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At last week’s inauguration, America’s corporate press hailed the incoming Joe Biden presidency as the dawn of a new and hope-filled era marked by peace and national unity. Indeed, these were strong themes carried by Joe Biden in his inauguration speech.

It is an attractive narrative, and one that even many Christians will likely warm to. But the actions of the Biden administration, even in just the first week of his presidency, tell quite a different story.

When a new president steps into office, it is common for a series of executive orders to be signed in fulfilment of election promises. These orders bypass Congress, making them easy to pass, but also easy to revoke by future presidents. They can also be quite divisive, given that they don’t require any bipartisan support from the opposing party.

On entering office, Donald Trump signed four such orders in his first few weeks. Obama signed eight. In just his first three days, Joe Biden signed no less than 30 executive orders. A collection of these were issued in response to the coronavirus situation — but many others were aimed at directly reversing Trump’s legacy, particularly on key Christian and pro-American values.

One of the more controversial of these dealt a fatal blow to women’s sports in America. It compels any federally funded educational institution to allow biological men who identify as transgender to compete in women’s sporting competitions.

Biden has also rescinded Trump’s ban on the teaching of Critical Race Theory in federal departments. Christopher F. Rufo, a director at the Discovery Institute, observed:

“Critical race theory is a grave threat to the American way of life. It divides Americans by race and traffics in the pernicious concepts of race essentialism, racial stereotyping, and race-based segregation — all under a false pursuit of ‘social justice.’”

In another order, Biden recommitted the U.S. to the Paris climate accord, which handicaps the American economy while allowing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to continue polluting. He also reversed a Trump order that banned CCP involvement in America’s power grid.

Additionally, Biden halted America’s exit from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which Donald Trump initiated after the WHO’s cosy relationship with the CCP hindered the global response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden administration has also deleted the Chinese Communist Party from its list of ‘policy issues’ on the State Department’s website. These decisions are not particularly surprising for those aware of the Biden family’s long history of overseas dealings.

President Biden has signalled that the U.S. is open to illegal immigrants by halting deportations; freeing all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees; halting the border wall construction; and ordering non-citizens to be included in the census and congressional seat count.

Meanwhile, talk of a new domestic terrorism bill has even Democrat lawmakers concerned, as Americans wonder how many of Trump’s 74 million voters will be included in the resurgent Democrat Party’s definition of a “white supremacist”.

On the 48th anniversary of Roe v Wade, Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement affirming their wholehearted embrace of abortion, including their intent to have Roe v Wade codified in U.S. law so that it cannot be overturned by a future Supreme Court ruling. Anthony Fauci has indicated that the new president will repeal the “Mexico City Policy”, in order to allow federal funding to promote and pay for abortions in the developing world.

On a different front, blue-collar workers from America’s heartland were upset to learn about Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL permit, which promoted U.S. oil trade with Canada. This decision may threaten up to 70,000 American jobs, and it hasn’t been received well by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

For Democrats, Biden voters, and progressives more generally in America, there is lots of peace and unity to look forward to. For everyone else, there are some deep concerns about the path ahead for America — concerns that were well known long before the election.

But at least anyone who submits a complaint can now choose their preferred pronouns on the White House website’s new contact form.