One of the Democratic candidates running in the Oklahoma’s U.S. Senate race isn’t qualified to be our nominee (and it’s not who you’ve been told it is)

If you’re a Democrat in Oklahoma. would you support a candidate whose religion promotes feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and the imprisoned?

Of course you would, those are core values of the Democratic Party.

But let’s take it a step further. Would you support a Democratic candidate whose religion believes the following? (Don’t read ahead, just answer these to yourself.) I’ll narrow it down to just ten:

1. Opposes abortion (other than to protect the life of the mother or child) and believes that life starts at conception, meaning they oppose even the morning after pill.

2. Believes that marriage is only between a man and a woman, and even disciplines or defrocks ministers who perform gay marriages.

3. Condemns homosexuality and all LGBTQ+ activity as a form of perversion and an affront to God’s Law, and disciplines or defrocks leaders or pastors who advocate for or ministers more inclusively to LGBTQ+ people.

4. Believes that any form of sexual intimacy outside the confines of a traditional marriage is sinful and a distortion of what God intended sexual intimacy to be.

5. Opposes embryonic stem cell research as a violation of the sanctity of life from conception.

6. Forbids any form of dancing that is sensual or suggestive in nature, and believe non-Christian dancing is a sin. (Sorry, but Baby has to stay in the corner.)

7. Believes in creationism over evolution or other science based research.

8. Forbids the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or any other intoxicants.

9. Promotes “modest dress” and discourages other worldly amusements such as secular media that portrays violence, sensuality, profanity or the occult.

10. Forbids all forms of gambling, including lotteries.

Here’s the payoff:

In the Oklahoma U.S. Senate Democratic runoff, there are two candidates.

One candidate, N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, has been judged by some as unqualified (or even unfit) for office for trivial reasons that really just reveal that, like most of us, she’s led a life filled with struggles that taught her valuable lessons. In the June primary, her hard work, relatability, and passion for true Democratic values gave her a 21 point lead over her runoff rival, even though she was seriously outspent.

The other candidate? Jim Priest, is a minister of the Nazarene Church, whose beliefs are outlined above. Priest calls himself a “centrist,” but the church where he isn’t just a member, but an ordained minister, is nationally known as an ultra-conservative denomination when it comes to most individual freedoms and life choices.

So my question is this: if you are a Democrat and a Jim Priest supporter, yet you found yourself shaking your head no to all, or even some, of the Nazarene beliefs listed above, do you still maintain that he is best qualified to be our Senate nominee, and if so, how do you reconcile your deeply held Democratic values with his church’s extreme religious doctrine?

It’s a serious question that deserves an honest answer. Go ahead, I’ll wait.