The genesis of this string of musings was being called a Christian Nationalist in a recent conversation in a different setting. I had pointed out that the Northwest Ordinance mentions the value of "religion and education" and required that any new state would provide facilities for both to their communities. This was the basis for what became the ubiquitous one room school house. The individual I was talking to was definitely pro education while simultaneously being anti religion. Of course that required them to respond as they did.
I have always found it interesting that many of the original colonies collected a "tithe" from their citizens which was used to fund the particular denomination of said colony. This did not change with the ratification of the 1st Amendment. The reason was because the 1A was not applicable to the states.
God or the divine is referenced in every state constitution
God or the divine is mentioned at least once in each of the 50 state constitutions and nearly 200 times overall.www.pewresearch.org
The U.S. Constitution never explicitly mentions God or the divine, but the same cannot be said of the nation’s state constitutions. In fact, God or the divine is mentioned at least once in each of the 50 state constitutions and nearly 200 times overall, according to a Pew Research Center analysis....In addition to the 116 mentions of God, there are also 14 mentions of a Supreme or Sovereign Being, seven mentions of the “Creator,” three mentions of “providence,” four mentions of “divine” and 46 instances of the word “almighty.” While there are 32 mentions of the word “Lord,” all but one refer to “the year of our Lord” and so are not direct references to God. (Indeed, the U.S. Constitution also makes reference to “the year of our Lord.”) There also are seven mentions of the word “Christian.”A handful of state constitutions explicitly prohibit those who do not believe in God from holding public office.