It is too bad that it had to come to this…but County Clerk Kim Davis of Rowan County, Kentucky was jailed for contempt of court for refusing to issue same sex marriage licenses. I respect her right to hold her religious beliefs but as an elected official she can’t refuse to discharge her legal obligations as the county clerk. It would have been better if she had been willing to comply or if the judge thought simply fining her for refusing to do her job would be sufficient.
But where the wheels come off is in the comments from her attorney, Roger Gannam:
Davis’ lawyer, Roger Gannam, said it was the first time in history an American citizen has been jailed for believing that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. He compared her willingness to accept imprisonment to what Martin Luther King Jr. did to advance civil rights.
Well Mr. Gannam is right…this is reminiscent of the Civil Rights Movement…but she is more in line with Governor George Wallace standing the school door.
The New York Times covers the issue in far more detail and they actually bring up the Gov. Wallace comparison. But it also expands on Mr. Gannam’s comments:
“And she’s been ordered to stay there until she’s willing to change her mind, until she’s willing to change her conscience about what belief is.”
Aaahmmm…no…she’s not being asked to change her beliefs…she can continue to believe that same sex marriages aren’t right…she is just being asked to change her mind on whether she wants to do her job or not.
One last snippet from the NYT before I publish this:
A lawyer for the couples (who are trying to get married – ed), William Sharp, said Thursday’s ruling demonstrated that “religious liberty is not a sword with which government, through its employees, may impose particular religious beliefs on others.”
And that seems to be a trend…impose one’s beliefs on another by not doing your job.
Your rights end where the next person’s begins.
She will be a footnote in history, nothing more, nothing less. The wrong side of history, but a footnote nevertheless.
He was fighting for equal rights. She is fighting for unequal rights. So she is pretty much the exact opposite of MLK.
Actually, Ed, what Ms Davis is saying is, “my faith beliefs are the rights ones, the true ones,the only ones” and “I am holier than thou” and “As the infallible county clerk, I hereby declare the freedom of religion clauses in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution null and void for those who do not believe as I do.”
She is a pre Civil War relic.
I like that Duane, and here’s my response along to a my way to the salvation highway scold, at another site on this:
Bring YOUR god into court and have it testify before this earthly court that has legal jurisdiction in Kentucky. Don’t bring your BELIEF about it, don’t bring your human interpretation of what you claim is YOUR god’s word. Bring your god into the court, otherwise we have only your hearsay testimony which is not allowable evidence in the pending action.
Additionally, there is a problem with you claiming that your god is the only god that exists for everyone. Though that is getting away from the immediate story here, it relationally speaks to reasons why you and people like Rep Andre Jacque (R-Spanish Inquisition) are such a danger to all of us, as you attempt to get your religious beliefs codified into civil and criminal law to punitively control a society and force us, force society to follow your religious beliefs under the threat of HUMAN retribution.
This is labeled religious dominionism and it is a perversion (which you claim homosexuality is), somewhat cloaked in a nation-wide movement that citizens should be aware of and oppose vehemently. It is absolutely contrary to actual freedom and liberty which it frequently comes disguised as. Isn’t a “governor,” confessing publicly he is acting on the word of his god, frightening enough for us here in WI?
Theocracy in America over at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar: http://www.bluecheddar.net/
Ed, thanks.
It’s her “job” to issue marriage licenses. That’s why the government pays her. She wants to keep getting paid for NOT doing her job.
Where’s the similarity to Dr. King?