“Collective Faith”
What did the Governor of Kentucky say?
Political commentators all over social media applauded Kentucky last November as Governor Andy Beshear — D, beat challenger Daniel Cameron — R in the general election. I do not regret casting my vote for Governor Beshear.
By nature, however, I am wary of all politicians. This wariness has served me well in protecting my optimism.
As such, I wasn’t shocked when I saw his Facebook post from January 3, 2024, just disappointed.
That last line is concerning.
Collective. It’s an adjective that means a group or a whole.
There isn’t an official religion or faith in Kentucky.
There isn’t an official religion or faith in the United States of America. It isn’t permitted. The First Amendment of the American Constitution has 2 clauses in it regarding religion. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Establishment prohibits the government from “establishing” (the US Courts website defines that as state-sponsoring) a religion. [https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/first-amendment-and-religion]
So what “collective faith” is the governor speaking on? Not only did he mention it on his official Governor's Facebook account, but he repeated the phrase in the State of the Commonwealth Address on the evening of January 3, 2024.
Now it is not surprising that he is Christian. He has always been open about his faith.
It is the insinuation that everyone shares that same faith, as evidenced by his use of ‘collective’; that is what is concerning.
According to Pew Research, 76% of Kentuckians are some type of Christian. 2% of Kentuckians are of a non-Christian faith (Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc). 22% of Kentuckians consider themselves unaffiliated with religion. This is where the atheists and agnostics are listed. Less than 1% of Kentuckians say that they don’t know.
So what “collective faith”, Andy?
Even if you go with the majority, the 76% that believe in Christianity, which version? There are tens of thousands of denominations that believe and practice differently.
[https://www.livescience.com/christianity-denominations.html]
I called the Governor’s office around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, January 4, 2024. The person who answered seemed confused by my request for clarification and transferred me to the communications director. I was directed by the answering machine to leave a message. As of publishing this article, there has been no response. I will update here if that status changes.
I had no intention of writing this article, initially. I reached out to my governor’s office for clarification as a private citizen. This article is the result of being sent to the person who handles media inquiries.
I am not a journalist.