Bosma Confirms Prayer Case All About Money And Politics

It’s official. House Speaker Brian Bosma’s federal court battle over sectarian prayers in the Indiana House is all about money and politics. Kudos to Taking Down Words, which delivers the smoking gun—a fundraising letter Speaker Bosma sent out to supporters (and some non-supporters as TDW points out) earlier this month. Speaker Bosma opens the letter with the following:

Last month, a federal court sided with the Indiana Civil Liberties Union by ruling that when a person of faith is asked to pray before the start of a legislative session, they may not mention the name of Jesus . . . I continue to support the offering of uncensored prayer in our chamber . . . For the price of taking a family to dinner and a movie, you can help change Indiana! . . . Would you consider a $45 investment in our values.

Last Friday, Advance Indiana reported on the Indiana Family Institute’s use of the federal prayer lawsuit in a fundraising appeal letter to its supporters. As we wrote then:

The use of this issue in Smith’s fundraising appeal letter is further evidence that the Christian right, and its favorite ally in the General Assembly, House Speaker Brian Bosma, are continuing to fight Hamilton’s ruling for partisan, political gain as opposed to any valid religious freedom claim. The prayer issue becomes just another wedge issue to drive voter turnout and to raise money in an election year just like the group has used SJR 7, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriages.

And yes, that gay marriage issue rears its ugly head in Bosma’s fundraising letter as well. Speaker Bosma lists the values he intends to fight for in the letter, including:

• True freedom of speech


• Traditional marriage between one man and one woman


• Protecting private property from eminent domain


• Protecting the sanctity of life


• Placing an American flag in every classroom and saying the Pledge of Allegiance

Isn’t this agenda very similar to that of KKK Grand Dragon D.C. Stephenson’s Americanization agenda in Indiana during the 1920s? Then again, Bosma’s backwards thinking on social issues should come as no surprise. His father, former State Senator Charles Bosma, an ardent opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment, during the 1970s declared that the “ERA would impose a single standard of sameness on the sexes and that would deal a severe blow to the time-honored relationship between husbands and wives.” As they say, like father like son.