By Evan Dutmer
June 9, 2026
On May 21, during an appearance on a conservative podcast, Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith declared, “I hate Islam. It’s a demonic death cult.” Beckwith continued, “We’re giving people permission to hate again, and I know that sounds a little harsh at first, but we’ve seen this movement to eradicate hate in our culture, that is the worst thing we could do.”
I was struck by the disharmony between Beckwith’s statements and my current research. I study ancient philosophy and the history of political thought, focusing especially on the influence of the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero.
I am currently re-reading Erasmus’s Education of a Christian Prince, deeply influenced by Cicero’s vision for virtuous leadership. In this book, first published in 1516, Desiderius Erasmus, the great Dutch humanist and publisher of the first printed Greek New Testament, lays out the foundations for good leadership, rooted in virtuous character in leaders and concern for the flourishing of all citizens. (While Erasmus, true to his era, remarks on the “good prince,” his vision applies to leaders at all levels.)
Citing both Scripture and ancient philosophy, Erasmus makes an impassioned case for leadership rooted in benevolence, not hatred. Citing Aristotle, he calls hatred one of the principal threats to good government. Hatred from leaders is corrosive and must be met with benevolent love at every turn. Insults, Erasmus says, can be the beginning of a chain reaction, always easier to start than to stop. Erasmus even bemoans preachers who shirk their duty to “root out hostility” in the hearts of their congregants.
When Erasmus wrote Education of a Christian Prince, many European writers, scholars, heads of state and their courts were seeking new wars against the Ottoman Empire. They attacked Islam and called for holy wars. Erasmus rejected these arguments, calling this “long-standing mania” a stain on Christendom. (On February 28, Beckwith celebrated the start of the 2026 Iran War by calling for the people of Iran to rise up against “tyrants in turbans.”) Erasmus calls instead for Christian leaders to model Christ, Prince of Peace, and “stretch every muscle” for peace and harmony, modelling a future without endless war.
Still, Erasmus is no starry-eyed idealist. He knows many disagree with him.
What ought Christian leaders inclined to hatred do, then, according to Erasmus? Re-educate themselves. Re-educate themselves according to the virtues of benevolence: fairness, kindness, mercy, and compassion. Emulate peaceful Solomon, he says, over warlike David. (Erasmus is thinking of 1 Chronicles 22, 7-11.)
Why should leaders do this? Because, Erasmus thinks, the people imitate their leaders. Leaders can, if they try, transform the moral character of their followers toward justice, love, moderation, mercy, gentleness, and kindness.
Leaders can also do the opposite. Under cruel leaders, Erasmus writes, people act cruelly and bring false accusations against one another. Before you know it, Erasmus says, every province of the world will have a reason to hate every other province, and every city of each state will have a reason to hate every other city.
Erasmus remarks again and again that education is the key to producing good leadership—hence the title of his treatise. Leaders must be nourished with education that produces ample exemplars of indiscriminate love and benevolence, wisdom, restraint, compassion, and integrity. (And, yes, against his contemporary Machiavelli, Erasmus thinks this applies to politics, too.) Erasmus argues that emerging leaders ought to have tutors and teachers of impeccable character who can lay the foundations for good leadership in their hearts and minds.
Mr. Beckwith, it seems to me, may find a very good tutor in Erasmus of Rotterdam, whose lessons for leadership are rooted in its most timeless foundations: virtuous character, love for people, and hope for the future.
Evan Dutmer is Senior Instructor in Ethics in the Department of Leadership Education at Culver Academies, a boarding school in Culver, Indiana. He is the author of Cicero’s New Leadership: A Proto-Transformational Leadership Theory (Edward Elgar, 2026) and over twenty academic journal articles and chapters. He received his PhD in Ancient Philosophy at Northwestern University. The views expressed here are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Culver Academies or any other organizations with which he is affiliated. Also, the views and opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Indiana Citizen or any other affiliated organization.
