HPPR News

Gov. Stitt orders state agencies to purge barriers separating church, state in Oklahoma

KOSU | By Lionel Ramos

Published April 2, 2025 at 4:41 PM CDT

Gov. Kevin Stitt takes questions from reporters during his weekly press conference on March 5, 2025, at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Oral arguments over the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s — and the nation’s — first state-funded religious charter school are scheduled for April 30. Meanwhile, Gov. Kevin Stitt is trying to get ahead of the conversation with an executive order this week, doubling down on his vision of religious freedom in the state.

In a press release announcing the order, Stitt mentions three recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions as the basis for his positioning against what he calls religious discrimination in Oklahoma.

The cases include:

Trinity Lutheran v. Comer (2017)
Espinoza v. Montana (2020)
Department of Revenue and Carson v. Makin (2022)

Stitt says the three decisions establish that states cannot discriminate against religious entities in public life. Doing so violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, he said.

“Religious freedom is foundational to our way of life in Oklahoma,” Stitt said. “It’s not a privilege handed out by the government—it’s a God-given right that the government must protect.”

Specifically needing protection in Stitt’s mind is the newly created St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which he wants Oklahoma to pay for. Oklahoma’s Supreme Court previously ruled the school is unconstitutional.

Stitt’s order comes a month before the nation’s highest court expects to hear oral arguments over the matter, possibly overturning the state supreme court.

“We will not stand by while faith-based organizations — including faith-based schools — are pushed to the sidelines by activist bureaucrats or hostile politicians,” Stitt said.

So, Stitt has ordered every state agency to purge any policies that may limit the embedding of religion within government, and to file a report of the work to his office within 30 days of his order.

State Attorney General Gentner Drummond — and the primary plaintiff suing the state over the St. Isidore’s constitutionality — says Stitt should beware of the slippery slope.

Unless the governor is prepared to discriminate against non-Christian faiths, Drummond says, he’s setting Oklahoma up to fund schools teaching religions of all kinds.

"Gov. Stitt has been clear that he supports our tax dollars funding radical Muslim schools teaching Sharia Law, and I couldn’t disagree with him more," Drummond said. "If a taxpayer-funded religious charter school is allowed to open in Oklahoma, it will only be a matter of time before taxpayers are funding schools dedicated to Sharia law, Wicca indoctrination, Scientology instruction — even the Church of Satan."

As a devout Christian, Drummond said, the only way to ensure religious liberty in Oklahoma is for the state to not sponsor any religion at all, "just like our Founding Fathers intended."