Bible study members translated the studies into religious-liberty policy reversals

Evidence

The dividends in policy have already begun to show. In 2018, Capitol Ministries Bible study group member Jeff Sessions issued guidelines for the Justice Department giving religious individuals and groups “protections to express their beliefs” when they come into conflict with government regulations. The initiative was similar in approach to the formation in 2018 of a Conscience and Religious Freedom Division of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights, which was formerly led by CapMin member Tom Price, and whose purpose is in large part to ensure that health care providers can deny services to individuals whose sexual orientation, “lifestyle,” or other characteristics offend their religious sensibilities. — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 174

Categorization

• XREF: The pattern of policy flowing from what looks like private devotion echoes how supposedly private ritual served state ends across the whole religion-and-empire corpus. — connects to: Christian nationalist Bible-study groups aim to saturate every level of US government — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 179; Biblical justifications supplied governing rationale for EPA regulatory rollbacks — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 175; Evangelical ministries now operate Bible studies inside the UN and State Department — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 177

Broader Connections

• Christian nationalist Bible-study groups aim to saturate every level of US government #expands (0.88) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 179