He seemed like just another low-rent Elmer Gantry wannabe, a slick little hustler desperate to sell religious-themed scams to the terminally gullible and get his fix in the spotlight while he did so.
As ignorant of U.S. history and the U.S. Constitution—he called the notorious three-fifths compromise that made slaves unwilling collaborators in their own subjugation a blessing for Black Americans—as a stump, his shuck-and-jive act always veered toward bigotry.
Because he seemed as shallow as a puddle during an August drought and appeared as intimidating as the Pillsbury Dough Boy, it was easy to relegate him to the category of sit-com villains, the sort of ne’er-do-well whose schemes and machinations were designed to provide comic relief, not loom with actual menace.
It was wrong to do so.
I was wrong to do so.
Because Micah Beckwith is dangerous.
His recent noxious, bigoted comments about Muslims make that clear.
On a Christian web talk show, Beckwith called Islam “a demonic death cult.” He argued that Americans should give themselves permission to hate again—and specifically to hate Muslims.
When a coalition of interfaith religious leaders coordinated by the Jewish Community Relations Council condemned his comments, Beckwith responded with a statement whose tone wavered between petulant and incendiary.
He cast himself as the aggrieved party and called the members of the coalition—which included the Indiana Board of Rabbis—“deeply misguided” on questions of faith.
Only Micah Beckwith would think that he could or should instruct a rabbi on what it means to be Jewish.
Then he all but placed a bounty on the heads of Muslim citizens.
And suddenly it all stopped being funny.
I don’t know if Micah Beckwith actually means to do harm. I cannot say with certainty that he is trying to incite unstable people to commit acts of violence against an already persecuted minority.
But that’s one possible—even likely—outcome of his intemperate outbursts.
More likely, he’s just so self-absorbed, feckless and detached from reality that he doesn’t understand that a supposed leader’s words have consequences, for good or ill. They can help or, as they’re likely to do in this case, they can harm.
That’s why serious leaders weigh what they say before they speak. They think about how their followers might respond to even their offhand comments.
They don’t yammer just to hear themselves talk.
But it’s possible to be a serious threat without being a serious man.
Beckwith has proved that.
His words, whether he means them or even understands their implications, speak volumes.
Sadly, so does the silence of other supposed leaders.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has been as mute as a mime since Beckwith started his fulminations. As the outrage created and nurtured by his lieutenant governor became a conflagration, Braun uttered not a syllable.
It’s easy to understand why the governor wouldn’t want to engage with Beckwith—disciplining the lieutenant governor will be like trying to put a muzzle on a rabid dog—but real leaders don’t hide under their desks during a time of challenge.
The governor, though, shouldn’t be the only one to speak up.
Political leaders from both parties, business leaders, community leaders and thought leaders should join the religious leaders who already have condemned Beckwith’s appeals to bigotry and hate.
All these leaders should form a chorus that denounces both Beckwith and bigotry. They should reaffirm that we Hoosiers mean what we say when we declare that “Indiana is open for business.”
They should make clear that we do not discriminate.
Regardless of what our irresponsible lieutenant governor may say.
As I said, for too long I wrote Micah Beckwith off as a joke. I saw him as one more of the demagogic hucksters who have dotted American history, slick little rogues who gave life to the cliché that politics is show business for ugly people.
But putting people’s lives at risk just to grab headlines or seize public attention is never funny or even morally defensible.
It was a mistake for me not to take Micah Beckwith seriously just because he didn’t seem like a serious figure.
It’s a mistake I won’t make again.
Nor should other Hoosiers.
