I counseled John Kerry on religious affairs. Trump has no idea what hes doing.

He blew it in Saudia Arabia and Israel. Let's hope he doesn't do the same thing at the Vatican.

By Shaun Casey May 24 at 6:00 AM
Shaun Casey is a former special representative for religion and global affairs and director of the US Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs.

Harvard professor Bryan Hehir once famously warned that government officials who deal with the role of religion in foreign policy should see their work as akin to brain surgery — necessary, but fatal if not done well. That thesis will be tested as President Trump concludes his journey to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Occupied Territories, and the Vatican, all on the heels of his worst week as president.

I should know what the stakes are. I was Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s religion adviser as the special representative for religion and global affairs and founding director of the Office of Religion and Global Affairs. I worked in all three spaces Trump will be addressing on this trip: relations with Muslims around the world, Middle East peace and relations with the Vatican. When Kerry met with religious actors or encountered religious dynamics around the world, he had expert resources to draw on to gain a deeper understanding. That is not the case for Trump.

According to Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker’s Washington Post piece last week outlining the various tutorials Jared Kushner prepared for the president ahead of the trip, there seemed to be no presidential tutorial on the religious dynamics of each visit. (Indeed, it appears the first son-in-law reduced every pertinent issue to a one-page paper.) Yet the religious dynamics Trump has and will encounter are among the most complex on the planet. The thought of a one-pager explaining the intricacies of Islam, Judaism and Christianity is so painfully frightening it leaves one speechless.

What are the risks on each stop and how could Trump have been better prepared? Consider each of his three stops.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/05/24/i-counseled-john-kerry-on-religious-affairs-trump-has-no-idea-what-hes-doing/?utm_term=.f0b95c68061e