The Constitution only protects the rights of people in historically marginalized groups if listed.
The Constitution mentions neither “Jesus Christ” nor “the Bible” but “God” is everywhere.
Stated differently, neither “dyke” nor “queer” is in the text. Get the message? 1/10

IN’s Lt Gov says “separation of church and State” isn’t in the text of the Constitution [FN1] so 1st Amendment’s establishment clause [FN2] can be tossed. His deity is absent in founding docs, so IN’s Lt Gov reads “God” into our history & alters records. At a town hall, a person 2/10

pointed out the “Constitution contains no references to the Bible or Christianity.” IN’s Lt Gov replied that “God” is mentioned in ““the Declaration of Independence four times.” [FN3] That sounds impressive, but is not true: 3/10

1) IN’s Lt Gov, et al, as this incident illustrates, glom onto any mention of “God” as their deity.
2) The references in the Declaration [FN4] are not to a Judeo-Christian deity, but are consistent w/deism.[FN5]
3) IN’s Lt Gov, a while back, cited a letter written in 1816 by John Jay. [FN6] 4/10

Aside from not being a delegate to the 1787 convention [FN7], the Federalists he wrote did not deal with religion. Federalists 2-5 dealt dangers from foreign force and influence. Federalist 64 dealt with the Senate. 5/10

As I’ve noted, in this series of blogs, I challenge IN Lt Gov Micah Beckwith’s assertion that this country was founded as “Christian.” These blogs are written to preserve a record as we watch the far right act to kill this country. With Gov Braun’s take-over of Indiana University and 6/10

his appointment of James Bopp, Jr underline the importance of preserving this part of history. The occupant of the Oval Office could order Sequoias and Redwoods to be chopped up for paneling in his home. The trees could be lost forever, as would records of our history. 7/10

Footnotes:
FN1. “Beckwith debates Hoosiers in chippy town hall,” Indiana Capital Chronicle, 5/28/25, accessed 06/02/25.
FN2. Id.
FN3. Id.
FN4. Those references are: “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” “Supreme Judge” and “divine Providence.” Declaration of Independence. 8/10

FN5. : “In place of this Hebrew God, deists postulated a distant deity. The Declaration [] displays precisely this kind of wording and sense of a distant deity.” Holmes, David L., “The Faiths of the Founding Fathers,” (2006 ed) pp. 46-47. 9/10

FN6. “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Ltr to Rep John Murray from John Jay, 10/12/1816. 10/10