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Inciteful remarks
By World's Editorial Writers
Published:
3/12/2008 2:40 AM
Last Modified: 3/12/2008 2:40 AM
When scary met Sally
Oklahoma City Republican Rep. Sally Kern got caught in the act of being herself -- yet again.
A recording of Kern stating that the "homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation" and represents a greater threat to America than "terrorism or Islam" is on the video-sharing Web site YouTube, which has received a half million hits in four days.
Kern, who was speaking to a group of Republicans when the inflammatory remarks were secretly recorded, now claims her comments were taken out of context.
We would only hope. But unfortunately that's not what the evidence suggests. Kern, a former teacher and wife of a Baptist minister, claims that she was only exercising her free speech rights. Those would be the same rights that led her on a crusade a few years back to pull library books off school shelves and to cut library funding.
Kern indeed has the right of free speech but she also enjoys the privilege of suffering the consequences. So far she's received at least 5,000 e-mails, most spanking her for suggesting "the homosexual lifestyle is destroying our country."
Joe Solmonese, head of the 700,000-member Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay and lesbian civil rights group, has written a letter to Gov. Brad Henry, suggesting that words matter, especially coming from an elected official whose job it is to represent all her constituents -- an official who should
set an example.
That apparently isn't how Kern's Republican colleagues see it. Instead of flinching at her intolerance, they appeared to embrace it Monday with a big group hug and a standing ovation for their YouTube star.
Their reaction is one that should be remembered by more tolerant Oklahomans come election time. Equating sexual orientation with knocking down the World Trade Center is divisive and dangerous, not to mention dumb.
Rep. Kern may think she speaks only for herself but in the eyes of the nation her vitriol slops over on all Oklahomans.
By World's Editorial Writers
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Report Comment
Michael Phillips
, Tulsa (3/12/2008 5:14:14 AM)
This woman has been receiving death threats. Is it the opinion of the Tulsa World that she deserves death threats? Why leave that out of your comments? Perhaps your less than clever use of the word "Spanking" was meant to convey the idea that death threats have been received. Why not tell the whole story?
Report Comment
k
, owasso (3/12/2008 6:40:54 AM)
michael, you silly boy. they never tell the whole story because it doesn't suit their agenda.
Report Comment
mike
, tulsa (3/12/2008 6:48:25 AM)
so this is the book police woman, she needs to move on and get that thinking out of public life. This is not the 1950's any more June and Ward Cleaver are long gone!
Report Comment
Graychin
, Eucha (3/12/2008 7:13:07 AM)
No one deserves death threats, no matter how bigoted, ignorant, and intolerant their statements happen to be.
That said, Sally Kern is an embarrassment to the entire state of Oklahoma. It's too bad that the other members of her party don't agree. If the Republican Party is in electoral trouble this fall, it will be because of standing ovations given to both Sen. Larry Craig and to Sally Kern. It shows them to be completely without principles, circling the wagons in defense of one of their own no matter what. It's an outstanding example of flip-flopping to both sides of the fence !
For these folks, party loyalty is always more important than what is right or wrong.
Report Comment
Alden
, Tulsa (3/12/2008 7:41:52 AM)
Perhaps she should be forced to watch 'Project Runway' for 72 hours for some sensitivity training.
Report Comment
David
, Tulsa (3/12/2008 8:58:10 AM)
I don't know. Project Runway, and just about anything on Bravo pretty much eats up all the tollerance I have.
But not because people are gay or straight. Just because they pick the most annoying people in the world to be on their little network.
Report Comment
LMAO
, (3/12/2008 9:23:03 AM)
According to the State Bureau of Investigation, she has not received any death threats, however much this woman and her supporters would like that to happen. And she and those supporters are just dying for that to happen because it would afford her the opportunity to say she's being persecuted against, which is something evangelicals really, really crave to the point that they'll convince themselves that it's happening when it really isn't. Psychologically, it provides them with the motivation to be even more fervent in their convictions, more bold in their rhetoric and more steeped in their paranoia about things like the "homosexual agenda". To receive an actual death threat would be the best possible thing that could happen in her mind, because it would give her the chance to cast herself as a brave victim. She can stand by her impossibly stupid and paranoid sentiments while pretending to be persecuted - the best of both worlds for a person like her.
Report Comment
Alden
, Tulsa (3/12/2008 9:29:02 AM)
Graychin. I agree on the Republican party, which has lost its way. Too bad. As to embarrassment I also agree. But at least we don't have to cringe as much as our neighbor, which has Slick Willie, the Huckster, and transplanted Hillary making total fools of themselves all across America. Add to that John Daly and Billy Bob Thornton to flesh out the image.
Report Comment
Scott
, Tulsa (3/12/2008 9:58:18 AM)
Sally,
Thanks for standing up and saying the right thing.
No mitter how you slice it, homosexuality is an abomination in the sight of the Lord.
