Oklahoma Conservatives fracturing Republican Party over response to gay pastor's prayer

Calvin Rees of the Democrats of Oklahoma Forum has obtained and posted the contents of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) newsletter written and distributed by one Charlie Meadows.

A section deals with the recent flap at the Oklahoma state capitol over a prayer said by an openly gay pastor, which was preceded by an introduction of his family and partner/fiance. 20 legislators voted not to allow the prayer entered into the record.

Meadows does the Democratic Party of Oklahoma the big favor of dividing the GOP members into two distinct groups, one of which it condemns not “true” conservatives, and thus not worthy of OCPAC member’s votes.

I say, Yay! splinter away!

Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC)

[…]

– HOMOSEXUAL PREACHER BRINGS ABOMINATION TO STATE CAPITOL

This past Tuesday State Representative Al McAffrey (D-inner city OKC) had the opportunity to invite a pastor to be the Chaplin for the day and open the session with prayer. McAffrey is the only openly homosexual member of the legislature. The “pastor” he asked to give the prayer was the “Reverend” Scott Jones, also an openly homosexual who introduced his “fiancee” Michael, who was sitting in the gallery.
McAffrey asked that Jones’ prayer be recorded in the official minutes of the day, (this is normally only done on Thursdays) Representative John Wright (R-Broken Arrow) objected and called for a vote on the issue.

In my opinion, this was just another cleverly planned skirmish by the homosexuals in the culture war. Radical homosexuals are trying to force society to accept their perverted lifestyle as normal, equal or perhaps superior. Then of course, when normal folks disagree with them, or express that their perversion is “sin” in the eye’s of God as well as all Bible believing Christians (the only real Christians), then the homosexuals play the victim role and accuse those in opposition to their agenda as being haters, bigots, intolerant, narrow minded, red necks and on and on and on. Actually, you don’t have to read many of their notes to people who disagree with them to see that they are the ones that have their hearts full of hate for people who refuse to accept their behavior.

I believe that unless the content of Jones’ prayer was that of confession for his sinful behavior regarding homosexuality and an expression of repentance toward God for his rebellion and perversion, then his being there to give the prayer for the day was an abomination. Based on my reading of God’s Word (The Bible) Jones’
belief that he is a man of God and anyone else who try to justify homosexuality as acceptable, they serve a “god of their own making or their imagination.” They are not serving the God of the Bible and they do not have a relationship with the one and only true God.

Some of the Republican House members walked out, perhaps that was their way to protest the charade, 20 of them voted against allowing the prayer to be recorded and 24 Republicans voted to allow the exception to the norm and have the prayer recorded. May I suggest several possible reasons for the 24 who decided to go along with the desires of McAffrey and the homosexual community.

While most, if not all, Republican House members claim a Christian church affiliation, certainly with some it is more of a social relationship rather than Biblical Christianity. Some may think this is not an important issue and wish it would go away so they could deal with “important” business like determining how they will re-distribute other people’s money. Others may have family members or friends who are homosexuals and have decided to compromise God’s Word and the truth on the subject for their emotional attachments. Perhaps they aren’t mature enough in their Christianity to be able to take a stand against sin, yet at the same time be able to express Christian love toward homosexuals, hoping to see them set free from the bondage of homosexuality. Others might not want to be on the receiving end of the intimidation, hatred, and perhaps death threats from the homosexual community by standing up against their agenda. Just 24 hours in the shoes of State Representative Sally Kern would make the cowardly never want to be in that position. I have already seen some of the e-mails sent to the lawmakers who voted no, and believe me the hateful responses are typical.

Following are the names of those who voted to go along with the homosexual agenda. I will break them into two groups, Those I am not surprised about and those that I am. I am not surprised about Don Armes-Lawton, Eddie Fields-Pawhuska, Steve Martin-Bartlesville, Colby Schwartz-Yukon, Earl Sears-Tulsa, Lee Denney-Cushing, Fred Jordan- Tulsa, Charlie Joyner-Midwest City, Ron Peters-Tulsa, Doug Cox-Grove, David Derby-Owasso, Dale DeWitt-Braman, or Phil Richardson-Minco. With the exception of Eddie Fields, a freshman, every one of these lawmakers have been on the RINO nominee list at one time or another, or in the case of Lee Denney and Doug Cox, they have been the winners of the RINO award.

Following are the names of the lawmakers who did surprise me, Gary Banz-Midwest City, Lisa Billy-Purcell, Cory Holland-Marlow, T.W.
Shannon-Lawton, Ken Miller-Edmond (this guy is a professor at Oklahoma Christian. This is certainly not the perspective of the members of the Churches of Christ that I know), Marian Cooksey-Edmond, Pam Peterson- Tulsa (the biggest surprise of all to me), Chris Steele-Shawnee, David Derby-Owasso, Mike Thompson-OKC, Scott Martin-Norman and Speaker Chris Benge-Tulsa, a person who is supposed to be a social conservative. Of these 24, OCPAC has supported only 4 of them in the past.

Following are the names of the 20 brave lawmakers who voted against the homosexual agenda: Gus Blackwell-Goodwell, George Faught-Muskogee, Lewis Moore-Arcadia, Mike Ritze-Broken Arrow, Mike Christian-OKC, Dennis Johnson-Duncan, Jason Murphey-Guthrie, Mike Sanders-Kinfisher, Ann Coody-Lawton, Sally Kern-OKC, Leslie Osborne-Blanchard, Randy Terrill-Moore, Rex Duncan-Sand Springs, Charles Key-OKC, Pat Ownbey- Ardmore, Todd Thomsen-Ada, John Enns-Enid, Guy Liebmann-OKC, Mike Reynolds-OKC and John Wright-Broken Arrow. Of these 20, OCPAC has supported 13 of them in the past. Only 1 of the 7 who voted the right way on this issue, but did not receive our support, appeared before OCPAC. Had the other 6 appeared for their interview process, I believe we would have supported 5 of them. I believe there is 1 of the 6 who would not have received our support.

Following are the names of the ones who walked out or were absent.
Paul Wesselhoft-Moore, David Dank-OKC, Mark McCullough-Sapulpa, Dan Sullivan-Tulsa, Harold Wright-Weatherford, Jeff Hickman-Woodward, Randy McDaniel-OKC, Sue Tibbs-Tulsa, Mike Jackson-Enid, John Trebilcock-Tulsa, Shane Jett-Tecumseh, and Charles Ortega-Altus. Of those in this list, OCPAC has only supported one.

If one of these lawmakers happens to be your state representative and voted the right way, contact them and thank them for opposing the homosexual agenda. If they took a hike or voted the wrong way, remember that on the next election day, along with their scores on the conservative index..

One final thought. It is very easy to see that the OCPAC interview process, while not perfect, has done a very good job of determining candidates who are CONSISTENTLY conservative vs. those who claim to be conservative when they want our votes and our money, then turn out to govern more like a liberal Democrat, rather than a conservative Republican. Therefore, I invite folks to become a dues paying member of OCPAC so we can continue to elect true conservatives to the legislature. To join, please follow the instructions following my sine off.

Charlie Meadows

[In other news, Meadows announced he has stopped using PeoplePC as his email provider. 1996 is heartbroken at the loss of its last resident.]