Transgender pastor seems to compare Nashville shooter to Jesus
A transgender pastor at a Lutheran church compared the treatment of the Nashville shooter and transgender community to Jesus being crucified.
A liberal transgender pastor compared Nashville shooter Audrey Hale to Jesus being betrayed and crucified less than a week after Hale murdered six people at a Christian school.
Micah Louwagie, who was recently formally installed as the pastor of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Fargo, North Dakota, delivered the Easter-themed sermon to the small congregation on April 2.
After reading the Biblical account of Jesus' crucifixion, Louwagie immediately brought up the mass shooting in Nashville.
"Instead of focusing on ways this could've been prevented, such as gun control, a significant number of people have turned their attention to the shooter's identity," the pastor lamented.
Liberal preacher responded to Nashville school shooting by comparing transgender suspect to Jesus on the cross. (Y)
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"Some folks have tried to focus on eradicating trans people as a solution, because they have been waiting, just waiting for an opportunity such as this. They've been waiting for a reason, any reason to stoke their hatred," Louwagie said.
The pastor goes on to deride "allies" who abandon and "betray" transgender persons, like Jesus's disciples who fled when he was arrested.
"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," Louwagie urges.
The liberal pastor goes on to compare the Pharisees' treatment of Jesus to politicians who make laws against drag shows and transgender players in sports.
A mourner visits a memorial outside of The Covenant School for the six victims who were killed in a mass shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
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"Those leaders were looking for any excuse, valid or not, to crucify Jesus and they found that reason…It's baffling to me that someone's existence can be so threatening, that people decide they need to be controlled, that they need laws made against them, or even worse, that the people that they find so threatening should die," Louwagie remarked.
The pastor also compared how transgenders were treated in the U.S. to the Holocaust and Japanese internment camps later on in the message.
"Jesus did not die so violence could be perpetuated in God's name. Jesus did not die for access to guns," Louwagie says.
A portion of the social-justice-themed Easter sermon was shared by the Twitter account "Woke Preacher Clips."
Following the massacre, some media figures likewise blamed gun culture and anti-drag show laws in Tennessee.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the St. Mark's Lutheran Church for comment.