This afternoon, I received, via email, the full text of which I shall provide on my blog an “Open Letter to Micah Beckwith, Indiana Lt Governor Candidate, Who Wants to Bring Theocracy to Indiana and the USA,” from Dr Matthias Beier

Link to Dr Beier's letter:

Open Letter to Micah Beckwith, Indiana Lt. Governor Candidate, Who ...

Dr Beier is Associate Prof. of Pastoral Theology & Mental Health Counseling, Christian Theological Seminary. On August 17, I wrote about an article Dr Beier had written that is referenced in this letter today. Dr Beier also references an article by Philip Gulley,

“A Quaker Looks at Transgender People.” I provide the link to the first article. I shall try to provide the link to the second article.

“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:

[Article: “The Politics of Demonizing: A Violent Temptation,” Dr. Matthias Beier, Aug 13, 2024
https://open.substack.com/pub/matthiasbeier/p/the-politics-of-demon.. ]

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 Philip Gulley 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:

[Plain Speech with Philip Gulley, A Quaker Looks at Transgender People

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”