20 voted against my prayer
February 11, 2009
It was very exciting saying the prayer, and I was nervous, which is not usual for me when public speaking. You can read the prayer below.
I stayed throughout the rest of the session, sitting next to Al. Various legislators, Republican and Democrat, came by to thank me and say nice things about the prayer.
The session was interesting and it was fun to be sitting next to Richard Morrisette, who led most of the Democratic debate during the afternoon.
At the end of the session, Al made the rather routine motion of having my prayer entered into the record. It was objected to by one of the Republicans and was then taken to a recorded vote. 20 legislators voted against entering my remarks into the record. You can find the official record on-line, here.
And here are the names of those who voted no:
NAYS: 20
Blackwell Faught Moore Ritze
Christian Johnson Murphey Sanders
Coody Kern Osborn Terrill
Duncan Key Ownbey Thomsen
Enns Liebmann Reynolds Wright, J.
It was an interesting moment, and rather chaotic. One legislator commented, "We always enter the remarks." Others wanted to read what I had said, and came over to where I was and read my hard copy and kept saying, "What are they objecting too?" Others came over to apologize. One legislator made a point of order to remind colleagues that if they were in the room, they had to vote, at which some of them fled, as some of the colleagues pointed out.
I am sorry that happened. It's a shame. If any good comes of it, hopefully some of the others realize how ridiculous some of their fellows are.
Posted by: Stacey | February 11, 2009 at 05:32 PM
Scott, that's the weirdest thing I've ever heard. Wow. I read your prayer earlier today and found it truly hopeful and moving.
Oklahoma is blessed to have Scott Jones.
Posted by: Kelly Moore | February 11, 2009 at 11:25 PM
Maybe they objected to that "cast down the powerful" line?
Posted by: Stephanie | February 12, 2009 at 01:21 AM
"at which some of them fled"
LOL!
Posted by: Rob Abiera | February 12, 2009 at 08:20 AM
...well no#1 - I have NOTHING to do with any religion anymore
no#2 - this just goes to show what Neanderthals these weirdos are...see, their GOD is a BIGOT.
no#3...and this makes me NEVER Feel sorry for Oklahomo,when I hear about Tornados Ravaging them! As an American citizen, I'd NEVER go to that state EVER!
Posted by: Disgusted American | February 12, 2009 at 08:32 AM
I love this state, its history, its people, and its promise. So, I take issue with your response.
Posted by: Scott | February 12, 2009 at 09:50 AM
I don't think there should be any appeals to mythical beings in the halls of our secular government. All prayers should be voted against.
But I'll at least give you credit for shaking up the ignorant gay-haters.
Posted by: Eshto | February 12, 2009 at 11:43 AM
For the convenience of anyone who'd like to express views on this:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Posted by: John Kalhoefer | February 12, 2009 at 01:09 PM
http://www.4shared.com/file/87397323/f8920249/1002_Chaplain.html
(downloadable, embeddable)
can't find video or audio of the vote, i wonder why...
Posted by: Nelson G. | February 12, 2009 at 05:53 PM
Scott was one of the STP (same ten people) who went regularly to the OKC School Board to advocate for Gay Kids. What he did was so him.
Posted by: joe quigley | February 12, 2009 at 07:25 PM
Joe,
Looks like time for us to go to the board again, what with all the new people. Maybe we can make something happen?
Posted by: Scott | February 12, 2009 at 10:21 PM
Kern's Krew is a Collection of Peeping Toms
http://tinyurl.com/cukugw
Posted by: jamesnimmo | February 13, 2009 at 11:04 AM
There is not a better argument against prayer as a function of government then the very intolerance you witnessed.
Posted by: Chad | March 06, 2009 at 07:33 AM