As you know, I’ve been focusing on Christian nationalism all summer, speaking with a trio of experts on the subject. Then last week, I spoke with State Senate candidate Joel Levi, whose faith pushes him to reject religious extremism and lean into inclusivity, compassion, and empathy.
As we arrive at Labor Day Weekend, football season kicks off, and we enter the home stretch leading up to Election Day, I though it time to focus on some of the other priorities our state-level candidates are emphasizing. But, to quote Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III, “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
And the truth is, in “red states” like Indiana, you can’t escape the grip of Christian nationalism. Over the last several years, religious zealots like Mike Pence, Curtis Hill, and Todd Rokita in this state have used the power of government to insert their extreme views in our bedrooms, classrooms, and doctors’ offices. For all the attention directed at Project 2025 and its theocratic plans for the country, many of those policies are already in place in the MAGA-captured heartland.
My guest today has intimate first-hand experience in a couple areas where GOP religious nationalism directly affects Hoosiers’ right to learn, to love, and to live freely.
Sarah Blessing is a mother of three living in the small, Southern Indiana town of Palmyra, located in Harrison County, about 30 miles northwest of Louisville. She has a masters degree in education and taught for 18 years in a Catholic school, mostly 5th grade. She will tell us what she saw as Indiana’s voucher program directed public money toward private religious schools and the amount of personal control the church could exert on their employee’s personal lives. Sarah also shares the harrowing story of her difficult pregnancies and the care she needed, which in a post-Dobbs world, is now illegal in this state. Hoosier women facing the same situation now would be left to die by Indiana Republicans, and this is why she is running for State House of Representatives in District 70.
Episode 50: Securing the Border - Between Church and State
Guest: Sarah Blessing (D) - Candidate for Indiana State House, District 70
Complete show notes at https://scottaaronrogers.substack.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561719502877
https://indianaruralsummit.org/about
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/sarah-blessing-for-state-house-70-1
Cited in the interview:
House District 70: https://ballotpedia.org/Indiana_House_of_Representatives_District_70
Elvira by the Oak Ridge Boys: https://youtu.be/-4Hd9p30rck
Duke Energy rate increase: https://fox59.com/indiana-news/duke-energy-wants-to-raise-electricity-rates-by-16/
Rate Increase Bill: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1417/details
Citizens Action Coalition:
https://www.citact.org/
Indiana School Vouchers: https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indiana-school-vouchers-choice-scholarship-2024-largest-ever-half-billion
Jennifer McCormick’s Education Plan: https://www.mccormickforgov.com/issues/world-class-local-schools
Indiana Brain Drain: https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2023/04/22/indianas-best-brightest-flee-state-to-live-in-more-progressive-areas/70139397007/
Investing in People Pays Off: https://neweconomics.org/2023/07/investing-in-universal-early-years-education-pays-for-itself
East Palestine Waste Dumped in Indiana: https://fox59.com/indiana-news/indiana-landfill-to-house-waste-shipments-from-toxic-ohio-train-derailment/
Abortion Medication Safer Than Common Drugs: https://www.cnn.com/health/abortion-pill-safety-dg/index.html
Abortion Bans Kill Women: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/abortion-bans-will-result-in-more-women-dying/
Indiana Rape Kit Backlog: https://www.endthebacklog.org/state/indiana/
Progressive Policies are Incredibly Popular: https://www.commondreams.org/news/kamala-harris-progressive-agenda
Corrupt Clark Co Sheriff Jamey Noel: https://www.wlky.com/article/who-is-jamey-noel-clark-county-sheriff-theft-spending-indiana/61975093
Fear of the Other a Powerful Motivator: https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2020/fear-motivator-elections
I am so grateful to Sarah for entrusting me with the story of her most painful, intimate moments, and I’m grateful that I get to share it with you. Even more so, I’m grateful that, in her time of need, we still lived in an Indiana where she could receive the necessary care.
Because we no longer live in that Indiana - and a Hoosier woman in a similar situation now might not live to tell her story.
We live in an Indiana molded by a dozen years of stolen, gerrymandered, Republican supermajority legislatures and 20 years of GOP “leadership” in the Governor’s mansion.
We live in an Indiana that respects the sanctity of life by forcing women to deliver children into a state with some of the worst maternal mortality rates and infant mortality rates. And if mother and infant both survive, best of luck in a state with the worst access to affordable childcare and among the lowest educational attainment, not to mention the dirtiest water and just about the dirtiest air; poor mental health, poor physical health, poor public health, and the 2nd worst overall quality of life. Thanks for breaking our fall, Texas.
We live in an Indiana where Stranger Things are afoot and we’ve been sucked into an upside-down where “religious liberty” means imposing your beliefs on others, “education, not indoctrination” means defunding public schools and funneling tax dollars into private Christian schools, and where “pro-life” means letting women die for want of medical treatment.
This bizarro world is Mike Pence’s Indiana. This is Todd Rokita’s Indiana. This is Eric Holcomb and Todd Huston and Mitch Daniels’ Indiana. (That’s right Mitch, don’t think we forgot about you. We won’t help launder your reputation as some moderate here). This is Dan Burton, Curtis Hill, and Karen Engleman’s Indiana. This is Jim Banks’ Indiana. This is Mike Braun and Micah Beckwith’s Indiana.
But what about our Indiana? Where we respect the art and science of teaching, pay our educators a salary they deserve, and let them do their jobs without threats from extremist groups. Where being “pro-life” does not end with birth, but begin there - with fresh air, clean water, and safe shelter guaranteed as rights because they are necessary for life. Where our elected officials don’t believe that “government is the problem,” but can be a solution to some of our problems. Seriously, if you don’t believe in the mission, why are you even there? And what about our Indiana with real religious liberty, where preachers stay in halls of worship and out of halls of power, where the border between church and state is secure.
Build that wall!
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Episode 50: Securing the Border - Between Church and State