Jezebels and twisted history
By: Don Knebel and Sheila Suess Kennedy
Oct. 11, 2024
You may have heard that the Democrats on the Indiana ballot this fall embody the “Jezebel spirit” and “boldness for immorality.”
So said Pastor Micah Beckwith, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, on a recent internet broadcast.
By contrast, said the avowed Christian nationalist, our state’s Republican candidates represent “strength and Godly boldness.”
The host of the broadcast likened the Jezebel spirit to witchcraft.
In right-wing Christian circles, one newspaper reported, the Jezebel spirit invokes not only sexual temptresses but also folks who advocate for reproductive and LGBTQ rights.
It’s code for “they are from Satan,” a professor at Christian Theological Seminary said. “It’s a way to demonize the opponents.”
In the Hebrew Scriptures, also known as the Christian Old Testament, Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab. She convinced her husband to turn away from the God of Moses and instead worship Baal, a rival god.
Before making news with the Jezebel spirit, Beckwith earned the attention of another news outlet – for recruiting an advisory panel to help him govern according to what he considers Christian principles.
Contrary to Christian nationalist doctrine, the United States was not founded as a Christian nation.
John Adams was one of the chief architects of the U.S. Constitution. A decade later, Adams was our second president. In 1797 he delivered a treaty to the Senate and the Senate ratified it. That treaty was with Tripoli, to bring an end to battles between the U.S. Navy and the Barbary pirates.
Article 11 provided that “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
Throughout history, rulers have proclaimed that their authority was bestowed by God. Instead, the authors of our Constitution declared that governmental power comes from – and resides with – “the people.” In fact, the Constitution makes no mention of God, a fact that was noted at the time of its adoption.
Article VI, Clause 3 expressly states: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
So careful were the drafters of the Constitution to avoid reference to any particular god that they omitted the customary “so help me God” from the presidential oath.
In the Declaration of Independence, the reference to “Divine Providence” is not to any particular god, let alone the Christian God, but rather to the concept of a governing presence in the universe. That idea originated with Seneca. The Roman Stoic philosopher, born shortly before Jesus, would never be confused with a Christian.
So careful were the authors of the Declaration of Independence to avoid reference to any particular god that they even omitted the customary “the year of our Lord” from the date.
As our Founding Fathers recognized, a real American is not defined by religious beliefs.
Regardless of his or her own faith tradition, a real American believes in the ideal of religious pluralism with individual freedom. Our country was founded on that principle. It is that ideal that we as Americans long have had in common, whatever our religious traditions, if any.
Those who deny it are attacking the very essence of what holds us together and makes us great.
Don Knebel is founder of the Center for Interfaith Cooperation and founder and president of ReCenter Indiana Inc.
Sheila Suess Kennedy is emerita professor of law and public policy at Indiana University Indianapolis.