Sally Kern wears many hats in the state of Oklahoma. She's the wife of a Baptist preacher, a mother to her son, a strong believer that homosexuals, whom she sees as more dangerous than terrorists, are destroying the United States, and she's a pistol-packing state representative from Oklahoma City. Today she hit the airwaves promoting her version of a Morality Proclamation, which was diaried here on Tuesday.
Here is some of the content of her proclamation; a piece of work created using the resources of the people of the state of Oklahoma.
WHEREAS, "It is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand" (John Adams); and
WHEREAS "This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians"
WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of Prayer; and
WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior;
The ACLU of Oklahoma attended today's media event at the State Capitol and as expected, issued a strong statement in opposition.
O.K. so that was expected.
What might not have been expected is the response of the general public in Oklahoma to Sally Kerns antics. If you read the comment section at the bottom of the news story in today's edition of the Tulsa World you might be surprised to find a preponderance of folks disagreeing with Rep. Kerns.
Here's a sample from one of Sally's fellow Christians:
Dear Sally,
I am willing to believe your intentions are righteous but your actions are not! I also serve a mighty God! When you continually use the words...invoking Almighty God ...you make me very nervous. There is no humility in your words or the actions of the Reclaiming America Group that you are representing while holding public office.
Our God is not a cosmic bellboy who the "righteous" can call down to set the "evildoers" straight.{no pun intended}
While you are proclaiming this return to what you deem righteous...what are your suggestions for how the American people should deal with the transgressors? I am not being facetious...I really would like to know! Surely since you have done God's work of separating the wheat from the tares...what exactly should be done now with the tares. Maybe concentration camps for homosexuals and adulterers? Public executions for sexual impurity? How will you go about administering God's judgement on the unjust if they have not broken any law? Change the laws? Will being a democrat become illegal? Maybe eliminate the Supreme court and replace it with group of Spiritual Counsel maybe from your group that your working with now? Divine appointments?
It is easy to usurp God's authority on the earth and shine the light on evil so that you can stamp it out but be careful...our God is a jealous God and He will not share his position with you nor will he take advice from you.
You remind me of the time when I invited a surprise guest for dinner and asked my children to start dinner and clean up the living room. When I arrived at home I was horrified to see that in an effort to help me they decided to clean out the closets instead. There were piles of useless junk everywhere and dinner was not on the stove. My guest arrived and the evening was in shambles. Did my kids want to please me? Yes! But I needed them to obey me!
Sally, you are not responsible for the evil in the world and I have never seen any Biblical dispensation for the organizing of a Spiritual Task force to enforce God's will on the earth. His Word is very clear on what He wants you to do and it is LOVE Him...Love your enemies...Love your neighbors...feed the hungry...shelter the homeless...pray without ceasing...tend to the widow and the orphan in her distress, judge not..visit the sick and the imprisoned. Nowhere in there are there commandments outlining the rules for heretic hunting. That is an evil sport...and an abomination to God. He gives liberty....I have liberty in Christ! Look up the word liberty! Freedom is a beautiful thing. Stop trying to rewrite God's assignment for yourselves and just concentrate on the one He gave you. Anything else would show your works to be an effort to please man and not God. Surely you would not want Him to be invoked while you are steadily doing the wrong job?? That would be foolish and surely you are no fool.
Some of the other comments are more predictable, but I guess when your fellow Christians aren't in lock-step with your proclamation, it's likely to have little impact.
As an Oklahoman, I am proud that my fellow citizens (for the most part) have rejected Sally's follies for attention. Could this be a very tiny step in the right direction? I certainly am hopeful.