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Indianapolis Star
7 days ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Protesters with pride signs confront Indy church after anti-LGBTQ sermon calls for violence
After a Sunday service on July 13, leaders at an Indianapolis church laughed while protesters in front of their building held rainbow colored signs. Sure Foundation Baptist Church located at a mall storefront near Lafayette Road and West 30th Street, had recently gained attention for its anti-LGBTQ+ messaging to congregants. In a sermon shared online, a lay preacher encouraged members to pray for the deaths of the LGBTQ+ community. Protesters had their own message for the church on July 13. "Existing in their presence," Cass Jackson, who helped organize the protest, told IndyStar. "Which is something they do not believe Christ would approve of." Jackson said the protest was a way for them to communicate to the church, as well as others, that church leaders could continue their hate, but they would continue to show up and be joyful in their presence. An original video of a sermon shared earlier this month online identified LGBTQ+ as "evil" and "disgusting." "There's nothing good to be proud about being a (slur)," Church member Stephen Falco said during a sermon posted on YouTube. "You ought to blow yourself in the back of the head. You're so disgusting." The video-sharing platform has since removed the video for violating its terms of service. The independent fundamentalist church doubled down on its message in a statement shared on Facebook on July 3, where it said it wasn't apologizing. Evangelist Justin Zhong with the church has since done a sermon discussing the recent coverage and attention the church has gotten. "Why do these (slur) want to burn us and bomb this church and kill us?" Zhong preached in a video posted on the church's Facebook page July11. "Because we testify that their works are evil. My question is, why does a small strip mall church make worldwide news? Because the Word of God has power." Protesters on Sunday said they didn't want to meet the church with violence. They don't intend to change the minds of the congregants about LGBTQ+ individuals, but they say they do want to make it clear that they will highlight the church's bigotry. "What I know to be true is that these people really hate when other people are joyful, because they are not," Jackson said. "And unfortunately have been indoctrinated into a backyard cult." Sure Foundation Baptist Church: Indianapolis church doubles down on Pride sermon advocating for harm to LGBTQ people Zhong told IndyStar he's not surprised at the protest, but the church continued service Sunday morning without issue. The church, which opened its doors in 2024, has about 35 people who attend church on average every week. Citing the Book of Acts, he compared the protest to people and cities outraged in the Bible when the Apostles preached the truth. Zhong said protesters are upset because the Word of God exposes that their deeds are evil. The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis countered the church's message with a Bible verse, saying in its statement the Gospel is for everyone and should not be used as a tool of condemnation. The clergy group said the Black church, born in the crucible of oppression, must never mimic the very spirit of exclusion that once rejected its community. "We are called to be a sanctuary for the marginalized, not a platform for prejudice," the statement said. In standing for the dignity, inclusion and justice for all people, the group said it rejects the notion LGBTQ+ individuals are outside of God's reach, grace or redemption. G. David Caudill with Equality Indiana said he is encouraged to see other Indianapolis faith leaders condemn the church's sermon. "When you have that type of hateful and violent language, it could lead to someone taking those words and feeling protected to be able to go and commit violent acts against our community," Caudill said.
Indianapolis Star
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis church doubles down on Pride sermon advocating for harm to LGBTQ people
An independent fundamentalist church in Indianapolis is doubling down on a sermon in which a lay preacher encouraged congregants to pray for the deaths of those who identify as LGBTQ+. The sermon — a mashup of Bible verses dotted with homophobic slurs and tied to Pride Month — was delivered June 29 at Sure Foundation Baptist Church, located in a small storefront near Lafayette Road and West 30th Street. More: Antisemitic incidents spiking in Indiana. North Central student tells her story "Why do I hate sodomites, why do I hate (slur)? Because they attack children, they're coming after your children, they are attacking them in schools today, and not only schools in public places, and they're proud about it!" church member Stephen Falco said during a Men's Preaching Night service. Falco called people who identify as LGBTQ+ "evil" and "disgusting." "There's nothing good to be proud about being a (slur). You ought to blow yourself in the head in the back of the head. You're so disgusting," he said in the sermon the church posted on YouTube. The video-sharing platform has since removed the video for violating its terms of service. Advocates for LGBTQ+ Hoosiers and other religious leaders were quick to denounce what they saw as harmful rhetoric in the sermon first reported by WISH-TV. "Such messages are not only theologically irresponsible but pastorally dangerous," the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, a faith-based civil rights organization, said in a statement. "The pulpit must never be used as a weapon to dehumanize, isolate, or incite fear." But the church, in a statement shared July 3 on its Facebook page, leaned into the criticism and proclaimed it would not apologize for the sermon. Instead, the message celebrated the attention the controversy has generated for the church. "The Bible is crystal clear that sodomites — homosexuals — deserve the death penalty carried out by a government that actually cares about the law of God," said the message signed by Evangelist Justin Zhong. G. David Caudill, founder and executive director of Equality Indiana, called the message inflammatory and extremist, saying