Here follows the complete text of the speech given by Sally Kern in the rotunda of the State Capitol on April 2nd, 2008. It is recorded on the AUOK blog for archival and commentary purposes.
This rally, Freedom of Speech Rally for Sally, is really about freedom of speech for all of us. This is not about me. It's about the Church having the right to speak out about the redeeming love of Jesus Christ who died to set us all free. I really, I mean, I read my Bible all the time anyway, but I've really been in the Scripture, and God gave me a verse right after this happened. In Philippines 1:12, the Apostle Paul said "I want you to know that what has happened to me has really served for the advancement of the gospel." That's the way I'm looking at this, to God be the glory.
I've gotten lots of e-mail lately, to put it mildly. Some have been good, for those of you that sent good ones, I thank you for them, I appreciate it. Some have not been so good. I've been called lots of names. I can't repeat most of those names. Some of the good names that I have been called have been courageous, brave, and a hero. I want you to know, I mean this with all my heart, I have more trouble relating to those good names than I do the bad names. I say that, because I know I'm a sinner, and [inaudible] I'm not courageous, I'm not brave, and I'm certainly not a hero. I'm just an earthen vessel, an old clay pot, the way Second Corinthians 4:7 says, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, clay jars that show that this surpassing power is from God." So the last few weeks have been pretty tough - I have to be honest - but God's grace has been sufficient. So if I seem courageous, if I seem brave, if I seem like a hero, I want you to know it's God's grace, and to Him be the glory.
When I gave that now infamous speech, I was not putting down any individual. I believe each and every person is created in God's image and is precious in His sight. He loves all of them. He loves us all equally and He loves us regardless of what our sin is. Yet, God is not just a God of love, He is also a Righteous and Holy God who sent His Son to die for our sins so that we could have forgiveness and experience life abundantly, but to have His forgiveness, we must first acknowledge our sin. We can't excuse it, or try to justify it.
Let me tell you why I will not, why I cannot, apologize for my comments. First, I believe God's Word. When God calls something a sin, then that settles it, it is a sin. God never changes, He said He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, and His Word never changes. My opinion doesn't matter, what matters is God's Word.
Second, this nation was founded on Christian principles, some say that's not the case, but they need to read their primary sources of our Founding Fathers.
[sustained applause]
We all know Patrick Henry's famous words "Give me liberty or give me death," but do you know that he also said "It cannot be emphasized too strongly, or too often, that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
[sustained applause]
Some say we should separate church and state. God never intended to separate the influence of our faith from the institutions of government. He wanted to separate the institutions: He didn't want the Church controlling the State, nor did He want the State controlling the Church. But you cannot separate your faith from life, Christians can't do that.
Noah Webster, who wrote the dictionary back in 1828, said these words, when he was writing to schoolchildren, he said "When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just or righteous men who will rule in the fear of God." I believe those words.
The third reason that I cannot apologize is because I told the people when I was running for this office that I was a Christian candidate and that I believed we were in a cultural war for the very existence of our Judeo-Christian values. This situation proves that I was right, we are in a cultural war, it is real. This situation gives me the opportunity to keep my promise to those who voted for me, and that's what I'm doing.
Psalms 11:3 says "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" We can remember that the foundation of society is the home as established by God —one man and one woman. We can remember that the foundation of this nation was Christianity, so teach it to our children. The foundation of the Church is God's Word, so believe it and practice it every day. The foundation of salvation is Christ dying for a lost world in bondage to sin. Proclaim the Truth that will set people free.
I'd like to ask you to do something when you go home today: go turn on all the lights in your bedroom, and then get in the closet (make sure there are no lights on in there), stand in the dark for few minutes, and then open the closet door and notice what happens. You're going to see that the darkness does not swoop out of the closet and overtake the light. No, the light spreads into the closet dispelling the darkness. Our world is dark with sin today, not because of the homosexuals, not because of the murderers, or drug addicts, or anybody else we could name. It's dark because the Church, you and me, have not let our light shine. So what do we the righteous do to shore up the foundations, we need to pray with all of our hearts. II Chronicles 7:14: "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will heal their land."
Thank God we still have freedom of speech in America. Let us speak while we still can. God bless you and God bless America.
I can personally attest to the content of this sermonette, having witnessed it firsthand and having obtained a low-quality bootleg of the speech itself, the source file of which copylefted under a Creative Commons license.
