Oklahoma Republicans Ready To Blame The Recession On 'Debauchery'

Dave Weigel at the Washington Independent catches a bizarre resolution introduced by Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern (R) in Oklahoma, whose state legislature he describes as a "petri dish for wingnuttery."

The proposed "Oklahoma Citizen's Proclamation for Morality" would blame the economic crisis on moral collapse.

The resolution specifically cites President Obama's policies as well as his celebration of LGBT Pride month and his decision to end the National Prayer Day service at the White House as key causes of the current recession.

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; and

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;

Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley explains:

President Obama triggered the economic crisis (which began in anticipation of his election under President Bush) which prompted Congress to pass the stimulus legislation that caused Sanford to fly to Argentina to sleep with a woman other than his wife.

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The full resolution:

We the People of Oklahoma, Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of Liberty; to secure just and rightful Government; to promote our mutual Welfare and Happiness, do establish this proclamation and call upon the people of the great State of Oklahoma, and our fellow Patriots in these United States of America who look to the Lord for guidance, to acknowledge the need for a national awakening of righteousness in our land.

WHEREAS, "It is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon
which Freedom can securely stand" (John Adams); and

WHEREAS, "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with
human passions unbridled by Religion and Morality" (John Adams); and

WHEREAS, "Our Constitution was made only for a Moral and Religious people" (John
Adams); and

WHEREAS, "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the
power of government...but upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God" (James Madison); and

WHEREAS, "Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that
belongs to us by the laws of God (Benjamin Franklin); and

WHEREAS, "God who gave us life gave us liberty and can the liberties of a nation be
thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the
people that these liberties are of the Gift of God" (Thomas Jefferson); and

WHEREAS, "Whether any free government can be permanent, where the public
worship of God, and the support of Religion, constitute no part of the policy or duty of the state" (Joseph Story); and

WHEREAS, "We hold sacred the rights of conscience, and promise to the people...the
free and undisturbed exercise of their religion" (Roger Sherman); and

WHEREAS, "This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians"
(Patrick Henry); and

WHEREAS, "When you...exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be
impressed upon your mind that God commands you to choose just men who will rule in the fear of God" (Noah Webster); and

WHEREAS, "The principles of genuine Liberty and of wise laws and administrations
are to be drawn from the Bible" (Noah Webster); and

WHEREAS, the people of Oklahoma have a strong tradition of reliance upon the
Creator of the Universe; and thought secure when we have removed

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; and

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;

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.

Signed on the second day of July in the year of our Lord Christ Two Thousand and Nine.

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Comments

[jberthy]

This recession is having implications in every aspect of society in the the western world. It's only a matter of time until it severely affects the underdeveloped world as well. http://www.mindreign.com/en/mindshare/Economic-Conditions/Everything-is-connected/sl4358145bp305cpp10pn1.html has some interesting info on it as well

[RegularEinstein]

Is this weirdo Kern up for re-election in 2010? I'm praying to every god of every religion that voters wise up and send her to the unemployment line then.

[Cupcake Chucks]

As someone from Oklahoma I'm appalled by Kern, I sincerely hope she isn't reelected.

[Imago]

"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..."

Suppose she's heard back from him yet?

Oooooooohk-lahoma where the wingnuts sit upon the plain....

[minusfive]

hey everyone. i have designed a shirt regarding sally kern and her ten commandments and posted it on zazzle. all of the proceeds will go to a charity or charities in the oklahoma city area who are promoting tolerance and can help to make sure she's not re-elected in 2010. the links for the shirts are:

rainbow option:
http://www.zazzle.com/i_coveted_sally_kerns_ass_tshirt-235709235129651362

plain black type option:
http://www.zazzle.com/i_coveted_sally_kerns_ass_tshirt-235650799678681919

with zazzle you are able to choose the color/style of shirt you want.

[cypressgreen]

I believe we all owe her an email mocking her and taking her to task for making her state's residents wrongly look stupid.

