Published: August 06, 2008 12:08 am            

Kern: God called her as ‘cultural warrior’

State Rep. Sally Kern says she’s been called by God.

Kern, R-Oklahoma City, told the Cleveland County Republican Luncheon Club Tuesday the Almighty “made it clear” to her she was supposed to be a “cultural warrior” in Oklahoma, and that she was to campaign for the Oklahoma Legislature.

“I started praying about whether or not the Lord wanted me to run,” Kern said. “And the more I prayed, the more I felt He did.”

Kern said she expected to “run, lose and just be a much better government teacher.”

“But lo and behold I won,” she said. “And so here I am, and I’m not the typical legislator. The Lord showed me right off the bat that I’m not supposed to be. As a matter of fact, my Lord made it very clear to me that I am a cultural warrior. And you know I tried to say ‘no’ to that, too, ’cause that’s pretty hard. But, anyway, that’s where I am.”

Speaking about what being a conservative meant to her, Kern told the small audience that being a conservative was more than being “pro life and wanting limited government.”

“I think we do have to look at the founding fathers,” she said, “to find out what it was they created; what was it they wanted to preserve; what are the institutions and traditions they founded this nation upon; and are those the things that we need to preserve today. And I think they are.”

Americans, Kern said, should ask themselves, “What were the principles the founding fathers established this great nation upon?”

Men such as John Adams, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, she said, believed there was a “true” religion and that religion was based on a Christian faith.

“When we have teachers and professors say to our students that our founding fathers were atheists or deists, how can we answer that when we don’t even know who they were? When you study them and read what they had to say, approximately 95 percent of them were Christian, of the Christian religion, professing Jesus Christ as their savior,” she said. “True freedom comes from knowing God your creator.”

The government, Kern said, does not give people their rights.

“Government cannot force people to change, and yet we see that’s what government is doing,” she said. “Every time government passes another law, they are taking away some of our freedoms.”

While she didn’t wade into the deep waters of the debate surrounding her earlier speeches about gays and “the homosexual agenda,” Kern did briefly address the issue.

“Yes, in my infamous speech I made the statement that not all lifestyles are equal and not all religions are equal and I will stand by that,” she said.

Kern said what she meant was the lifestyles of residents who are in prison, or addicted to drugs or alcohol are “not equal” to the lifestyles of those who are not addicted or who are not in prison.

“You take an alcoholic,” she said, “someone who cannot get up and go to work and function. Their lifestyle isn’t equal to someone who isn’t an alcoholic.”

Addressing her comment that all religions were not equal, Kern said she stood by her comment.

“When I said that all religions are not equal, I meant that,” she said. “Because as I Christian, I believe what God’s word said. When it says in the Book of John that Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the light.’ If you believe that then all the religions are not equal. Are all faiths equal? No, I don’t think they are. Does everybody have the right to exercise what ever faith and religion they want? Yes they do; and let’s hope and pray that it always stays that way.”

Closing her speech, Kern said Oklahomans had “lost their conservatism,” because Sooners had “forsaken not only morality and ethics but the principles of limited government.”

“That’s what it means for me to be a conservative,” she said. “We need to remember where we came from, because that will determine where we’re going.”

Recently, Kern was the center of more controversy after she attempted — for the second time — to carry a concealed weapon into the state capitol building. Although Kern said she had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, state law forbids bringing weapons into a state agency, or the state Capitol building.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.