I guess we should be glad that Mormons only dedicate their own stupid property to God.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who was just reelected, recently dedicated "every square inch" of the state to Jesus: "[With] the authority that I have as governor, and the spiritual authority and the physical authority that you give me, I claim Oklahoma for you."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wykWVdHXfdM

(The comments are interesting.)

How can people not see how divisive and invasive this kind of thing is? Not one inch allowed for a Jewish, or Muslim or atheist to feel like they are on their own land without Jesus trying to trump everything? Do better Christians in OK. This kind of thing fuels antisemitism among other problems. No one else is trying to dedicate YOUR house to their god.

No worries. I just did my incantation as well:
"Oh mighty satan, HR Puff-N-Stuff, and Saruman, I dedicate Oklahoma to you on behalf of the people of the state, and do hearby purge Jesus in the name of the voters of that stoopid state."

Kind of like a reverse HEX and such. I threw salt over my right shoulder, and rubbed my lucky rabbits foot just to be safe.


Evangelical Republican's really are a group of deluded douche bags.


HH =)

Phew! That was close. Thanks for the HEX!

I'm amazed people can't see how weird they look doing their magic religion stuff in public. I'm always suspicious they do the god stuff to appease and use the ones who actually believe. You always have to say God Bless to get votes, don't you know. It's a tribal team thing, kind of like a dog going around lifting his leg all over to claim his presence.

Ah yes... Oklahoma the fire hydrant of the US. ;)


HH =)

Sounds like a major downgrade. Why Jesus would even want Oklahoma is baffling.

Jesus now wears a T-shirt: "I died for y'all's sins and all I got was Oklahoma."

dagny Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How can people not see how divisive and invasive
> this kind of thing is? Not one inch allowed for a
> Jewish, or Muslim or atheist to feel like they are
> on their own land without Jesus trying to trump
> everything? Do better Christians in OK. This kind
> of thing fuels antisemitism among other problems.


It's a positive and a negative all at the same time that my father drummed into us kids the principle of viewing all sides of an issue. Positive, of course, in that it helps me to see the bigger picture so I can get along with people and understand different viewpoints. Negative in that it can make me indecisive. But the positive outweighs that negative.

I don't know why I have been interested in religion since a young age. Perhaps my father's distaste for it sparked my curiosity. Likely the opposite of what he intended.

But even for me fervent religiosity is a big turnoff. My skin crawls, for example, when people start talking in tongues or performing other intensely religious acts. Just a step too far for me. Because I like to keep things reasonable and on the more sane side of the spectrum.

I especially think it's only right for people to keep their faith in their own sphere and leave other spaces secular, in particular public spaces.


> No one else is trying to dedicate YOUR house to
> their god.

Too bad more of the most fervent evangelizer types don't grasp this concept. Shoe on the other foot - how would they like it? Good question.


>This kind of thing fuels antisemitism among other problems.

I read recently that antisemitism is the world's oldest hatred. I hadn't thought of it that way before. It's appalling, and heartbreaking, that it remains alive and well in our "modern" times. Imagine being hated, despised, displaced, disregarded, cast aside, just for who you are.

And then we get Holocaust deniers. What the ??? There is abundant historical evidence as well as current first-person accounts confirming the Holocaust.

The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. provides a wealth of contemporaneous documentation and confirmed pictorial evidence about this history.

RfM poster Soft Machine recently wrote: "I have personally known several Auschwitz survivors..."

It is important for survivors to know that people are aware and that they care. We can only wish that the scourge of hatred towards others could be eradicated.


Do better People.

Especially people supposedly "of God".


Compassion. We could do with a more abundant supply.

If everyone was as tolerant and humble about their religion as you are Nighty, people wouldn't be so hostile about the subject. Thanks for being an example that not all EVs are jerks and calling out things that cross the line!

Very kind of you to say, dagny. Thank you.

I am not really one of the pack because I can't willingly conform 100%.

I also am rethinking ID'ing as EV, as it's changed, or I have, and I'm tired of saying I'm EV but not like that.

I mean - I value a bit of sanity with my faith! If possible.

To be fair, I don't know any extreme EVs, at least not up here in The Frozen North. My best friend, who just lost her husband, is EV (as was he) but she is completely lovely.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2022 05:22PM by Nightingale.

Are elections REALLY different in Oklahoma?
I wasn't aware that becoming governor meant that you now OWN every square inch of the state.

Or, if we're just talking nonsense now...

I would like to OFFICIALLY dedicate all ZEBRAS to the MOON
And consecrate my mom's POTATO SALAD to the society of LEPRECHAUNS.

>>I would like to OFFICIALLY dedicate all ZEBRAS to the MOON
And consecrate my mom's POTATO SALAD to the society of LEPRECHAUNS.

LOL!

It's true that it is mostly nonsensical gibberish, but sometimes I think the bigger point is for them to publicly demonstrate sanctimonious ass-holy-ness and administer jabs at everyone who isn't in their club. It's a way to link power to their religious tribe and be in your face about it.

+a very large number

What is physical authority from Jesus is what is like to know.

>[With] the authority that I have as governor...

As per the First Amendment to the US Constitution, the amount of authority the governor has to dedicated his state to Jesus is precisely zero.

I hadn't known that elected governors are given "spiritual authority" over their respective states. What, I wonder, does the Oklahoma state constitution say about a governor's "spiritual authority"?

