Open Letter to Micah Beckwith, Indiana Lt. Governor Candidate, Who Wants to Bring Theocracy to Indiana and the USA
Re: Micah Beckwith For Indiana's post against Fishers PRIDE:
Dear Mr. Beckwith,
If you want to protect our children, protect them from yourself. You are the danger, Sir. You easily demonize everyone you disagree with, thus using the name of God in vain (as evidenced on your political FB page). You project your own greed for power and your aggression toward other people into God and then find Bible verses to rationalize your aggressive attitude. You play God. This has nothing to do with Jesus or God, no matter how many times you invoke the name of Jesus or God. I teach pastors and train mental health counselors. You are not formally trained as a pastor. In your grandiosity, you once replied, when called out on this, that you don't need formal training because you speak directly to Jesus. Many people in psychiatric institutions claim to do the same every day. The Jesus you talk about looks very much like your own mind and has little to do with who Jesus actually was, as the historical study of the Bible by scholars shows us. This creates unhealthy religion and unhealthy politics. Unhealthy religion, incl. your theocratic vision for Indiana and the USA, is among the most harmful things to mental and community health, including in the rural areas you are counting on for being elected.
You have openly stated in comments that those you see possessed by demons should be dealt with like the Nazis: to be killed. Among those you consider possessed by evil demons are your Democratic opponents and anyone whose opinion or moral values you vehemently disagree with on a given day, which includes members of the LGBTQ+ community. That betrays a dictatorial mindset, not one fit for Lt. Governor of all the people of Indiana. See more here on other dangerous theocratic statements you have made, including on the violent Jan. 6 insurrection:
If you really want to protect our children, protect them from this your attitude.
If you really want to protect our children, protect them from bullets and bullies. More than 2,500 children die from gunshots every year in the US, both from homicides but also from suicides, often because children feel demonized or bullied by others like you. Among the victims of murders are children killed in school shootings, often by other children who should not have had access to guns, like the 16-year-old child using his father's gun for the recent school shooting in Georgia.
By contrast, how many people have been killed by drag queens? None. They are not the danger. Your demonizing of them is the danger, the demonizing of a small, vulnerable minority that does no harm to you nor "our" children. They are the ones being harmed. They are four times more likely to be victims of violence.
Fortunately, there are other pastors like well-known Indiana Quaker author
who have taken serious scientific research on the partially genetic origins of transgender identity and recognize that transgender people do not need our demonizing but rather the same respect that any other human being deserves:So, Mr. Beckwith, please stop using "God" to bully vulnerable minorities and to demonize those you disagree with. And please stop using the name of God in vain for your inflated ego claims to political power for which you are just as unqualified as for your work as a pastor in terms of the true spirit of Jesus, as summarized in his Beatitudes. Jesus did not hate or demonize or kill. He loved. Period. And that is what got him killed. Not a pseudo-struggle for ‘religious liberty.’
I welcome a frank discussion with you about these matters anytime, any place.
Sincerely,
Matthias Beier
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Apparently, in response to my Open Letter to him (published two days ago here), Candidate for Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith finally read the Indiana Constitution to find out about the limits his theocratic vision would face. Then he posted references to the IN Constitution on his FB page that guarantee religious liberty and (although he would never call it that) the separation of church and state as a kind of fig leaf to which he can now point to how open-minded he is.
Of course, there is no change of heart, no sudden open-mindedness. Beckwith uses the term "religious liberty" as shorthand for "As a Christian, I can talk about my theocratic vision as much as I want" on my political FB page and in public. He is hypocritical about the fact that he plans to impose his religion on the people of the state if he is a government official. He has already made it clear that as Senate President, he intends to shape and influence the conversation with his [Christian] 'opinions' (which goes beyond that role). In fact, on Sept. 21, he will talk about "Biblical Citizenship" and explain the "Myths behind the separation of church and state." See the announcement on his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1069142348548301