OK: New Senator Deevers All In On Christian Nationalism

In my in box is an evangelical newsletter headlined "We have been silent for too long." Really? Have Christians in this nation been silenced ever?

They are particularly not silenced in Oklahoma, where we find (among others) State Senator Dusty Deevers. Pastor Deevers took to the pulpit after a career running a pharmacy. In 2023, he ran for vice-president of the Southern Baptist Convention (this was the year after their big ball o'scandals blew wide open), though Deever was critical of SBC president Bart Barber. 

Deevers has taken some strong positions. He's anti-porn, anti-abortion, anti-divorce, anti-vax, and now that he's a brand new Oklahoma senator courtesy of a special election, he's ready to make it all come true. He's been busy. There's a bill to make watching porn a felony and sexting someone other than your spouse good for time in jail. Also, he's filed a bill to end no-fault divorce. 

Deevers is not shy about what he's about. He ran on the promise to appeal to "the word of God on every issue." The folks at Right Wing Watch caught Deevers on the "Conversations That Matter" where he was exceptionally clear:

“Governing is about the use of authority and what is the standard for the use of authority,” Deevers declared. “God prescribes servants of his to govern as his mediators on this Earth. So, he has prescribed governing and then he has also prescribed the means for our governing and that means is in accordance with his word. If we do otherwise, then we are essentially usurping the sovereign role of God through Christ, who has been seated above every power in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth.”

If you've always wondered what the Christian Nationalist answer is to the issue of a diverse and pluralistic nation being ruled by Christians, Deevers offers an explanation that I've seen pop up several places lately. What happens, the host asks, if you force laws on people who might be atheists or even pagans and you require them to live under God's law? Deever's responds

What they're getting is a measure of grace from being in proximity to the true Christianity. So whenever Christians are voted into office, it's not just good for Christians, it's good for the wicked as well. It's good for those who maybe are yet to come to Christ. There are several proverbs and several scriptures that talk about when the righteous increase, the people flourish.

Note that all of this aligns with what Katherine Stewart pointed out in The Power Brokers-- for these folks, legitimacy of government does not come from the consent of the governed, but from alignment with the Right Values. 

Deevers doesn't talk about education directly, but folks like Deevers are surfacing all through the school privatization movement, certain that they have not only a right, but a mandate from God, to impose their views on students. This is a guy who ran on the idea of "the proper role of government and the proper Christian response to tyranny," the assumption being that anything less than Christian domination of the government is tyranny by the wicked. These are folks who believe that they've been "silenced" because they have not been the voice commanding and silencing all others. 

Deevers at least doesn't try to pretend. But he's a fine example of what is scary about these folks and the kind of education they have in mind for not only their own children, but everyone else's as well. There's nothing quite like someone who believes he knows exactly what God wants.