Ray Vensel is president of the Maine chapter of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. He welcomes comments at [email protected].

The group Freedom 250 is in the business of Christian nationalist propaganda, from the launch of its (government-sponsored) website through shifting into high gear with the (government-sponsored) May 17 “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving” event.

It was announced as a “major faith gathering” and a continuation of America’s Christian founding, pointing to the “day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer” declared by the Continental Congress on May 17, 1776 (Congress went on to establish a secular democracy with a godless Constitution).

A FOIA request seeking the funding information is on appeal, so financial details are hard to come by. There is also a FOIA request regarding whether organizers used mailing lists connected to the so-called “Religious Liberty Commission.”

One list of speakers included exactly one non-Christian and no one representing those who have no religious affiliation. These percentages reflect the makeup of the “Religious Liberty Commission” itself.

“Rededicate 250” was a taxpayer-supported, government-sponsored revival featuring Cabinet officials and some of the most extreme Christian nationalist figures in the country. It was a gathering of Christian nationalist groups that want to replace democracy with their own religious despotism.

It was not a “rededication.” The government was established by the Constitution, in which religion is mentioned only as being excluded. The First Amendment says that religion and government should be separate. Article VI, Clause 3 forbids religious tests to be required for public office.

And wherever an oath of office is mentioned in the Constitution, the option is given either to “swear” (invoking God) or “affirm” (making a declaration without a religious reference). That’s separation (a wall, if you will), and no amount of bellowing changes that.

President Trump and his movement plan to demolish that wall.

Some people in this movement feel deeply about doing right by their fellow citizens. They mean well, but are deceived. They know not what they do. All participants in this event were props for a sham led by self-professed Christians who seem to care more about power and money than spiritual well-being.

The livestream page had the caption: “Freedom 250 presents Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, live from the National Mall. Americans of every background are coming together to prepare for the nation’s 250th birthday with Scripture, testimony, prayer and the rededication of our country as One Nation to God.”

Freedom 250 is more about corruption than religion. Freedom 250 diverted millions in taxpayer funds to this event, and invited sponsors and donors to pay about $1 million to get invitations to a reception with President Trump. He planned on golfing, so he submitted the same video that he recorded for “America Reads the Bible” a few weeks ago: II Chronicles 7:11-22, which is claimed to describe the U.S. as a Christian nation.

And while this video was being shown, he posted AI-generated fantasy images on his social media platform. A Google search for “Trump AI images May 17” shows what his priority was. This regime is using federal power, taxpayer resources and public lands to push their religion on everyone. It implies that “good” Americans are Bible-believing Christians and “bad” ones are those who fail to follow the nation’s supposed founding faith.

And not just in Washington, D.C. Over the last couple of sessions we have seen representatives in Augusta label opposing certain legislation as the work of Lucifer himself. We regularly see proposed legislation to damage public health and public education by giving extra privileges for religion.

The only dedication (re- or otherwise) needed here is to keep the federal government from elevating one religion over all others and protecting the rights of nonbelievers. Doing so in Maine would be a good start.