By Bill Moreau
The Indiana Citizen
September 30, 2026
I was happy to accept my friend Rebecca Reeder’s invitation from Hoosiers United for the Separation of Church and State to lead a recent panel discussion at their 2nd annual Larry Hayes First Amendment Forum in Fort Wayne.
Here’s the story freelancer Greta Lapp Klassen wrote for us about the event.
The keynote speaker was Dartmouth Religion Professor and Episcopal priest Randall Balmer, author of “America’s Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State.” His presentation dissected and rebutted Christian nationalists’ revisionist version of American history. The redoubtable Sheila Suess Kennedy then engaged Prof. Balmer in a lively discussion.
Here’s Sheila’s take on the session from her blog. If you don’t yet subscribe, you should.
Before starting my part of the program, I asked the engaged attendees to join me in singing a few lines of “God Bless America.” To my delight, most sang along loudly, smiling at my song choice.
“Okay everyone,” I said, “You’re now officially members of the choir!” Everyone laughed; they got it.
“So, our conversation will try to get beyond ‘preaching to the choir.’ How do we get outside our own echo chamber?”
That was the overarching question for the panel discussion I moderated. The greater Fort Wayne community is lucky to have such committed activists as Nikki Fultz of Fort Wayne Pride, Molly Gaines of the Secular Education Association, Laura Jacobs of Fuerza Unida, Joshua King of NeighborLink Fort Wayne and the legendary Harriet Miller, 89 years old and the most energetic advocate on the stage.
On the drive back to Indianapolis, I was the choir being preached to, and finished the podcast I’d started on the way up and listened to two more.
As I pulled into the driveway, it hit me: “Way to go Bill, you just spent about seven hours inside your own echo chamber.”
How can it be that 235 years after the enactment of the Bill of Rights we’re still arguing about the church/state distinction? Simple answer: for Christian nationalists, it’s the fuel in their tanks.
Here’s a fun exercise: Ask any AI platform the question, “Did the founders intend to create the United States as a Christian nation?” If you get an answer other than “no,” please let me know right away.
We’re trying to put the separation of church and state “on the ballot,” through our questionnaire for school board candidates:
Some Americans say the United States was founded on the principle that all religions should be respected and agree that the idea of the separation of church and state is a good idea. Other Americans say our founders intended the United States to be a Christian nation and the idea of the separation of church and state is a myth. Which is closer to your view?
You can find the entire questionnaire here. We’d love your help getting the questionnaire into the hands of your school board candidates. You can figure out who’s running for your school board by going to our Virtual Ballot™.
If you have 15 minutes to spare, we’d love your help test-driving our Virtual Ballot™. The goal is to double-check our ballot against the information maintained by the Secretary of State’s office. If you have the time to do so, please email me at bill.moreau@indianacitizen.org and I will send you the step-by-step instructions.
The deadline for registering to vote is October 5. It’s worth a minute to double-check you’re registered AND your address is accurate. For those who qualify, you can also request an absentee ballot. Just go to our landing page and we’ll direct you.
The four candidates for Indiana Secretary of State will debate twice in October. The Indiana Debate Commission will host one on October 7. More details are here.
At this writing, the final debate is October 22, sponsored by Fox59 and CBS4. Those details are here.
While the election for Indiana’s Secretary of State is certainly the marquee race this year—there’s no U.S. Senate seat on the ballot—there are also contests and questions on your ballot that need your attention. Use our trusty Virtual Ballot™ to become informed.
As if I haven’t promoted our Virtual Ballot™ enough (!), we need your help getting it into the hands of our fellow Hoosiers who are outside our echo chambers.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Indiana Citizen or any other affiliated organization.
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about this commentary, contact Bill Moreau at bill.moreau@indianacitizen.org
