Four key takeaways from Trump's Religious Liberty Commission Report

Almost immediately after the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission released its draft 224-page report Friday (June 26), several faith and civic leaders responded with criticism.

“The report and the commission behind it fail to represent and uplift the importance of religious diversity and tolerance for all faiths in our country — not just a special, chosen few,” the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, said in a statement.

The report is “not a blueprint for protecting religious freedom. It is a roadmap for expanding religious privilege,” said Secular Coalition for America Executive Director Steven Emmert in a statement.

The report set forward dozens of legal and policy recommendations, including establishing a religious liberty violation hotline, forming a Department of Justice religious liberty task force, expanding funding for school choice and appointing judges with a proven commitment to religious liberty.

Here are four key takeaways.

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Photos of the Week: Society of St. Pius X, Venezuela earthquake

Newly consecrated bishops, starting second from left, Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier, wearing their miters and holding their pastoral staffs, pray at the end of their consecration ceremony in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary in Econe, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

In Opinion

And finally, Christian missionaries find new frontier in VRChat.

Ten figures stand in a circle inside a Japanese-style penthouse. The lights are low. A white stormtrooper huddles beside a large, orange cat, who bows his head and clears his throat.

“Father God, just thank you for this opportunity to go and reach out to people who need you,” said the cat, in the voice of Curt Curtis, a Christian missionary in his 60s from Texas.

The room is virtual, but the prayer is not.

“Guide us and direct us to people who have a need in their heart,” Curtis continued.

For three years, Christian missionaries with the evangelical organization Cru have gathered every Friday in VRChat, a popular social platform where millions of people from around the world interact through avatars resembling anime characters, animals, robots and humans. Users can explore thousands of virtual worlds where they talk, flirt, play games and, in the missionaries’ case, spread the gospel.

As more people build friendships and spend significant portions of their lives in virtual spaces, Cru’s missionaries are adapting familiar evangelistic practices to reach them.

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