ‘jihadist’ ban
In attacking his opponent, Trump said Biden “supports deadly sanctuary cities that protect criminal aliens. He promised to end national security travel bans from jihadist nations, and he pledged to increase refugee admissions by 700 percent.”
Although rarely acknowledged by critics, the concept of “sanctuary cities” emerged out of a 1980s religious phenomenon known as the Sanctuary Movement, which encouraged religious communities to house migrants fleeing violence in Central America in their sanctuaries in direct defiance of federal law.
The movement reemerged in a new form — aptly called the “New Sanctuary Movement” — under the Obama administration. It exploded in popularity during the onset of the Trump administration, with houses of worship taking in undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation and essentially daring immigration officials to raid their churches (officials do not do so as a matter of internal policy).
Last year, the Trump administration began issuing massive fines on immigrants taking sanctuary in houses of worship, presumably as a deterrent against the practice.
Meanwhile, religious groups have increased their efforts: Last year, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America even declared itself a “sanctuary church body.”
As for Trump’s reference to travel bans barring entry to people “from jihadist nations,” there are questions about what he is referring to — and his language.
His administration has long claimed the travel ban that Trump initiated within a week of assuming office was not a “Muslim ban,” despite the countries on the ban list being primarily majority Muslim. Trump himself called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States during his campaign. Jihad, however, is a term used within Islam that is often interpreted to mean “to strive” or “struggle.” While it has been used to denote a call for war or violent action, as Trump implied, it can also be used to describe striving to make the world a better place in other ways.
Trump’s ban was widely opposed by religious groups. Lutherans again were among a number of faith-based agencies who sued the Trump administration over the president’s executive orders banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries, calling it, in effect, a Muslim ban.
One nation under God
“During the Democrat Convention, the words ‘under God’ were removed from the pledge of allegiance — not once, but twice,” Trump said.
Trump and other Republicans have repeated this claim multiple times since last week’s Democratic National Convention.
The accusation is partly true: two different caucuses that met outside of mainstage events — a Muslim delegates meeting and the LGBTQ caucus — did, in fact, omit “under God” while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance during their meetings. But “under God” was said repeatedly by speakers during the pledge and in every instance of the pledge’s recitation during the convention’s mainstage events, including by Biden himself during his closing address.
The omission of God also did not necessarily appear to represent a hostility to faith in general: the Muslim delegates meeting was filled with prayer, and an LGBTQ caucus meeting featured an appearance by former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay Episcopalian who often references his faith.
Moreover, this week’s Republican convention also played fast and loose with the pledge at times. During his address, North Carolina congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn omitted “indivisible” while quoting the pledge in the closing line of his speech, declaring in his prepared remarks and onstage: “One nation. Under God. With liberty and justice for all.”
Arriving with Bibles
Nearing the end of his speech, Trump returned to the theme of the “great American story.”
That story began with “our American ancestors” sailing across the ocean to “build a new life on a new continent,” the president said.
“They loved their families, they loved their country, and they loved their God,” he said. When opportunity beckoned, they picked up their Bibles, packed up their belongings, climbed into their covered wagons, and set out West for the next adventure.”
What Trump’s version leaves out is the Native American ancestors already living on the continent when European explorers and settlers arrived. It was the Doctrine of Discovery, a series of papal edicts, that gave Christian explorers the right to claim lands they “discovered.”
It also leaves out slavery, pointed out John Fea, a professor of American history at evangelical Messiah College.
The story of American progress is more complicated than Trump made it out to be, Fea told RNS.
“Manifest Destiny was deeply informed by the long-standing evangelical idea that white Protestant ‘civilization’ must advance Westward. God gave the continent to Christians and it was their ‘destiny’ to conquer and tame it,” he said.
“This entire project was drenched in the unholy mix of evangelical Protestantism and white supremacy.”
But the emphasis on the role of Christian faith specifically in America’s founding was well-received by some Christians.
“I believe for those Americans who want a country that’s founded on faith and freedom and on law and order, they were excited by what they heard the president say tonight,” Pastor Robert Jeffress, one of Trump’s most vocal evangelical supporters, told Fox News afterward.
