Class Warfare

Religious Right Legislators Are Trying Different Tactics To Inject Religion Into Public Schools, By Sandhya Bathija

Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern said she has a calling &– a calling to return America to its roots as a “Christian nation.” Read More...

10 Commandments Passes OK House

Read More...

EXCERPT: House members approved the bill 88-6 Thursday and sent it to the Senate for a vote.

The bill by Rep. Mike Ritze of Broken Arrow would authorize installation of a 3-by-6-foot monument on the Capitol grounds. It would be similar to a granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

Reps Voting - NAY: 6 Bailey, Kiesel, Scott, Collins, Nations, Shelton

Should Rev. Jones Have Acknowledged His Partner?

Washington Post - Editorial on the Rev. Scott Jones Prayer

Sooner Prejudice: Oklahoma Legislators Protest Gay Minister’s Prayer

Americans United Blog Article .
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AU Oklahoma letter to House of Reps.

February 13, 2009

An open letter to thirty-six members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Read entire press release here.
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AU Oklahoma letter to House of Reps.

Oklahoma ChapterAmericans United

for Separation of Church and State

P.O. Box 892747, Oklahoma City, OK 73189, 405-632-0037

“Separation…Over Two Hundred Years of Success”

February 13, 2009

An open letter to thirty-six members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

The Oklahoma Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State is deeply concerned about the actions of twenty members of the Oklahoma House of Representative.

Their vote to not include the comments and prayer of the Rev. Scott Jones, a local gay minister, in the House Journal shows preferential treatment among religious traditions and is shocking.

We are also disappointed in the action of sixteen legislators who left the chamber prior to the vote.

The “no” votes and exiting of the chamber are clear examples of House members treating an Oklahoma clergyman differently from other clergy who have opened the chamber with a religious ceremony.

It is unacceptable for legislators to demonstrate official favoritism among religions based on their personal religious biases in the public chamber of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

This legislative behavior of a minority of House members brings embarrassment to Oklahoma. This was an official political action based upon individual religious viewpoints.

The Chapter cannot ignore this direct slight of a fellow Oklahoma citizen.

As advocates of church-state separation, we believe it would be best for the Oklahoma legislature to forgo opening prayers entirely.

But if the practice is to be continued, the invocations must be nonsectarian and there must be no discrimination against those offering the prayers.

We wish to commend those sixty-four House members who voted to include the prayer and comments of Rev. Jones in the House Journal. Your legislative courage and civic conscience is to be applauded.

On behalf of the Oklahoma AU Chapter Board,

Mike Fuller

Chapter President

Americans United for Separation of Church and State518 C Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002 www.au.org 202-466-3234

'Rally for Sally' at the State Capitol

Here follows the complete text of the speech given by Sally Kern in the rotunda of the State Capitol on April 2^nd, 2008. It is recorded on the AUOK blog for archival and commentary purposes.

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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.

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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.