Sally Kern, the Republican Oklahoma legislator who follows the 'Christian Bible' to the very last letter, is heading up the "Oklahoma Citizen's Proclamation For Morality" to be signed on the floor of the Oklahoma State Capitol tomorrow July 2nd. It's a pretty interesting read with some questionable quotes from our founding fathers regarding the state and religion--specifically the Christian religion.
The 'where as's that really got to me, given the propensity for adultery demonstrated by some of her fellow culture warrior Republicans, are these particular 'where as's:
"WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis; and
WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and
WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built...."
WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and
WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built...."
How could this upright Christian woman not mention adultery in the list of moral woes afflicting this country or are we to assume adultery is to be included in the notions of 'other forms of debauchery'--- somehow amongst those not immoral enough to merit individual listing. I suppose it's just a coincidence that adultery happens to be the immoral behavior which is wiping out Republican presidential candidates. I mean after all, adultery is mentioned in the bible far far more than homosexual behavior. Jesus even spoke directly to the immorality of adultery and people routinely were stoned to death for committing adultery---at least women were. How does adultery get overlooked?
Sally, Sally, some of us might think you're being highly selective when it comes to sexual immorality.
Even assuming the failure to mention adultery is an over site, it's still a very selective list of our moral ills when greed isn't even remotely hinted at as a cause of our national economic crisis. Ms. Kern must belong to that cadre of Christians who see the willful pursuit of economic excess as God's showering abundance on the righteous true believer.
Were we functioning from our rich Christian heritage when your fellow born again Christian Republicans sanctioned torture, out right lied, and engaged in pre emptive war? Those particular forms of rich Christian heritage were never part of our Constitution because those particular rich traditions were pre Enlightenment. Perhaps we should bring back slavery as well.
Sally ends her proclamation with the following resolutions:
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we the undersigned elected officials of the people of Oklahoma, religious leaders and citizens of the State of Oklahoma, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, solemnly declare that the HOPE of the great State of Oklahoma and of these United States, rests upon the Principles of Religion and Morality as put forth in the HOLY BIBLE; and
BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, believers in the One True God and His only Son, call upon all to join with us in recognizing that “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord,” and humbly implore all who love Truth and Virtue to live above reproach in the sight of God and man with a firm reliance on the leadership and protection of Almighty God; and
BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, humbly call upon Holy God, our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, to have mercy on this nation, to stay His hand of judgment, and grant a national awakening of righteousness and Christian renewal as we repent of our great sin.
I am at a loss as to understand how it's possible that this proclamation, which unabashedly places Christianity above the state and country, can be proclaimed in a state capital building.
It's not surprising that the Oklahoma ACLU is strongly objecting to both the wording and the inaccuracies of some of the cited quotes with in the proclamation. They have some legitimate points.
It seems to me that the blurring of the lines between the state and religion is getting blurrier under President Obama. I don't know if this kind of proselytizing didn't happen much under President Bush because he was seen as one of them, or if the Evangelical and Catholic culture warriors think they can keep Obama distracted from acting on his campaign promises by becoming more and more overt and confrontational.
The President himself got into a little bit of a brouha over reports about his supposedly selected place of worship. Word leaked out that he preferred the chapel at Camp David which is pastored by an Evangelical Navy Chaplain, Lt. Carey Cash, who is part of an Evangelical group of military chaplains whose goal is to use the US military to pursuit their 'take the world for Jesus' campaign. He can be seen in a 2005 video stating 'first the military, and then the country'.
The White House promptly denied this story when the Military Religious Freedom Foundation brought their concerns about Lt. Cash to public attention. I suspect it is the strong presence of Evangelicals in the military which is causing the delay in the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. This in spite of the fact our military brass have been more and more vocal about repealing the law. They see it as a National Security issue, not one of morality. I bet DADT would be repealed in a heart beat if the same stringent application was applied to adulterous military personnel. I encourage readers of this blog to check out the MRFF site. It's enlightening and frightening.
When I started this blog some two years ago I never imagined I would be spending so much time researching Evangelical/Pentecostal Christians and right wing Catholicism. None of this was specifically on my radar, although some of what I was concerned with was part and parcel of this phenomenon. I have been shocked with both the interpretation of Jesus's message and the Book of Revelations which underpins the theology of these groups. I have been blown away by their use of highly individualized 'mystical' experiences, (many of which appear to have been taken from New Age channels and attributed to the Holy Spirit) to justify their agenda of essentially white Christian supremacy and conquest. That they have such deep inroads into our military is the most frightening thing of all.
President Obama needs to take the warnings he has been getting about this trend very seriously. He will certainly not get the truth from Rick Warren, who is his own loose cannon in this movement. Obama needs to understand that abortion and gay marriage are just smoke screens covering the real agenda. If Sally Kerns was really all about the moral decline in this country adultery would never have been left off her list of sexual sins. She won't mention adultery because she and her cronies need those adulterous politicians to further their real ambitions.
Pope Benedict needs to take this phenomenon seriously as well, because these people are very adept at picking off his flock in Southern countries. This is the trend which probably most concerns his bishops in South America. They know there is no compromise coming from the Evangelicals when it comes to Catholicism. The Whore of Babylon is in Revelations and it is interpreted to live in the Vatican. For these particular groups of Evangelicals, politics is only a secular means to their religious end. It would behoove both President Obama and our Catholic leadership to understand this while there is still time to insist of the clear separation of church and state.
