Right-wing pastor Jesse Leon Rodgers, the founder and chairman of the Christian nationalist organization City Elders, released an "election update" video yesterday in which he declared that the separation of church and state is "nonsense" because right-wing Christians are responsible for "installing people in civil government."
"The church surrounding civil government and praying over it, and authorizing it, installing people in the civil government, that's the role in the ministry and the purpose of the prophetic and the priestly," Rodgers declared. "To identify, to anoint it, to install."
"Look at the Old Testament paradigms," he continued. "Samuel installed and anointed and identified Saul and David; anointed David for king. That's the priesthood and the prophetic identifying, holding accountable, speaking into, prophesying over, and even verbally removing, prophetically removing people from office. That is our heritage. That is our responsibility. That is our role in the Earth as the ministry, as the church."
"People say, 'Separation of church and state,'" Rodgers added. "Get out of here with that nonsense. That's ungodly. That's carnal. That's secular humanist. That's not biblical. The church is supposed to speak into and hold accountable and pray for and install and anoint people into government. That's our responsibility."
Rodgers is a hardcore theonomist with ties to former President Donald Trump and uses his organization to lift up Christian nationalist activists and politicians like Gov. Kevin Stitt, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Reps. Josh Brecheen and Kevin Hern, and Superintendent of Public Education Ryan Walters who, like Rodgers, are all from Oklahoma.
