In the Trump administration’s drive to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs from government agencies, faith-based and religious freedom initiatives have been caught in the crossfire, writes Brian Grim of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation on the website of the Coalition for Faith and Media (March 31). While Trump has established a White House Faith Office to protect communities of faith and identify failures of the “executive branch to enforce constitutional and Federal statutory protections for religious liberty,” there have been “unintended religious consequences” in eliminating DEI. Many faith-based programs that were facilitated by DEI have been canceled, ranging from the U.S. Naval Academy Gospel Choir’s Spring Break outreach trips to underserved communities to employee resource groups (ERGs) in government agencies like the U.S. Department of State. DEI made such programs possible. Grim notes that almost every federal agency has faith-based employee organizations. “Not only do these official faith organizations build religious freedom in Federal workplaces, they inform and impact religious freedom worldwide.” For instance, through a program facilitated by the State Department’s Christian group, Grace, Grim trained personnel at the U.S. embassy and all U.S. missions in the People’s Republic of China on how to build religious freedom through faith-and-belief-friendly workplace policies and initiatives. Grim adds that Grace was not only a support for Christians at the State Department, but also helped form Jewish Americans in Diplomacy (JAD) and American Muslims and Friends At State (AMFAS).
Beyond the government, Fortune 500 companies are “taking note of the Administration’s cancellation of DEI and the unintended outcome of canceling religion initiatives across the government. More than a few corporations are feeling pressure to throw the religious baby out with the DEI bathwater.” This is taking place at a time when there are a record number of faith-based ERGs. Grim writes that the curtailment of faith-based initiatives is bad for business, since they give employees a sense of belonging and identity. Many American workers find that faith-based ERGs are the primary place where they find religious fellowship. A new national study of Jewish workers finds that for 24 percent, their company’s ERG is their primary connection to Jewish life. Grim argues that “recognizing and accommodating religious needs—such as providing prayer rooms, dietary accommodations, and flexible scheduling for religious observances—demonstrates that an employer values their workforce beyond just professional contributions.” These initiatives help employers comply with legal protections surrounding religious expression and accommodation in the workplace. In the U.S., Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on religion and requires reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious practices, “making faith-friendly policies both a moral and legal imperative,” Grim writes.
(Coalition for Faith and Media,
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/coalitionforfaithandmedia/2025/03/losing-dei-may-cost-more-than-you-think-including-faith/)