it could inspire violence against the community. Sure Foundation Baptist Church, in response to questions from IndyStar, said it has about 35 people attend services on an average Sunday. Followers are called "soulwinners" and urged to spread the Gospel. The church website asserts its beliefs are based exclusively on the King James Bible. The Lafayette Road congregation is a branch of the Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver, Washington, which grew out of Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, California. The Indy church is the only branch in the Midwest, according to the website, and had its first service Feb. 3, 2024. Zhong is identified as the local leader and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. Beyond its doors, the church has a presence on YouTube, Facebook, X and Rumble, a video-sharing platform that has become a right-wing alternative to YouTube because of its opposition to so-called cancel culture. More: As Trump support merges with Christian nationalism, experts warn of extremist risks "My job as a preacher is to preach the Word of God without compromise. If that means people would be pushed away, then so be it," said the response to IndyStar attributed to Zhong, Falco and the church. "My job is not to please men, but to please God. So many churches tone down the Bible in order to gain a crowd and that is wrong." The church statement said Falco's sermon was delivered as part of a Men's Preaching Night hosted every three months. Any man who is a faithful member can preach, but women are not allowed in the pulpit or any other type of leadership position, the statement said "because it's simply not biblical." Falco's comments on LGBTQ+ Hoosiers weren't his only extreme comments. Nor is he the only one from the men's programs to espouse hateful rhetoric and call for violence against people they see as an abomination or evil — including immigrants, protestors, graffiti taggers, and even those accused of minor crimes such as loitering. In the June sermon, Falco also attacked former President Joe Biden. "I have prayed for death of former President Biden many times for the wickedness he has done when he was in office, you know?" Falco said, mentioning Biden's recent cancer diagnosis. "And I believe many other Christians were also praying for his death, because he's a wicked reprobate." Another man identified in the video as "Brother Wayne" followed Falco at the pulpit that evening with a message titled "Worthy of Being Beaten." He blamed many societal problems on a lack of discipline and physical punishment, calling beatings a deterrent that has been lost in American culture. "I mean, is it really justice to put someone in jail and just let them sit there and get out with a fine or get a slap on the wrist, just to watch them turn around and do it all over again, become a repeat offender. ... If we had public beatings, it'd be much more swift," he said in a video posted on YouTube. His list of those "worthy" of a beating included protesters and those who commit even minor crimes. Some of his harshest words were aimed at immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community. "I don't even understand why we're deporting these illegal criminals who are murderers, who are doing drug trafficking, sex trafficking, human trafficking. They're putting them on a plane, and they're sending them over to a prison in another country," he said. "I say we put them to death right here. I say we beat them right here." As for those who identify as LGBTQ+, he said: "I think they should be put to death. You know what, I'll go further. I think they should be beaten in public first for all their sick and demented, just (slur) and the things they're doing to our schools, to our government, to our institutions, to our churches. These people should be beaten and stomped in the mud, and then they should take a gun and blow the back of their heads off." In another Men's Preaching Night sermon from March, titled "Donald Trump: A Modern Herod," Falco again took the pulpit and called the president a pervert, and accused him of appearing religious to secure political support while having a life of pride, perversion, blasphemy and mockery of Jesus Christ. "This is what Donald Trump, our president of the United States of America, has said about his own flesh-and-blood daughter, and it is disgusting ... 'If Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her,'" Falco said in the sermon. "It's sick. You know, at least Herod had the decency to say that about his stepdaughter." Falco concluded: "Unless Donald Trump gets saved, which I hope he does ... God will judge him for it and he will go to hell." The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis countered Sure Foundation Baptist Church's message with a Bible verse, saying in its statement the Gospel is for everyone and should not be used a tool of condemnation. The clergy group said the Black Church, born in the crucible of oppression, must never mimic the very spirit of exclusion that once rejected its community. "We are called to be a sanctuary for the marginalized, not a platform for prejudice," the statement said. In standing for the dignity, inclusion and justice for all people, the group said it rejects the notion LGBTQ+ individuals are outside of God's reach, grace or redemption. "True holiness is not about who we hate; it is about how we love," the statement said. "We affirm that sin exists in all of us, we also affirm that God's grace extends to all of us. Our mission is not to decide who is beyond salvation, but to embody the inclusive love of Christ." Caudill, of Equality Indiana, said he is encouraged to see other Indianapolis faith leaders condemn the church's sermon. He's heard similar rhetoric at Pride festivals across the state — it's usually from small groups carrying signs and staging protests near festivities. "It does put my radar up to let those people who are supporters and followers of our organization, on social media and even those that are donors, to let them know we have to be more vigilant and protect ourselves," he said. "When you have that type of hateful and violent language, it could lead to someone taking those words and feeling protected to be able to go and commit violent acts against our community."
