Religious leaders from Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are cautiously optimistic heading into the new year following the inauguration of the second Trump administration.
This week, FOX News Digital spoke to leaders from a variety of faith communities, many of whom are hopeful the incoming administration will move in the right direction, but wonder if President-elect Trump will still be in power. He said he was cautious.
“Some (Jewish) communities are positive and optimistic, and others are very concerned,” said New York City Rabbi Joe David.
President-elect Trump and rosary (AP Photo/Evan Vucci/BrianAJackson via iStock)
“I think the reaction has been mixed, but there's also some skeptical optimism,” said Haris Tarin, vice president of policy and organizing at the Islamic Public Affairs Council.
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Lorenzo Sewell, senior pastor of Detroit's 180 Church, said Trump has a chance to go down as “the greatest president of all time” if he plays his cards right. “All he has to do is regulate the (appropriate) resources correctly.”
Samuel Rodriguez is the senior pastor of New Season, a prominent megachurch in the United States, and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. He echoed the sense of hope some faith leaders have on Inauguration Day.
A mother and a little girl pray with their hands folded over the Bible. (St. Petersburg)
“There will be a greater emphasis on protecting religious freedom and ensuring faith communities can thrive,” Rodriguez said. “Policies that honor the role of faith-based organizations in society, whether it's feeding the hungry, educating children, or defending life, will likely take center stage. , I foresee a government that values the contributions of people of faith, not faith-based organizations, but as an essential foundation of our nation.”
Regarding the Jewish community, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and director of Global Social Action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, says anti-Semitism is particularly He said it was happening on social media and on college campuses and was “accepting it.” “About the Hamas story” is a top priority.
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Signs at the anti-Israel encampment at the University of Chicago carry slogans such as “Throw open the gates and globalize the intifada” and “We honor all our martyrs.” (Joseph A. Wolfthorne/Fox News Digital)
“We expect and look forward to a very different approach on the part of the next administration,” Cooper said. “We look forward to seeing an end to the massive sanctions relief that President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken granted to Iran’s terror-sponsoring regime.”
Cooper also said it will be important to build on and advance the Abraham Accords, a series of bilateral agreements on Arab-Israeli normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
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For Tarin, the Muslim community's biggest hope is that President Trump's 2020 order that blocked people from certain Islamic countries from entering the United States is not repeated, he said.
“Number two, the hope is that all Americans, including Muslims in America, their civil rights and civil liberties, and the issues they have stood for, will be protected. Number three, the hope is a ceasefire and an end.” The Middle East, especially It has an impact on the conflict in Gaza,” Tarin said.
He added that it would be helpful if President Trump embraced some of the Biden administration's national strategy on Islamophobia.
Fox News Digital reached out to Trump and Vance's transition team for comment, but did not receive a response.
