"Ev'rybody get together..."

[ AUGUST 13, 2009 - OKLAHOMA CITY, OK ] - When Americans think of Oklahoma, what comes to mind? Maybe OU football, tornadoes or the land run? Not tourist attractions but respectable all the same. However, based on recent, highly-publicized events, our state may be just as likely to be known for being the only in which Senator John McCain won every county during the 2008 presidential election or for voting a Ten Commandments monument onto its State Capitol grounds.

Then there’s State Representative Sally Kern’s “Citizen’s Proclamation for Morality,” which has, for better or worse, received significant national press coverage. Kern initially gained recognition for Oklahoma and herself last year by declaring that homosexuality was a greater threat to our nation than terrorism. But since July, countless bloggers and national papers, including USA Today, have feverishly reported on her proclamation, which – though without the force of law – places the blame for our country's recent economic struggles on the "need for a national awakening of righteousness in our land."

Kern's proclamation proposes, among other things that have drawn attention, that the exercise of the right to vote should be tempered with the recognition that "God commands you to choose just men who will rule in the fear of God" and that "laws and administrations are to be drawn from the Bible." It suggests that "our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis," as evidenced by President Obama’s lack of fervor on National Prayer Day and on his recognition of June as Gay Pride Month. Apparently, the 148 Oklahoma political, business and religious leaders who signed in support of the proclamation agree.

As with any debate that involves religion or politics (or both), opponents have turned out in droves to oppose the proclamation on the basis that it fails to recognize the religious diversity of America's citizens and founders. They point out that in 1797, U.S. President and founding father John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli, declaring, “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion” but rather religious freedom. Opponents note that Adams was not alone: Benjamin Franklin was a self-proclaimed deist; Thomas Jefferson wrote, “it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God;” and George Washington – a famously devout Christian – said every man “ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience."

Finally, groups opposing Kern's proclamation point to the U.S. Constitution for the most compelling evidence for religious freedom, saying that if our founders shared Kern’s view on religion, they would have surely mentioned it in the Constitution (note: public record indicates that mention of religion in the Constitution was a matter of significant public debate at the time it was signed). But, as history would have it, religion is mentioned only once in the entirety of the Constitution – ironically, given Kern's proclamation – wherein Article VI states that, "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

With countless religious beliefs in America, it’s impossible to know precisely how the Bible or other religious texts influence political decisions. Maybe The Youngbloods were right-on when they recommended in the 1960s, “Ev'rybody get together…Try and love one another right now.”