Indianapolis Star
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
'I don't like it': Gov. Mike Braun rebukes Beckwith for Three-Fifths Compromise comments
Gov. Mike Braun rebuked his lieutenant governor's remark that the Three-Fifths Compromise was "a great move" but stopped short of calling for an apology as others have done. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith aired his perspective in a social media video last week, arguing that the agreement made during the 1787 Constitutional Convention to count an enslaved person as three-fifths of an individual for representation purposes actually cut against the southern states' goals of enshrining slavery. The video prompted outcry from Democrats in the legislature, history professors and religious clergy, among others, who demanded that Braun publicly denounce Beckwith's comments. On April 30, Braun held an event at Fort Harrison State Park to celebrate his first 100 days in office. Afterward, he gave limited comments to reporters about the controversy. "I definitely wouldn't have used that characterization, and I don't like it," he said. He went on to chastise Beckwith. "I'm a believer that you better start thinking about what you're saying before it comes out," he said. "And I think that you don't want to make headlines the wrong way, because it takes away from the substance of what you're trying to do in general." It's not the first rift between the governor and his No. 2. Their paired ticket was the work of state delegates at the Republican convention, not Braun's choice. Braun has always preferred to steer clear of the controversial culture-war topics that are Beckwith's bread and butter. In one previous instance, Braun expressed disdain over Beckwith's comments that he would identify state employees to fire based on who includes pronouns in their emails. For Beckwith's most recent remarks, the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis also demanded that he issue a retraction and an apology. A petition circulating makes the same ask. Rather than doing so, Beckwith doubled down in an April 29 interview with WIBC's Rob Kendall and Casey Daniels. "I would have done it a hundred times over exactly the same way I did it," he said. "I said exactly what needed to be said." Beckwith made the initial video immediately following a Senate floor debate over Senate Bill 289, the main anti-DEI bill of the legislative session. Democratic Sen. La Keisha Jackson of Indianapolis mentioned the Three-Fifths Compromise as an example of historical policies in the U.S. that have dehumanized or disenfranchised Black people. "They're using revisionist history to bludgeon the character of this amazing constitutional republic that we have," Beckwith said of Senate Democrats in the Tuesday interview. The Senate Democratic caucus said in a statement Monday that Beckwith's comments were not only inaccurate, but "morally bankrupt." "No compromise that counted human beings as fractions can ever be anything but a stain on our nation's conscience," they wrote. State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus chair, on Tuesday called Beckwith's video "rage bait." "To argue that the 3/5 Compromise was the North's attempt at playing 'the long game' to undermine the South is not just a gross misunderstanding of history, it's a purposeful whitewashing of it for political gain and media attention," he said.