It doesn't. That phrase doesn't appear in the state constitution at all, not even once. This godly governor's cup of piety, sanctimony and performance art runneth o'er.

(Section I-2 not only codifies no religious test to exercise political or civil rights, but specifically bans polygamy: "Polygamous or plural marriages are forever prohibited." Period. Suck it, mormons.)

The one thing these idiots understand is money. So I would appreciate it if the governor of Oklahoma would be willing to state that Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, etc. are not welcome in his state, and do not need to spend their filthy lucre there.

...remember my history correctly.

The Oklahoma territory was originally supposed to be the land where the American Indians were sent to live when white settlers moved on to their lands. It is where President Andrew Jackson forced the Cherokee tribes to march in 1838 (despite a "no" from the U.S. Supreme Court) that became known as "The Trail of Tears," because of the number of deaths, both natural and human-caused, that occurred along the way.

This area was chosen because the white settlers thought that crops wouldn't grow there. But crops did grow there, and soon white settlers started encroaching on the territory reserved for native Americans, and that was the end of that.

Later (in 1919, if memory serves), African-americans were becoming very successful in the Tulsa area. Many of Tulsa's white residents, including the editors of its newspaper, didn't like the success black people were having so they came and destroyed houses and businesses. The specific date this occurred is the newest Federal holiday, June Teenth.

More recently, this current governor, Mr. Stiht, went to court to force the native American tribes in eastern Oklahoma to allow state troopers on their lands when they were chasing Caucasian suspects. He won that case in the U.S. Supreme Court during its last term. According to Oklahoma's native American leaders, this governor is the most problematic Oklahoma governor they've ever had to deal with--he's too dictatorial.

Yeah, that sounds like Jesus' homeland...

May 30, 1921, the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Yep, white people had grown jealous of the black community's successes and the fact that people spoke a Black Wall Street in that city. A minor instance--the disputed claim that a young black man sexually assaulted a white elevator operator in her elevator in the middle of the day.

That dubious incident triggered a broader race war that devastated the black community, was largely ignored by the press, and established a precedent that it was dangerous for black people to become successful in the US South. That is what Oklahoma stood for until the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and the wave of destitute "Okies" who moved to California and the farming opportunities of the Central valley.

A believer could argue that that was proof of divine retribution for the Massacre. But few if any believers are likely to see it that way.

Not one to disparage divine retribution but the dust bowl covered a much larger area than just Oklahoma and while it had a devastating affect on many states it was rural folk who bore the brunt. That said, I think people like Stitt should stick to politics and governance and people like Franklin Graham should stick to religion.

Kentish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not one to disparage divine retribution but the
> dust bowl covered a much larger area than just
> Oklahoma . . .

Yep. One thing about Biblical divine justice: it tends to be imprecise, like the universal flood!

Elohim does seem to have terrible aim, doesn't He? Bathroom cleaning duty on Kolob must be horrific.

Hence the change in church policy to ensure a copious supply of experienced toilet cleaners in the Celestial Kingdom.

I have been to Tulsa numerous times and as recently as a few weeks ago. There are historic markers in the area where the slaughter took place. The state will receive more focus next year when the Scorsese directed movie "Killers of the Flower Moon" is released. The book is a fascinating read that details a series of murders of Indians to steal their oil leases. The resolution of the crime involves the beginnings of the FBI. Some Oklahoma land was useless for growing crops. It was full of nasty black stuff.

I read that book and recommended it to one of our fellow posters. It is deeply disturbing and revelatory--in a way many Americans would probably prefer not to see.

"But crops did grow there, and soon white settlers started encroaching on the territory reserved for native Americans, and that was the end of that."

Steal their sacred land, give it to white people, and dedicate it to Jesus. What's the problem?

One could say that Oklahoma is not of this world, or at least the governor is on some other planet.

? What does Russ say about this?

Will he collaborate with the Utah governor to top Oklahoma?

Well, I suppose with all the stuff the church owns in Utah, a great deal of Utah IS dedicated to Jesus. The LDS do it piece by piece dedicating everything they buy. The OK governor streamlined the process by doing "every inch" at once. ;-D

Maybe they think Jesus will protect the place more if you butter him up and dedicate something to him.

...Russ won't dedicate everything to Joseph Smith? Horror of horrors! His predecessors must be rolling in their graves!

And Jesus didn't even send a thank you note? Typical.

State religion

Next for OK:
only religious schools / education by charter schools. No more school boards, funding to be funneled thru religious organizations & bureaucracy

Yup. Given any opportunity, several red states would do that in a heartbeat.

I have one more gripe about that prayer the governor made.

He keeps talking to "Father" in the name of Jesus. (OK, Mormons did that and had lame reasons too.) Then he refers to Jesus, then Father. So, is he dedicating the land to Jesus or to Father? Wait, they are sort of the same person, you know- like different lobes of a clover or whatever, right?

The longer I observe as an outsider, is seems wacky like they can't decide what god avatar should actually "own" the land. Was he expecting Father AND Jesus to tag team to pick the right people in the election?

I can see Mormons talking like that, since they believe Father and Jesus are very separate beings. Jesus does all the heavy lifting and God sort of sits in the Director's chair. Prayers like this sound like they are hedging their bets and don't know which part of God to gravel to.