[nylibgrrl]

James Madison: "What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy." Madison objected to state-supported chaplains in Congress and to the exemption of churches from taxation. He wrote: "Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together."

http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/founding.htm#MYTHING

[nylibgrrl]

Thomas Jefferson: "I have examined all the known superstitions of the word, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth."
-- Six Historic Americans by John E. Remsburg, letter to William Short

Jefferson again: "Christianity...(has become) the most perverted system that ever shone on man. ...Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first great corrupter of the teaching of Jesus."

More Jefferson: "The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ.

Jefferson's word for the Bible? "Dunghill."
[Editor's note: Jefferson used this word to describe what he considered false teachings placed into the mouth of Christ, as opposed to what he considered the true teachings of Christ. He never used this word to describe the entire Bible.]

[SOSTED]

Toxic Assets": The fact is that 25% of the borrowers for home mortgages were not properly qualified.

The explosion of the real estate market was Federally Funded and intentionally created but the unintended consequences are being used to politically defeat opponents with their partners in the biased media.

These loans were all guaranteed by the Federal government because Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, created by the Federal Government, would buy the paper(mortgage) regardless of the credit worthiness of the home buyer. This,of course, allowed banks, realtors and brokers to qualify anyone that could fog a mirror. They had no risk in the deal. "predatory" ??

A demand for more single family homes created an artificial shortage of homes due to more (unqualified)home buyer in the market.
The single family housing shortage caused an inflationary spiral.
This PRICE SPIRAL also allowed 2nd mortgages to be added within weeks of closing and many bought new cars and paid off credit card debt with the 2nd's.
Then they would run up the credit cards and refinance again.
Some refinanced four or more times and lived off the artificially inflated proceeds.

The refinance industry had loans at 125% of value, in anticipation of the continued inflationary spiral in the market.
Eventually many of these, unqualified but deserving, home owners, started defaulting on their loans because they COULD not manage money . What a surprise!!

The so called "predatory lenders" were created by "policies of the US congress", and that is were the blame lies.

[SOSTED]

The so called "predatory lenders" were created by policies of the US congress, and that is were the blame lies.
Without the Federally backed guarantee of loans through Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, no bank would have risked financing the borrowers that could not qualify.

These toxic assets were packaged and sold to investment banks and insurance companies around the world as solid investment product.

That is what caused this financial meltdown and nothing else!!

The US real estate boom was in every investment product, worldwide.

The real blame lies squarely on the shoulders of Congress, both parties, for creating the environment that led to this implosion of the credit market.

Only the qualified deserve credit, regardless of race, it is not a right!!!

Maybe the media will come out of it's drunken stupor long enough to really analyze the facts and study history, B.O (before Obama)

This is the "Naked Emperor" that the media cannot see or refuses to see!!

Get rid of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and require the banks/brokers/realtors to take the risk and this will never happen again.

[allamericanboy]

Response to thebyron: I live in Oklahoma and it sometimes gets really hard to find much to laugh at. Thanks for giving me one thing today!

[dan in Oklahoma]

Please don't trash everyone in Oklahoma! I love Oklahoma and am obviously embarrassed by some of the moronic politicians from the state, but there are great local representatives here also. I hate Sally Kern and her ridiculous crap more than anyone and there are a whole lot of people here that do! Please don't lump me with her just because she is a state representative from a uber-conservative district at the State level. My representative thinks she is a joke also. Sorry, I just had to point out that a lot of Oklahomans are very embarrassed by her.

[Hollywooddeed]

She wants the United States to turn into a theocracy? Why does Rep. Kern hate America?

[thebyron]

WHEREAS these people frighten me, and

WHEREAS freedom of religion is one of the greatest liberties we have

BE IT RESOLVED that I wish to smack them upside the head with the First Amendment.

Signed, this first of July, in the year of Our Flying Spaghetti Monster 2009

RAmen

[bonnetteblj]

The Christian right-wing nuts want the U.S. to be a Theocracy not a Democracy. Their version of our country only exists for people like them. Anyone with another religion or philosophy for life would not be welcome in their USA. I am a Christian and people like Sally Kern irritate me. I don't believe it is right to tell everyone else how they have to live. Rep Kern is wasting tax payer money on this garbage. Our Constitution states a separation of church and state for a reason. Rep Kern needs to read it!

[PWM]

They want an Iran without the headdress.

[okjoel]

The same state that gave us Senator Inhofe.