Oklahoma's Black Mass and the Christian Response

I don't currently still live in Oklahoma, but I have friends responding to the black mass occurring at the Civic Center.

I should not need to, but will add the disclaimer that as a Christian, I am disturbed by this. Deeply. And it's frankly not a subject for debate with me on a personal level.

Unfortunately, though, in blurring the lines between church and state, this is something that the church has brought on itself. The government simply does not have authority to ban the free exercise of religion, and if you insist that public space be used for Christian worship, it must be available to all faiths. The Constitution is pretty clear on this.

As to the concerns that God will stop blessing us as a nation, or Oklahoma as a state, where were those concerns when protestors spoke up against the immigrant children held in Ft. Sill, only an hour's drive from the site of today's mass and protests? In the light of Leviticus 19:33-34, can the protestors truly be claiming the moral high ground?

When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.  (Lev. 19:33-34)

And what of Governor Fallin's legislation to prevent cities from voting a higher minimum wage than the state? Is it a Christian act to deny workers a better wage to care for their families?

What of the education and the promise to tomorrow's youth? Do those represent Christian values?

Although I left Oklahoma years ago, my heart never has. The problem I see in Oklahoma does not lie with the people in the Civic Center basement performing the black mass. It lies in those protesting outside, who concern themselves more with regulating the lives of those who do not hold their faiths than they do with being salt and light in their communities and in their state.

It does not matter how many Ten Commandments monuments or crosses you erect; all you are doing with that is trading one idol for another. What matters is how you live your faith.

And, although there will always be people who are hostile to the Christian faith, it is possible they might find it harder to gather likeminded followers if we were more persistent and dedicated in walking the walk on a daily basis.

So, protest YOURSELVES, and what you have allowed Oklahoma to become: a state with poor educational rankings, high child poverty, and low household income. I am fairly certain that none of those things are consistent with being dedicated Christians.