President Trump's order on religious liberty gives a symbolic nod to the Evangelical community which supported him during the election. It has little practical relevance, but still might provide an interesting insight.

When a leaked draft of the executive order on religious liberty President Donald Trump eventually signed on Thursday surfaced several months ago, it got religious conservatives excited and rights groups concerned.

That's because the measure's early version reportedly contained several controversial provisions. Among them was language that could be interpreted to protect religious-based discrimination by businesses against LGBT Americans, allowing religious groups to explicitly support political candidates and broadening religious-based exemptions against healthcare plans that provide contraception.

All three points, as well as many other contentious issues, do not feature at all or are referenced in such vague terms in the executive order ultimately signed by the president that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a traditionally reliable watchdog when it comes to challenging potential digressions by the White House, voiced relief.

Scholars studying the Trump presidency concurred that the measure, signed by the president on National Prayer Day while flanked by religious leaders, had little immediate political consequences.

Forgettable order

"This is a pretty forgettable executive order," said Jason Reifler, an American political scientist at the University of Exeter in Britain.

It's no big shift, said Ivan Morgan, professor of United States studies at University College London (UCL). But, he added, it is an important symbolic gesture to the Evangelicals who had been staunch supporters of the president during his election campaign.