Religious Freedom Discussed at Indiana Statehouse on Thursday

INDIANAPOLIS–Hoosier political leaders gathered at the Indiana Statehouse on Thursday to discuss the importance of religious freedom.

In a May 2026 interview on Flashpoint, a show on the network of televangelist Kenneth Copeland, Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith said “I am going to call on others to hate [Islam], because I hate Islam. It is a death cult. Now I love Muslims, because they make great Christians when Jesus gets a hold of them, but I hate Islam. And we need to be okay with hating again.”

An interfaith coalition did not mention Beckwith by name, but kept referencing recent comments about Islam from a member of Indiana’s government.

“Today, we affirm a simple truth, when we protect religious freedom for one community, we strengthen it for every community,” said Pastor David Green with the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis.

Members of various religions spoke at the Statehouse.

“When a leader uses their platform to declare a specific faith is incompatible with our state’s values, they send chilling message to every single person in Indiana who prays differently, looks differently or comes from a different culture or background,” said Asawari Kaur with Indiana’s Sikh community.

Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott is a conservative Republican who also happens to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

“If we start saying it’s okay to start hating the Muslim or the Jew or the Hindu or any other faith, then pretty soon we start say, ‘Oh you’re not the right flavor of Christianity and it’s okay to hate you too.’ At the end of the day, it’s about remembering we stand for a constitution here that respects and honors all faiths. That’s literally the foundational principle of our government, the very first amendment,” said Elliott.

State Sen. Fady Qaddoura (D-District 30) is Muslim. He says the hatred of anyone cannot divide or define us. He wants Gov. Mike Braun to take more action after addressing Beckwith’s comments. Braun has said previously that he wouldn’t have chosen the words Beckwith did when he made his comments on the podcast.

Qaddoura said the governor needs to make it clear that Indiana serves all faiths and called on him to sign an executive order that would provide more education on religious rights through the Indiana Civil Rights Commission.