OKLAHOMA CITY (ABP) — A Baptist newspaper in Oklahoma has apologized for publishing a graphic illustration digitally edited to make it appear a controversial proclamation declaring America a Christian nation was endorsed by the state's Baptist governor.
The Baptist Messenger, official news journal for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, covered a July 2 rally at the State Capitol promoting the "Oklahoma Citizen's Proclamation for Morality." The driving force behind the document is Sally Kern, a state legislator best known for commenting that homosexuality is a greater threat to America than terrorism.
The newspaper published the report in its July 16 issue, alongside artwork carrying the full text of the proclamation appearing on official state letterhead and signed by Gov Brad Henry and Secretary of State Susan Savage.
Problem is, Henry, an ordained deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Shawnee, Okla., did not endorse the proclamation, which has been at the center of a controversy about separation of church and state.
Baptist officials said a graphic artist superimposed the statement over the actual text of a real proclamation signed by Henry and Savage on July 2 without noticing the signatures and official governor's seal.
Media reports said the newspaper apologized to the governor's office. Kern told the Oklahoman she was the first to alert the newspaper about the error, which she saw when her husband, a Baptist pastor, brought a copy home.
Doug Baker, who takes over as editor of the Baptist Messenger on Aug. 1, said it was an artwork procedure and a mistake. He said the paper's staff apologized and it would not happen again.
Baker, 40, was recently named communications team leader and executive editor of the Baptist Messenger. He comes from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, where he worked as director of public relations and executive director of the Council on Christian Life and Public Affairs since 2007. Asked for additional comment, Baker referred a reporter to quotes attributed to him by the Associated Press.
The Baptist Messenger website carried a message labeling the graphic "misleading" and apologizing "for the oversight and error."
A spokesman for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma said the paper would run a retraction in both the July 23 and July 30 editions.
A spokesman for the governor said the paper's editors "apologized profusely."
"We understand that people are human and they make mistakes," said Paul Sund, Henry's director of communications.
Kern's proclamation blames a number of social ills on departure from the "rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built." It also criticizes President Obama for scaling back National Day of Prayer ceremonies and issuing a proclamation declaring June "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, 2009."
Critics say the proclamation is riddled with revisionist history and accuse Kern of trying to use religion for political gain.
According to media reports, the July 2 gathering at the state Capitol turned into a shouting match between protesters chanting "Shame on you!" and "Love thy neighbor" and those supporting the proclamation drowning them out by singing "God Bless America."
Kern, a Republican, is a member of Olivet Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, where her husband, Steve Kern, is pastor.
She made national headlines in March 2008 with comments posted on YouTube that compared America's "gay problem" to "cancer or something on your little toe," that unless stopped will eventually destroy the nation.
"Studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades," she said. "So it's the death knell of this country."
"I honestly think it's the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat," Kern said.
Kern's political opponents accuse her of using anti-gay rhetoric to win votes among conservative evangelical voters.
Henry, a Democrat, belongs to a church that supports the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, an organization started in 1991 in part to distance moderate Baptist churches from the Southern Baptist Convention's realignment with the Religious Right.
Henry is scheduled to speak at the upcoming New Baptist Covenant Midwest Region gathering in Norman, Okla. Other featured speakers at the Aug. 6-7 meeting at the Norman Convention Center and Embassy Suites Hotel include former President Jimmy Carter, former Congressman J.C. Watts, Gaza Strip pastor Hanna Massad and Wade Burleson, an Oklahoma pastor who resigned as a member of the SBC International Mission Board after criticizing decisions and internal politicking by the board of trustees in a widely read blog.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.