Advocates Outraged That Feds Asked Banks to Search Customers’ ‘Religious Texts’ Purchases

The federal government flagged transactions for religious texts, according to documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee

Tony Perkins (C), president of the Family Research Council, speaks during an interfaith roundtable on the Chinese Communist Party's threat to religious freedom in Washington on July 12, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Faith leaders and religious liberty advocates are up in arms over news that the federal government encouraged banks and other financial institutions to search customers’ private accounts using the search term “religious texts.”

The “religious texts” search term was among those federal officials asked financial institutions to use following the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, a congressional source with direct knowledge confirmed to The Epoch Times on Jan. 18.