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Q: What do you get when an Oklahoma Fisher & Hunter join forces?
A: If it's Rev. Dan Fisher & Abolitionist leader Russell Hunter, then broad judgments of public sin for not voting for God's candidate.
This morning, the well known leader of Oklahoma's Abolish Human Abortion (AHA) group, T. Russell Hunter; posted a strong denouncement upon any Oklahoma voter who fails to vote for Dan Fisher, 5 &1/2 months from now (assuming that God has told the young prophet just who is going to be on the ballot for the Republican Oklahoma Primary for Governor).
This past fall, Russell Hunter has been seen prominently at Dan Fisher's events, helping to organize and assist. He is credited with assisting in Fisher's video productions.
But now the Fisher Campaign seems rather silent while dozens of supporters rally to confirm Hunter's judgments of sinful voting in the upcoming elections. What has been plentiful is the attempts to the scold anyone who asks Dan Fisher to clarify if the candidate shares the young Abolitionists' doctrinal edict. |
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When I first saw the meme on social media, and knew it came from an active campaigner for Fisher, I said this;
Here it is, folks...
I knew it would eventually become a campaign of judgment, shaming, and prophesies of how God has chosen one candidate. The implication is that all other candidates are 'not from God' and in opposition to God's will. Thankfully, this thing is showing up early enough to get fully exposed. I have no problem with people being true to their convictions. I encourage prayerful voting. But I detest the public claim that any other vote than for 'candidate X' is a sin.
My personal hope is that the fine people who counsel Rev. Dan Fisher in his political endeavor will clarify the candidate's position and avoid further characterizations of his campaign by his zealous young supporters.
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Journalist, Jamison Faught of Muskogee Politico said; "Not really a surprise if you've ever followed the AHA group. If you're not 100% on board with them, you're essentially with the Devil. You can even be an abolitionist, but if you're not with their abolitionist group it's not good enough."
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Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, Rex Lawhorn, said; "Believe me. When you're a candidate or a party official or a staffer, you lose the right to your own opinion. Everything can, and rightfully does, reflect on the message of the campaign."
Russell Hunter tried to rephrase his meaning to me, personally;
"I’m just saying that voting to keep abortion legal would be sinful. But hey bud, use this however you want." I commended his rephrasing, but his public post remains unchanged, posted publicly on his facebook acct. More than 40 people had publicly supported his denunciation of sinful voting. That number has since grown a slight bit. |
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Russell Hunter is passionate and he tends to view anyone who charts a different course or strategic design as being either duped, or worse. He justified his pronouncement with this statement;
"Listen, I see that you are trying to use my Facebook post against Dan and I get the desperation, but honestly, what I am saying is pretty simple and I think for those who really think about it and know the issues they will understand what I’m arguing.
There is an opportunity in Oklahoma to seriously seek justice and mercy for or preborn neighbors and to truly push back darkness with light, error with truth, and evil with right in voting for Dan. And to not vote when it is so easy or to vote for someone else who is going to insure that child sacrifice remains legal would seem like a pretty clear case of not doing what you know to be right (James 4:17)."
Russell Hunter continued to believe I was motivated by a desire to intentionally harm the Fisher campaign (never mind that I reposted a couple of Fisher's excellent OpEds this past fall). So I rebutted his claim;
"T. Russell Hunter, you hurt the campaign way before I responded to the post. I completely support your rightful process of forming a conviction about what is (or isn't) a sin FOR YOU!
Your great error is in deciding what is God's leading for everyone else, regarding an election.
You cannot know who or what the circumstances will be 5 months from now. Keep being passionate and keep defending the innocent. But don't harm the very effort you so dearly believe in."
Well, Turner then took the tact that somehow I was just being emotional and claiming victim-hood. So he completed the discourse with this finale';
David Van Risseghem I am sorry that you feel so hurt or convicted by my personal Facebook post. I unfriended you to make your wall a safer space.
"Listen, I see that you are trying to use my Facebook post against Dan and I get the desperation, but honestly, what I am saying is pretty simple and I think for those who really think about it and know the issues they will understand what I’m arguing.
There is an opportunity in Oklahoma to seriously seek justice and mercy for or preborn neighbors and to truly push back darkness with light, error with truth, and evil with right in voting for Dan. And to not vote when it is so easy or to vote for someone else who is going to insure that child sacrifice remains legal would seem like a pretty clear case of not doing what you know to be right (James 4:17)."
Russell Hunter continued to believe I was motivated by a desire to intentionally harm the Fisher campaign (never mind that I reposted a couple of Fisher's excellent OpEds this past fall). So I rebutted his claim;
"T. Russell Hunter, you hurt the campaign way before I responded to the post. I completely support your rightful process of forming a conviction about what is (or isn't) a sin FOR YOU!
Your great error is in deciding what is God's leading for everyone else, regarding an election.
You cannot know who or what the circumstances will be 5 months from now. Keep being passionate and keep defending the innocent. But don't harm the very effort you so dearly believe in."
Well, Turner then took the tact that somehow I was just being emotional and claiming victim-hood. So he completed the discourse with this finale';
David Van Risseghem I am sorry that you feel so hurt or convicted by my personal Facebook post. I unfriended you to make your wall a safer space.
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There is obviously a significant segment of Oklahomans who will tell you not only whom God demands that you vote for, but will also picket your church if they think your congregation isn't doing enough. At least that's what one prominent Evangelical church in Tulsa evidently experienced.
A family who attends Tulsa Bible Church says that they emerged from a church service to find members of ABA outside with picket signs and literature. The materials were aimed more at the church than those actually complicit in the abortion industry. It seemed to many at that church that AHA is focusing more on judging Christians than confronting the abortion industry. We await a public statement from the Fisher campaign. We will update the story when we have more details. UPDATE:
Russell Hunter took the time to record a video response and detail his reasons and reasoning for the controversial statement he made earlier Thursday morning on his social media account.
The 15 minute dissertation was not a recantation of any of his words. It was a window into his premisses for the declaration of sin. He did add an additional qualifier repeatedly, saying that "If a person is a Christian" and has the same knowledge of the candidates, then it is a sin. Hunter comes across as passionate and sincere. As the minutes pass by one comes to the conclusion that his statement was built upon numerous qualifiers which he assumes the reader knows and is willing to concede. Writer's 'take'
Most voters learn over time to use the entirety of the campaign season as a vetting process. Hunter is putting himself at the end of that campaign journey and telling us that our eventual choice will be obedience to his early conviction, or a sin.
Many of us are still not sure who will actually file for the office in April; much less who will still actively seek the office in mid June. - David Van Risseghem |
T. Russell Hunter's Video Response.
Russell Hunter posted the video at the SoonerPolitics Facebook Group Discussion page.
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