Report Comment
TW
, South Tulsa (3/12/2008 10:16:32 AM)
Maybe Sally can come into my bedroom and notify my wife and I which is the correct way to get it on in the eyes of the Lord.
Report Comment
Rusty
, 74114 (3/12/2008 10:23:17 AM)
I have been with plenty of women in the past that enjoyed certain congress that was far more attrocious that the acts committed by those in the homosexual community...as far as I'm concerned...who cares what other people do in the bedroom as long as they are two concenting adults. Oklahomans need to learn how to stay out of other peoples private affairs.
Report Comment
Joe-Allen Doty
, Tulsa, OK (3/12/2008 10:42:24 AM)
Mrs. Kern initially lied about the death threats (that was in the first article printed in the World on Monday) and now she claims that there was none in the first place.
--
It has been proven on various internet blogs that a lot of what she said in that speech to a group of Republicans came from Paul Cameron (who has been kicked out of the American Psychological Association for making up lies about gays) and other nuts in his organization. She has been reading the writings of and listening to those who belong to the ex-gay political agenda organizations.
Report Comment
stonewall
, freedom (3/12/2008 10:50:54 AM)
Keep the pro-gay books and agenda out of my kid's school...
Right on Rep. Kern... Don't let these perves shout you down.
Report Comment
Joe-Allen Doty
, Tulsa, OK (3/12/2008 11:07:29 AM)
Literally speaking and using the Hebrew Scriptures in the correct historical context, the only men who had sex with men who were supposed to be stoned to death were heteroexual men who worshipped the Canaanite fertility goddess, Asherah, with a male priest, aka "holy (person)," dressed up in women's clothing to represent Asherah. The fertility ritual was an annual event where the straight men who had wives would go to sacrifice their male "seed" to her by having sex with a male holy person or even a female holy person at the place where the goddess and her cohort, Ba'al (aka Molech) was worshipped.
--
In the mind of the adult male Jews/Israelites/Hebrews, women were merely incubators for the male "seed" (sperm) which contained a tiny miniature fully developed baby in it. A woman did not have "seed" until AFTER she gave birth to a child.
--
All of the abominations regarding sexual activity in Leviticus chapters 18 through 20 is related to the worship of the Canaanite fertility gods. There is nothing in those chapters about those whom we now call homosexuals.
--
There is no word in the original languages of the whole Bible that can literally or figuratively be translated as "sodomite." Every time that word appears in the KJV Bible, the actual Hebrew Text word is "kodesh" which as a noun means "holy (person). The KJV translators used "sodomite" when the religion in question was that practiced by the residents of Canaan or the Jews who also worshipped Canaanite gods. Solomon even built a shrine to Asherah and that's in the Bible, too.
--
When the word "kodesh" (qadesh in some lexicons) is used as a noun and not connected with the Canaanite religion, the KJV translators used "saint" as a translation of that word.
Report Comment
teter
, tulsa (3/12/2008 11:27:35 AM)
graychin, you say that nobody deserves death threats?
first, i'll say that i do not endorse threats of death but that said... i understand the motivation that leads people to make them. kern is a person in power and can use that power to impact the lives of other people.
*
this sorry excuse for a person has put forward, as an endorsement of ideology, an opinion that vilifies people based on an inerrant aspect of their being. she has promoted the vilification of an individuals right to exist.
*
think of a person you love... now, an aspect of that person that defines their being... now imagine that that aspect has been deemed by a policy maker to be obscene and a danger to others. in effect it would be a significant & sustained harm inflicted.
*
it could be said that kern desires & facilitates the killing not of the bodies but of the aspects of people that are core to their being. a living death. it is despicable and within her scope of influence. i can understand where some may feel so greatly threatened that they would feel the desire to defend themselves without remorse.
scott, no matter how YOU slice it your lord is but one of the many irrational notions that suppose an almighty myth. your evaluation of "abomination" is just your regurgitation of ideas & superstitious concepts that were fed you by those with similar inadequacies of reason that are likely just a little better than you at mass communication.
as for you, your opinion, your lord ect & up the line... i consider the source and evaluate value.
that value = bankrupt
Report Comment
David Arenap
, (3/12/2008 11:28:20 AM)
For once I find myself agreeing with the Whirled. Kern's comments were vile (talk about moral equivalency!) and completely against the grain of Jesus' repeatedly demonstrated compassion.
The State House GOP caucus members should have the guts to disdain her. Instead they embraced her, showing us how truly unserious they are about the real threats facing this country.
There are Islamic radicals who really do feverishly wish for the end of Western civilization and are prepared to do whatever they need to do to achieve that end.
They have proven their willingness to take extreme measures repeatedly, including when they flew jetliners into two of our nation's largest office towers, killed 3,000 innocents and devastated our largest metropolis.
I suggest Rep. Kern -- and all of us, for that matter -- focus on this very grave threat, this very clear and present danger, and stop fiddling around with whether someone might or might not be homosexually inclined.
