How screwed is Oklahoma when it comes to church/state separation issues in the years to come?

Consider this brief tangent: The Oak Initiative is a Christian non-profit group whose president is Rick Joyner, who recently said Hurricane Florence was the result of sin rather than climate change.

Then there are the other board members. Like retired Lt. General Jerry Boykin who once said Jesus would return to kill his enemies with an AR-15. Another board member is Cindy Jacobs, whose claimed to help a woman grow three inches instantaneously and also said she once literally turned metal into bone. And there’s Lance Wallnau, who thinks the critics of Donald Trump are controlled by Satan. And Janet Porter, who thinks gay people are setting the world on fire. It’s just a collection of the most mindless, reactionary, brainwashed Christians you can imagine.

What have they done as members of this group?

Some of its controversial actions include a 2015 bulletin posted on its website from its president, MorningStar Ministries founder Rick Joyner, saying the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage was a “dress rehearsal” for the biblical end of times and compared it to the “mark of the beast.” The bulletin additionally called the “gay agenda” the biggest “enemy of Christianity in America.” … The group also faced backlash in 2015 from gay-rights groups after the Michigan chapter of the Oak Initiative set up billboards that showed a gay man with a rainbow painted on his face surrounded by the words “Not Born this Way” and “Homosexuality is a behavior. Not a civil right.”

And then there’s all the anti-Islam stuff equating all Muslims with terrorists and suggesting Muslims aren’t as deserving of religious freedoms as Christians. And the tweet comparing liberals to Nazis.

You get the idea.

And the chairman of this whole group since 2011 has been a man named Marc Nuttle.

Marc Nuttle just stepped down from the board on Wednesday in order to take on his new job… as the guy in charge of newly elected Governor Kevin Stitt’s transition team. Nuttle will be in charge of setting the new administration’s agenda and deciding what Stitt’s priorities will be once he’s sworn in. You can bet that LGBTQ rights, religious freedom for everyone, and voting rights won’t be at the top of the list.

In a statement to Oklahoma Watch, Nuttle said he joined the Oak Initiative because of its focus on “developing leadership skills according to a biblical worldview of being salt and light to the world.” Without offering specifics, Nuttle said, “in subsequent years, statements have been made that I do not agree with and that do not represent my views.”

That’s convenient. He never voiced any objections publicly until now, he remained chairman even as the group became known primarily for its bigotry, and even now he can’t point to any specifics he disagrees with. He’s complicit in whatever the group has done while he’s been at the helm.

How can a man like this represent all of Oklahoma when his entire life has been dedicated to demonizing peopl who don’t share his conservative Christian views?

And what does it say about Stitt that he chose a bigot like this to help him transition into the highest office in the state?

I know it’s Oklahoma and expectations are already pretty low, but these people can’t even plausibly offer lip service to the groups Nuttle has maligned over the years.

(Screenshot via YouTube. Thanks to Brian for the link)

