Prominent Republican leaders joined Democrats, religious leaders and devout Hoosiers at the Indiana Statehouse on Thursday to condemn faith-based discrimination — a response to anti-Islam comments Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith made last month, including calling the religion a “demonic death cult.”
“In recent weeks, words have been spoken that have left many Hoosiers feeling unseen, unwelcome, afraid, and even targeted,” said Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis.
“Today is not about answering fear with fear,” added Qaddoura, a practicing Muslim who co-organized the gathering with the Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network. “… We answer with unity instead of division. We answer with hope instead of fear. We answer with love instead of hatred.”
An estimated 150 Hoosiers gathered midday to hear from Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders, as well as Hindu and Sikh community representatives.
Rabbi Aaron Spiegel, the executive director and president of the Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance, noted that most religions have, “in some form or fashion, the idea that everyone is created equally, in the image of the divine, the Creator, the Great Spirit.”
“All,” Spiegel emphasized. “Not those who look, think, and believe like me. All … We are members of a family and commanded to take care of one another.”
Asawari Kaur, a Sikh and business owner, said people of all faiths should condemn discrimination.
“If we sit high and allow one group of neighbors to be labeled as a threat without standing up and saying, ‘No, not in our state,’ then we leave the door wide open for the same hatred to be turned against (us),” she said. “… We are fundamentally interconnected. Our safety is tied to your safety. Our freedom to worship is tied to your freedom of worship.”
State Treasurer Daniel Elliott argued that applies to different sects of Christianity.
Elliott — a conservative Republican — is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church.
“Here’s what history teaches us. First, we say it’s okay to hate Muslims, then the Hindu, then the Jew, and then they tell Christians to stay quiet. It isn’t about you,” he said. “But then one day you wake up and you’re not the right flavor of Christian, and suddenly it is you.”
The Pentagon this week caused consternation when it left Latter-day Saints out of a definition of Christian religions.
Elliott pointed to Missouri and Illinois’ expulsion of Latter-day Saints in the 1800s, which included an extermination order that wasn’t formally rescinded until 1976. Elliott later told reporters that danger persists, citing a deadly mass shooting and arson attack at a Mormon church in Michigan last year.
Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, said government should stay out of religion.
“God decides what is God’s, and Satan gets the rest. For our government to put itself in the place of God and make that judgment, instead of letting our Lord make that judgment, we all stand in a weaker state,” Walker said.
Comments and safety concerns
Beckwith drew headlines after declaring, “I hate Islam. It’s a demonic death cult,” on a May 21 episode of Christian political program FlashPoint.
“Now, I love Muslims because they make great Christians when Jesus gets a hold of them,” he continued. “But I hate Islam. And we need to be okay with hating again.”
Maliha Zafar, executive director of the Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network, said such rhetoric can have “life and death consequences” for minority religious communities.
A security guard and two community members were fatally shot outside a mosque in California last month. The attack is being investigated as a hate crime, authorities have said.
Qaddoura said mosques across Indiana have had to hire additional security.
“We reject political violence,” he told reporters. “We reject rhetoric that leads to political violence.”
The organizers asked attendees to sign a pledge calling on Gov. Mike Braun to issue a public statement affirming the state’s commitment to protecting religious freedom.
Braun told reporters earlier this month that Beckwith “was making a point that he probably regrets (making) in that fashion, because it’s taken away from the essence.”
“If there’s a religion that is using violence and doing things that doesn’t make sense to most religions, saying it in a way that brings up a word like hate, you probably just lost the impact of the point you were trying to make,” Braun continued. “I wouldn’t have said it that way. He’ll have to figure out how to get around it, because that’s probably not what he intended to do.”
Beckwith has maintained his position in social media posts and a podcast episode, and reaffirmed his take in a statement Thursday.
“I love and support all groups of people who come to our country legally and assimilate to our culture,” he said. “Sharia Law does the exact opposite of that and promotes the destruction of our country, our Constitution, and our way of life. I will never apologize for saying the United States of America is now and always should be one nation under God.”
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