Report Comment
Lawrence
, Tulsa (3/12/2008 11:42:24 AM)
I can't remember when I have whole-heartedly endorsed one of TW's editorials. This one goes down in history. Thanks, TW
Report Comment
Charles
, Tulsa (3/12/2008 11:43:18 AM)
the TW is yapping again about "tolerance". Does this extend to Sally Kern and controversial comments?It seems she is subjected to death threats and massive abuse.Many gays would like to make criticism of homosexuals a criminal offense.Where is their "tolerance"?
Report Comment
Sally
, Your Adoring Fan (3/12/2008 11:44:04 AM)
Dear Sally Kern:
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your speech, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination ... End of debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Your adoring fan
Report Comment
Anthony
, Tulsa (3/12/2008 11:46:58 AM)
"Spanking her" is TW pc speak for death threats.I admire her for speaking her mind.
Report Comment
McVicker
, Chicago, IL (3/12/2008 11:53:48 AM)
Sally Kern did not only offend gays and lesbians, she offended the followers of Islam. Islam is NOT a threat to this nation. And neither are gays and lesbians.
She also clearly stated that not all religions are equal. I would like her to expalin which ones are superior and why.
Some say that she is lashing out at gays due to her inability to accept her own son's homosexuality.
She can believe whatever she wants to believe. But as an elected official representing a multi-cultural and ethnically diverse constituency, she has no right whatsoever to say the ignorant things that she did in a public forum.
I hope the good people of Oklahoma will see this twisted and stupid woman for what she is and vote her out of office.
If she were truly Christian, she would beg the gays and lesbians and their loved ones to forgive her for the hurt, pain, anger, and confusion she has caused with her hate-filled spew.
Report Comment
jack
, tulsa (3/12/2008 11:55:27 AM)
Saw this on another board and "borrowed it"....
The previously cited article in the Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine states regarding homosexual murders the following: "These "Lovers' quarrels" between male homosexuals manifest an increased level of violence due to the fact that the parties involved in the emotional conflict are both sexual aggressors."[15]
The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Michael Newton reports the following regarding the issue of homosexuality and murders:
“ Homosexual slayers clearly have no monopoly on violence, but it is true that their crimes often display extremes of "overkill" and mutilation... On balance, it seems fair to say that while homosexuals sometimes fall prey to "gay bashing" violence by bigoted "straights," they are far more likely to be murdered by another homosexual than in a random hate crime.[16]
Report Comment
LMAO
, (3/12/2008 12:06:28 PM)
We elected Republicans to a majority in the House and Senate (almost) to hasten a new, better and more modern Oklahoma that could stand in direct contrast to the good old boy culture and mediocrity that Democrats had mired this state in for a hundred years. But House Republicans have been a complete embarassment and failure from the moment they took the majority.
One scandal after another, One stupid quote and gaffe after another. There's no focus of agenda. As an individual agency, the House has been a model of ineffeciency and chaos under Hiett and Cargill.
Every House Republican should be to doing everything in their power to improve the state's business climate, improve our schools and improve our transportation infrastructure. Ranting and raving about homosexuality to the point that it becomes a national news story and makes our state a subject of ridicule doesn't exactly signal to industry and educated workers that ours is a modern and advancing place to live and do business.
This has been coming for awhile though - Kern has been saying incredibly ignorant and bizarre things from the moment of her election. She's had a strange preoccupation with homosexuality ever since she's been in office (managing to sneak the topic into the most unlikely of discussions) and her caucus hasn't had the guts or the decency to tell her whenever she veers off the rails into wacko obsessive land. They too deserve some culpability here for supporting such a poor candidate and poor representative who has done nothing to address the fundamental challenges facing this state and has instead focused almost solely ideological and "faith" based issues.
Oklahoma has enough faith. Per capita, only Utah has more churces. And advancing the cause of those churches does nothing to rebuild our roads and bridges, improve our schools or bring high-paying jobs to the state. Nothing she has ever authored has ever produced a tangible benefit to the average Oklahoma taxpayer who isn't a religious zealot.
She has no expertise or real concern with the serious issues facing our state because she lives in a religious fantasy land where she views everthing through the prism of her own personal "spiritual" convictions and doesn't possess the mental dexterity to evaluate issues from any other vantage point. This is contrary to the traits of effective leadership and it makes her a poor and largely inconsequential representative (until she says something so stupid as to be noteworthy).
Report Comment
stonewall
, freedom (3/12/2008 12:08:36 PM)
Just one comment...
Gene Stipe...The longest serving democratic senator in oklahoma history..
Currently incarcerated...
Report Comment
LMAO
, (3/12/2008 12:14:12 PM)
Stonewall,
What's your point?
I'm personally happy to see that Stipe is being prosecuted, though he is not actually incarcerated as you mistakenly noted.
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