Indianapolis Star
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
What Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said about the Three-Fifths Compromise, how clergy responded
Show Caption The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, a group founded as part of the Civil Rights Movement, is asking Gov. Mike Braun to condemn Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith 's statement that the Three-fifths Compromise was "a great move" as he argued that it worked against slavery rather than promoting it. Here's what happened. What was the Three-Fifths Compromise? The 18th-century law counted an enslaved person as 60% of a free person. The agreement made during the 1787 Constitutional Convention counted an enslaved person as three-fifths of a person when measuring states' populations for taxation and congressional representation, giving the enslaved labor-reliant southern states more political power and requiring less in taxes of them than if the enslaved population were counted as full citizens. The measure was rendered unconstitutional in 1868 by the 14th Amendment, which granted equal protection and due process to all American citizens. What Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said about the Three-Fifths Compromise Beckwith posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, what he called a history lesson for Indiana's Senate Democrats. "I would like to share with you, the Three-Fifths Compromise is not a pro-discrimination compromise. It was not a pro-discrimination or a slave-driving compromise that the founders made. It was actually just the opposite," Beckwith says in a video clip just under four minutes long. The compromise gave slave states less representation than they would have had if slaves were counted as people, preventing the constitutional enshrinement of slavery, he argues. He does not address the fact that the law increased slaveholding states' representation in U.S. Congress relative to their number of voters, making it difficult — if not impossible — to pass an amendment abolishing slavery. Beckwith's statements came after an emotional debate over Senate Bill 289 on April 24. The bill curbs diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, allowing people to sue publicly-funded schools or government entities if they're required to undergo trainings that use a characteristic like race or sex to blame one group of people for actions in the past. During the debate, opponents said the bill ignores the U.S.'s historical legacy of discrimination, citing examples such as the Three-Fifths Compromise, Jim Crow laws and real estate redlining. Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis condemns Beckwith's Three-Fifths statement In their statement condemning Beckwith's interpretation of history, members of the faith coalition demanded Braun publicly denounce the remarks, mandate that Beckwith issue a formal retraction as well as an apology and affirm Indiana's commitment to an accurate education of history. "This language is not merely insensitive, it is an affront to human dignity and an echo of a racist ideology that sought to legitimize the inhuman treatment of Black people in America," a Friday news release from the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis reads in part. A representative for Braun has not responded to a request for comment. More Beckwith controversy Beckwith — who is himself a pastor — has landed in hot water over social media activity before. A Feb. 6 post also about Senate Bill 289, which described "taxpayer-funded race hustling," caused a stir on the Senate floor. In October 2024, during his campaign for the lieutenant governor position, Beckwith called his female election opponent a "Jezebel spirit," while in a livestreamed interview, referring to the Bible's archetypal evil woman. Senate Bill 289 has passed through both chambers of the Indiana legislature with the House voting 64-26 and the Senate voting 34-16. It now awaits Braun's signature.
Indianapolis Star
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Faith leaders urge Braun to condemn Beckwith's remarks on Three-Fifths Compromise
The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, a group founded as part of the Civil Rights Movement, is asking Gov. Mike Braun to condemn Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith's statement that the Three-Fifths Compromise was "a great move." The 18th century law counted an enslaved person as 60% of a free person. The agreement made during the 1787 Constitutional Convention counted an enslaved person as three-fifths of a person when measuring states' populations for taxation and congressional representation. The measure was rendered unconstitutional in 1868 by the 14th Amendment , which granted equal protection and due process to all American citizens. Beckwith's statements came after an emotional debate over Senate Bill 289 on April 24. The bill curbs diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, allowing people to sue publicly-funded schools or government entities if they're required to undergo trainings that use a characteristic like race or sex to blame one group of people for actions in the past. During the debate, opponents said the bill ignores the U.S.'s historical legacy of discrimination, citing examples such as the Three-Fifths Compromise, Jim Crow laws and real estate redlining. After Thursday's debate, Beckwith took to X to post a video that he called a history lesson for Indiana's Senate Democrats. In the clip, which is just under four minutes long, Beckwith sits on the edge of his desk and speaks directly to the camera, arguing that the Three-Fifths Compromise actually worked against slavery rather than promoting it. "I would like to share with you, the Three-Fifths Compromise is not a pro-discrimination compromise. It was not a pro-discrimination or a slave-driving compromise that the founders made. It was actually just the opposite," Beckwith says. The compromise gave slave states less representation than they would have had if slaves were counted as people, preventing the constitutional enshrinement of slavery, he argues. He does not address the fact that the law increased slaveholding states' representation in U.S. Congress relative to their number of voters, making it difficult — if not impossible — to pass an amendment abolishing slavery. In their statement condemning Beckwith's interpretation of history, members of the faith coalition demanded Braun publicly denounce the remarks, mandate that Beckwith issue a formal retraction as well as an apology and affirm Indiana's commitment to an accurate education of history. "This language is not merely insensitive, it is an affront to human dignity and an echo of a racist ideology that sought to legitimize the inhuman treatment of Black people in America," a Friday news release from the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis reads in part. Beckwith — who is himself a pastor — has landed in hot water over social media activity before. A Feb. 6 post also about Senate Bill 289, which described "taxpayer-funded race hustling," caused a stir on the Senate floor. In October 2024, during his campaign for the lieutenant governor position, Beckwith called his female election opponent a "Jezebel spirit," while in a livestreamed interview, referring to the Bible's archetypal evil woman. Senate Bill 289 has passed through both chambers of the Indiana legislature with the House voting 64-26 and the Senate voting 34-16. It now awaits Braun's signature.
