Indiana Sucked Into The Bible Belt

 My Aunt Mary Ellen said to me decades ago that Indiana was in the Bible Belt. I balked at that idea. It might have been from my friends being anti-church - a couple adamantly so. I had lost interest and faith in the church by the time I was eighteen. Growing up in Anderson, headquarters of The Church of God, may have influenced my opinion. Later, when I was older and heard more of what happened when the Church of God convention came to town - including an increase in local liquor sales, according to one informant.

But all that seems undercut by Where Christian nationalism is most dominant in the U.S. (Axios) We are not there yet.

State of play: Many adherents say the U.S. was founded as the "Promised Land" for white European Christians, and falsely believe the founding fathers sought to create a Christian nation, PRRI president Robert P. Jones tells Axios.

• Critics say Christian nationalism reinforces rigid, male-dominated leadership models in church, home and government, and merges religious identity with white ethnic nationalism.
• It also elevates Christianity — often a specific conservative Protestant expression — above other faiths.

Having dealt with my oldest sister lecturing me on the Constitution and the takeover of this country by Muslims and Spanish speakers without any success, this news leaves me in an even worse mood. It seems Americans were taught their history, and even worse, American Protestants are even more clueless about their history and  their religion.

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