http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-orders-kim-davis-freed-kentucky-jail-n423541
This is the story of Kim Davis. She's the clerk in a Kentucky town that gives marriage licenses to the residents. She's also a Christian. Since the legalization of gay marriage, she is still refusing to hand out marriage licenses to gay couples. However, she is not citing how state should have the right to decide this and protesting on these grounds. Oh no, she's using her religion as a reason to not do her job. She went to jail for six days because she refused to obey a court order and is now being treated as a saint after she was released though she's still hinting that she will disobey the court order. As a Christian, I have a few opinions on this.....
First of all, I understand that she disagrees with gay marriage. I, personally, am of the opinion that God doesn't call us to judge others just because they do things differently. God can absolutely tell us that something is a sin and we don't have to do it ourselves but that doesn't mean that we have to beat people over the head with a Bible. Ironically (and I only say that because it's not a widely accepted Christian view), I'm a gay marriage supporter. I don't believe it's a decision that the Federal Government should have been able to make; I believe it should have been a state to state decision BUT I support gay marriage overall. I do understand that she doesn't believe in it and I support her RIGHT to her opinion.
Secondly, I support a private business owner's right to refuse service to someone based on religious belief. I definitely believe that they can refuse to bake a cake or anything else. With that being said, I also believe that they will have to deal with the consequences of that decision including, but not limited to, protestors, awful reviews that lead people away from their business and other businesses outrightly using their limited views to boost businesses that will do those things. What I do NOT support is a public official choosing to not do their job because of their religious views.
Third, building on the last one, IT'S HER JOB! Job duties change regularly at many jobs. If you can't do what's required of you, leave your job. I'm very sorry that it's going to affect you negatively but if you feel that strongly about it, you shouldn't be doing it. That would be like a teacher refusing to teach what the school board approved just because they don't like it. Sorry, lady, it's your job. Do it or quit!
Fourth, she was NOT jailed for her religion. She was jailed because she expressly chose to go against a court order. No one is immune from the law. She CHOSE to go against what the judge ordered her to do and she was jailed for doing so. Then, they actually offered her a solution by taking her name off of the documents for ALL marriage certificates and now she's trying to argue that those licenses will not be valid because they lack her name on them (which may TECHNICALLY be true if it wasn't for the fact that the court is going to validate every one of those anyway).
Finally, her reaction when she got out (and the reaction of her lawyer), to me, is appalling. She looked like a kid that just got to keep the toy they just stole from the toy store. She pretty much flat said she's not going to go along with the court again and is willing to go back to jail. It's ridiculous to me that people are hailing her a hero. She could very easily get a different position OR agree with the peace offering the court offered. She's just being difficult and then smearing her religion all over it like a bear in a beehive.
Look, I understand there is a whole lot of Christian-shaming that seems to be going on. People lump us in with extremists that use our faith as a shield all the time. However, this case isn't about that. This case isn't about the fact that she is against something. She chose not to do her job and then she chose not to obey the court. Kim Davis isn't a hero. Period.
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