As you know by now, Kim Davis is in jail, probably wondering how God and Jesus and Moises Alou let her wind up in a small room with a toilet, a shelf and a soon-to-be-served dinner of rubber chicken and week-old carrots.
Rowan County’s very own clerk refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because, she said, the act would infringe upon her moral beliefs. She also cited the authority as “God’s,” a stance that has made her something of a national hero to many American Christians tired of people messing with their spiritual liberties. Which is, well, funny. Because while the Bible is somewhat ambiguous on how to handle homosexuals, it’s pretty crystal clear about—to cite Public Enemy—”fucking up the government.”
Here you go. No charge …
There’s little about Kim Davis, the person, that I find surprising. She’s a strong believer who—despite being married four times, and having kids with one spouse while being wed to another—sees no problem with weighing morality on her own scale. But what gets me (because I’m a sucker) is how those seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency have responded.
I mean, yeah, they’re all against gay marriage in one form or another. I get it. But you’d think they’d say, “Look, I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. But the law is the law, and the Supreme Court ruled on this case. If Ms. Davis doesn’t want to uphold the law, she’s got the wrong job.” Right? I mean, if you don’t want to do what you’re hired to do, quit and go elsewhere. Easy Peazy, lemon squeezy, right?
Right?
Um, no.
From the New York Times:
• Rand Paul, the Republican presidential candidate and a senator from Kentucky, said it was “absurd to put someone in jail for exercising their religious liberties.”
• Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, another Republican candidate, said the jailing of Ms. David “removes all doubt of the criminalization of Christianity in our country. We must defend religious liberty and never surrender to judicial tyranny,” Mr. Huckabee said, adding that “the Supreme Court is not the Supreme branch and it’s certainly not the Supreme Being.”
From Huffington Post:
• Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said on Wednesday that a Kentucky county clerk had a right to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite an order from a federal judge to do so. “I don’t think anyone should have to choose between following their conscience and religious beliefs and giving up their job and facing financial sanctions. I think it’s wrong to force Christian individuals or business owners. We are seeing government today discriminate against whether it’s clerks, florists, musicians or others. I think that’s wrong. I think you should be able to keep your job and follow your conscience,” he said. “I absolutely do believe people have a First Amendment right, a constitutional right. I don’t think the court can take that away.”
From Talking Points Memo:
• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) rushed to the defense of the Kentucky clerk held in contempt of court Thursday for her refusal to issue gay marriage license and issued a statement calling for “every lover of liberty to stand with Kim Davis.” Davis, the clerk in Rowan county, had stopped issuing licenses to all marriage couples after the Supreme Court decision legalized same-sex marriage and was sued by a group of couples. “Today, judicial lawlessness crossed into judicial tyranny,” Cruz said. “Today, for the first time ever, the government arrested a Christian woman for living according to her faith. This is wrong. This is not America.”
•••
Here’s the thing, Ted: This is America. See, the reason we can’t hold slaves—despite the Bible suggesting slavery is OK in certain circumstances—is because it’s illegal. The reason we don’t stone people for promiscuous behavior—despite the Bible suggesting stoning is OK in such circumstances—is because it’s illegal. And the reason we don’t deny gay couples the right to marry is because (wait for it …) it’s illegal.
In other words: You can’t repeatedly cite the sanctity of the law in defending guns and the Second Amendment, then turn around and say laws don’t matter; that laws can be broken by government officials as they see fit.
Dammit.
