Housing Secretary Lets Staff Go Home Early For Easter To Reflect On Jesus

[riversedge]

Source: huff Post


“We go into this holy weekend with freedoms that the world has never known,”
reads a department-wide email from Scott Turner’s chief of staff.

Jennifer Bendery Apr 18, 2025, 01:39 PM EDT


WASHINGTON – Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner told his thousands of federal employees that they can leave work early Friday in honor of Easter and Passover, sending them a brazenly religious message declaring “all men are endowed by their creator” with certain rights and referencing a time when “Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples showing that sacrifice can truly change the world.”

Turner informed HUD workers in an internal email Wednesday night that they can leave work four hours early Friday to begin their religious rituals.


“America’s founding fathers proclaimed that all men are endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — this declaration rang true as the Jews fled Egypt and found freedom in the Holy Land, and it rang true once again when Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples showing that sacrifice can truly change the world,” reads the email sent on behalf of Turner via his chief of staff, Andrew Hughes.

...............

“I hope that everyone at HUD takes a moment to recognize what a privilege it is to live in a country that puts her citizens first,” reads Turner’s message.


Not only does the HUD secretary’s message blur the line between church and state, but his call on staff to reflect on how how lucky they are to live in a country that “puts her citizens first” is wildly disconnected from the reality that President Donald Trump is actively looking for ways to deport U.S. citizens, arresting and detaining U.S. citizens, deporting U.S. citizen children with parents who are undocumented and, most alarmingly, defying a Supreme Court order to bring back a Maryland man who was in the country legally but deported to El Salvador due to an “administrative error.”

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Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hud-scott-turner-easter-us-citizens_n_67f93f90e4b060848e3e3f56

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[surfered]

1. I can imagine his prayer,

Lord, I ask your blessing in my endeavors to deny shelter to the homeless. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[Blue Owl]

2. Time to reflect on how tRump is the polar opposite of Jesus

[Jacson6]

3. When I was in the Military 40 years ago I had Good Friday off.

Allowing employees to have religious days of observance is not a bad thing. IMHO.

The military did the same thing for Jewish & Muslim soldiers on their holidays.

[WmChris]

4. Not now

I can't see this administration honoring Muslim holidays.

[Jacson6]

5. It is up to the soldier's commander. The administration is not micro managing unit level passes & leaves.

At least not yet!

[WmChris]

7. Not yet

Unfortunately intimidation and innuendo go a long way into decisions involving what might bring the commander in chiefs wrath.

[MurrayDelph]

15. If he had just let them off, it would have been OK with me

but that little editorial message creates a hostile work environment.

[Bengus81]

22. All Government employees so.... WASTE and ABUSE eh Eloon??

Better have at that you fucking POS starting Monday.

[Irish_Dem]

20. Yes but the US military didn't cram religion down your throats like this.

At least they didn't when I was a kid in a USAF family.

[walkingman]

6. There is no line between church and state anymore, was there ever?

[lonely bird]

8. Puts its citizens first?

Bullshit.

[jmowreader]

9. If he really cared about Jesus...

…he would have just declared a four-day holiday around the start of April and not made his staff come in at all. It would have been four days rather than three because some Christian denominations celebrate Easter Monday - if you believe the Bible you know that if Jesus was crucified on Friday the rock is still in front of the cave on Sunday and Monday is the actual day He rose.

[TomSlick]

14. According to the Bible, the resurrection occurred on Sunday.

Luke 24:1-12 "But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. . . "

The sabbath is the seventh day of the week, i.e. Saturday. The first day of the week is Sunday. That is why the early church moved from observance of the sabbath to observance of the Lord's day.

Easter Monday is the second day of Easter Tide.

[synni]

10. Dear Jesus, save us from your fan club

Amen!

[MayReasonRule]

11. I'm With Anthony Bourdain...

[DBoon]

12. so do they reflect on this?

"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.

[kimbutgar]

13. I remember working for several companies and they gave Good Friday off !

[Roy Rolling]

16. Pick Your Battles

This guy has a shitload of faults and incompetencies to report. Leaving work early on a Friday is just petty.

[bmichaelh]

17. Politics

Once, I worked for a hospital.

In my department, many of the members would go to the local church on the weekend.

It was a political decision not a religion decision.

During the week, some of these would bully co-employees; sometimes, for fun, other times, to get ahead.

Many of the management would enable this behavior or ignore the problem.

[RandySF]

18. Who's going to turn down an early shift end?

I remember having Good Friday off as a public employee in Michigan.

[the nelm]

19. "We go into this holy weekend with freedoms that the world has never known,"

As they go about their days removing freedom after freedom...talk about tone deaf.

[Bengus81]

21. Going to let those workers off early on the Friday before Labor Day?

Yeah....sure you will.