In Oklahoma’s 32nd Senate District, voters went to polls Tuesday in a special vote to replace John Montgomery, the former moderate Republican senator who had resigned in January to become the director of the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce. Dusty Deevers, a businessman from Elgin, OK and pastor at Grace Community Church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, was declared the winner. Deevers’ victory is notable because he won by 11 points over Democrat Larry Bush. Bush was a Lawton Insurance agent who ran on a platform that emphasized the application of Christian moral principles in governance. Bush, on the other hand, ran on issues such as education, crime reduction, criminal justice reforms, health care access, and the economy.
BREAKING: @DustyDeevers won the Oklahoma State Senate special election!
55% @DustyDeevers
45% @LarryBushForOK pic.twitter.com/1Bmb9zYual— Ben Zeisloft (@BenZeisloft) December 13, 2023
Dusty Deever, a self-identified Christian Nationalist, is likely on an FBI or DHS Watch List. Paid informers are recording his sermons to link him with a conspiracy against the government.
What is Christian Nationalism, besides a scare quote that allows the left to discredit an enemy without having to discuss issues? The fact that America was established by Christians who recognized the role of Christ as a foundation for a just government is the first step. The Mayflower Compact cites three reasons to establish Plymouth Colony: “the glory of God, the advancement of Christian Faith, the honor of our King and country.” The Jamestown Charter states that the Virginia Colony’s goal is to “promote Christian religion among those people who still live in darkness, miserable ignorance, and do not know the true knowledge of God and his worship.”
There is a direct line from there to the Founders. The First Amendment’s prohibition against the establishment of religion was only applicable to the federal government. Several states still require religious qualifications to hold public office. In some state constitutions, officeholders are still required to profess their belief in God. Torcaso V. Watkins, a 1961 case, was the first to strike down religious tests. The First Amendment’s purpose was to stop any Christian denomination – the Anglican Church was the main target because of its close relationship with England and the fact that it had been a quasi-government agency for the Crown before independence – from achieving the status of the national church.
According to a Christian Nationalist perspective, many of today’s social ills are the result of an embrace of libertine or libertarian values that place individual freedom and undisturbed liberty at the top of cultural values. We get the abortion, the no-fault divorcing, the rampant adultery, out-of-wedlock births, the collapse and destruction of the nuclear families, the drag queen story hour, homosexual marriage and the surgical mutilation and mutilation and mutilation and mutilation, and a whole lot more.
Deevers was able to win based on a campaign that was in line with this tradition. He didn’t sugarcoat his views.
Deevers, a constitutional conservative who campaigns against abortion, has pledged to support legislation allowing prosecutors to charge women undergoing the procedure. Many Republicans who are anti-abortion in the GOP-led Legislature do not support changing state laws to punish women for having an abortion.
Deevers, a proponent of “traditional marriage,” has condemned “LGBTQ (lesbian, gay and bisexual) indoctrination”. He is against no-fault divorcing and drag queen story hour and wants to ban pornography.
Deevers stated that he would be a champion of “biblical principles” such as limited government, competition in the market, and lower taxes. He wants to eliminate state income taxes and reduce the 7% tax on oil and gas production that oil and gas companies currently pay.
He said that he also hopes to expand job opportunities for veterans and provide mental health resources.
He hasn’t made any friends in the Southern Baptist Convention because of his principled views. SBC President Ray Barber criticized him when he ran to be the first vice president of SBC.
Deevers is an abolitionist with extreme anti-abortion beliefs. Last year, he was harshly criticized by SBC president Bart Barber who apologized later for his angry tone.
Barber wrote: “Unless he labels you as a person who is against the innocent preborn, you will be labeled ‘against them’.”
Dusty Deevers, an SBC pastor, just won a special election for state senate in Oklahoma. What’s interesting about this race is that the president of the SBC – Bart Barber, who lives in a different state – had donated to Deevers’ primary opponent.
— Aaron M. Renn 🇺🇸 (@aaron_renn) December 13, 2023
Christian liberty can only be achieved in the context of an appropriately formed conscience. It is anarchy and licentiousness to do what you feel like just because it feels right. In the last 60-plus years, we have discovered that it was not individualism that held America together but rather our shared Christian heritage. We see our culture crumbling before our very eyes without that glue. We can only survive if we view the Constitution and its rights through the Christian lens.
