Pastor claims trans community is persecuted like Jesus after shooting at Christian school
A trans-identified Lutheran pastor attempted to compare Jesus' crucifixion to the "marginalized" and "betrayed" transgender community and said after the murders of three children and three adults at a Christian school in Nashville last week that it's wrong to "focus" on the trans identity of the shooter.
The pastor, a woman who goes by the name Micah Louwagie, was installed in February as the pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Fargo, North Dakota, a progressive, LGBT-inclusive congregation, according to the church’s website.
In her Palm Sunday sermon, Louwagie lamented: "This week, we witnessed yet another mass shooting. Roughly the 130th this year. This time at a small private school in Nashville, Tennessee. And instead of focusing on ways this could have been prevented, such as gun control, a significant number of people have turned their attention toward the shooter's identity."
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Tying the biblical account of Jesus' crucifixion to what she perceives as the marginalization and betrayal of those who identify as trans, Louwagie recounted how the chief priests and the entire council attempted to find “false evidence” against Jesus to put Him to death, as described in Matthew 26:59.
Jesus’ mission of “love and dignity” was “threatening” to their reputation, and it was "necessary to kill Him to preserve their image," Louwagie said, claiming that this is how the public and so-called allies are treating the trans community, especially after a 28-year-old woman, who also identified as a man, murdered six people at The Covenant School. The private Christian school is run by Covenant Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in America), in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville.
"It's baffling to me that someone's existence can be so threatening that people decide they need to be controlled, that they need to have laws made against them," Louwagie continued, seemingly referring to state laws banning chemical castration and body mutilating surgeries for trans-identified youth suffering from confusion about their sex.
Turning her ire on LGBT advocates and allies, Louwagie said they “say the right things” and occasionally show up to protests and give financial donations, but “when push comes to shove, suddenly their hands are tied.” She likened them to Jesus’ disciple Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver, and Simon Peter, who thrice denied being one of His disciples: Matthew 26:69–74, Mark 14:66–72, Luke 22:55–62, and John 18:15–18, 25–27.
"Marginalized folks, those of us with the least amount of privilege and power, they need those who have more privilege and power than they do to physically place their bodies between them and the people, powers and institutions that are literally killing them,” she contended, claiming that the trans community is powerless, despite it having immense power in the media, entertainment industry, and the medical and legal systems.
She then compared the trans community to the genocide of Jews during the Holocaust and Japanese internment camps during World War II.
"Jesus did not die so violence could be perpetuated in God's name. Jesus did not die for access to guns," Louwagie said, saying gun control should be the focus of attention after the Christian school shooting, not the killer's trans-identity.
St. Mark's Lutheran Church did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.
As CP reported last week, The Covenant School shooter was a former student. Authorities reported that she had a detailed map of the school and had been planning the killings for at least a month. She had been armed with two rifles and a handgun.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the Nashville Police Department has reviewed the shooter's manifesto. The FBI claims it will be released to the public after it's had sufficient time to analyze it, according to Robert Swope, a city council member who said: "It’s just a matter of when."
"There are some incredibly brilliant psychological minds and psychological analysts combing through her entire life,” he added.
During one of three daytime news conferences on March 27, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said the sight of students running out of the school building and into the trees surrounding the property for protection from the shooter brought him to tears.
The victims who died in the shooting were school head Katherine Koonce, 60; substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61; chef Mike Hill, 61; Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9; William Kenney, 9; and Hallie Scruggs, 9, the daughter of Pastor Chad Scruggs of Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
