In Republican lieutenant governor candidate Micah Beckwith's view of the upcoming election in Indiana, Hoosiers have a choice between a Republican ticket that is representative of "strength" and "Godly boldness," and a Democratic ticket that invokes the "Jezebel spirit" and a "boldness for immorality."
In Beckwith's telling, the reference to Jezebel, the Bible's archetypal wicked woman, simply demonstrates the Democrats' embodiment of ideals he considers evil, such as access to abortion and gender affirming procedures. But references to the "Jezebel spirit" also have a long entanglement with sexist and racist connotations in American history ― something his opponents are pouncing on.
Beckwith is the running mate of U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican nominee for governor, whose Democratic opponent is Jennifer McCormick. Donald Rainwater is running as a Libertarian.
Read our profile:How conservative firebrand Micah Beckwith catapulted to the top of Indiana GOP politics
Braun didn't pick Beckwith as his No. 2, but ever since Republican insiders voted at the state party convention to throw Beckwith on Braun's gubernatorial ticket, Braun has had to grapple with Beckwith's fringe takes on culture-war topics that tend to steal the spotlight.
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Braun declined to comment. Those familiar with Braun's thinking say he's growing frustrated over these kinds of comments that distract from Braun's main agenda, which has far more to do with economic issues than social ones.
Beckwith made the comparison during a livestreamed video interview last week with Daniel Bernard, founder of Florida-based nonprofit Somebody Cares Tampa Bay, as part of a 50-day pre-election prayer series. A short clip circulated by leftist nonprofit Right Wing Watch has made the rounds on social media this week.
Who is Jezebel in the Bible?
In the Bible, Jezebel hailed from Phoenicia (now Lebanon), married King Ahab of Israel, supported the worship of a nature god named Baal and called for the killing of the Hebrew God's prophets. The Old Testament book of I Kings tells the story of Jezebel arranging for the stoning death of a commoner so that Ahab could take possession of his vineyard. Later on, in the New Testament book of Revelations, there is mention of a woman named Jezebel who tempts people into "sexual immorality," though some scholars say it's unclear whether this is the same Jezebel as in the Old Testament books.
In the context of the United States, there's a long history of tying the "Jezebel spirit" to the denigration of women in society. The Jezebel stereotype was used to depict enslaved Black women as sexual temptresses to justify their assault by white slave owners. Anne Hutchinson, a 17th century Puritan who famously challenged the authority of her local ministers in colonial Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials, was called an "American Jezebel."
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is Black and Indian, has also recently been called a "Jezebel spirit," in a clip also circulated by Right Wing Watch.
"My guess is that the devil’s plan is to make her president," Lance Wallnau, a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation, said in the video on Monday.
Beckwith told IndyStar his comparison of Democrats ― whose ticket in Indiana are led by women ― to the Jezebel spirit has nothing to do with gender, but the ideas the Democrats support, which he likens to Jezebel's "defiling" of Israel. He said Ahab, the king she married, was equally complicit.
"Both of them were equally at fault for allowing these things to come into their nation," Beckwith said. "It has nothing to do with being a woman or not."
The Indiana Democratic Party on Tuesday called the Braun-Beckwith ticket a "woman hating campaign," making reference to Beckwith's past comments during the debate over Indiana's abortion ban that Hoosiers who are pro-abortion rights are "demonic."
"His latest comments about a ‘Jezebel spirit’ are frankly disgusting and the type of rhetoric that belongs nowhere near our politics," party vice chair Myla Eldridge said.
McCormick herself reposted the shortened clip, writing on X, "Ladies, we deserve better than this."
Though "sexual immorality" is affiliated with the name Jezebel in the Bible, concepts like abortion and LGBTQ identities are not ― rather, it appears conservative Christians have made a catalogue of issues that they consider "immoralities" and then applied them to such evil characters in the Bible, said Matthias Beier, associate professor of pastoral theology and mental health counseling at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.
"The term sexual immorality gets inflated by these projections that they read back into the Bible," he said.
Beckwith, like other Christian nationalists, repeatedly calls for Christians and church pastors to step into the realm of politics and take up arms against what they view as the moral ills of society. He made reference to this in the video interview with Bernar.
"That’s kind of what we’re fighting in Indiana," he said. "But I think it’s an amazing fight. Just as God told Job in Job 39, I think he’s putting the spirit of the war horse in the church in America."
Scholars like Beier consider the war-time rhetoric of Christian nationalists like Beckwith to be dangerous. It's a call to action to fight the evil spirits of Jezebel, invoking an apocalyptic fear if Christians don't step up to do so.
"It’s just the code word for, they are from Satan," Beier said of the "Jezebel spirit" phrase. "It’s a way to demonize the opponents."
Even if Beckwith doesn't intend to invoke such historically sexist and racist undertones, Breier argues it's impossible to truly extricate the phrase "Jezebel spirit" from them.
"This should have no place in politics because of all these connotations," he said.
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter@kayla_dwyer17.