Kim Davis is a piece of work. In case the name doesn’t ring any immediate bells, she’s the Rowen County Clerk from Kentucky who has steadfastly refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses as is her mandate by the courts. She is in open defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of two months ago. Her defense: To do so would violate her Apostolic Christian faith and her constitutional right to religious freedom.
The irresponsibility of a county clerk to feel her own personal beliefs are above the law sets a precedent for misbehavior that is as disappointing as it is illegal.
“Kim Davis did not sign up as a clerk to issue same-sex marriage licenses,” her public-interest lawyers, Liberty Counsel. “Her job duty was changed by five lawyers without any constitutional authority. At a minimum, her religious convictions should be accommodated.”
“Judge Bunning’s decision equated Kim’s free exercise of religion to going to church. This is absurd! Christianity is not a robe you take off when you leave a sanctuary. The First Amendment guarantees Kim and every American the free exercise of religion, even when they are working for the government.”
Davis has repeatedly refused to return telephone calls from the Agenda, and continued to remain mute even as the last of her appeals to Judge Bunning’s decision was denied.
“She’s going to have to think and pray about her decision overnight. She certainly understands the consequences either way,” Mat Staver, founder of the law firm representing Davis, said on Monday, hours before a court-ordered delay in the case expired. “She’ll report to work tomorrow (Tuesday), and face whatever she has to face.”
On Tuesday morning, Davis walked through a crowd of supporters and protestors to enter her office, which remained closed for the first hour. Only then did Davis address the crowd.
In a statement, Davis says she owes her life to Jesus Christ.
“Following the death of my godly mother-in-law over four years ago, I went to church to fulfill her dying wish. There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ.”
She also says that “to issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience.”
She calls her decision one of obedience to God and says she won’t resign, labeling God as the “ultimate authority.”
Well, actually, no, Kim. In this country, laws determine correct behavior, not your God, or the Muslim God, or the Jewish God, or another other faith. You have to do what is right by the law. In Kentucky, it’s a Class A misdemeanor — first-degree official misconduct — for elected officials to refuse to perform the duties of their office.
“We have exhausted just about every channel of government that we know of,” Akers said. “We have talked to the governor, we have talked to the attorney general, we have talked to the county judge-executive, we have talked to the county attorney. But we are told that because she is an elected official, she is essentially independent and above the law unless somebody sues her.”
Which, of course, is exactly what as happened.
Kim Davis and others who would defy the law have no monopoly on faith or conscience. Nearly every same-sex couple who has married, or who wants to marry, have some religious belief that is guiding their actions. They regard their marriages as sacred. Religious freedom cuts both ways.
And as for Kim Davis, who by the way is on her fourth husband, she needs to resign and find herself a job which is not in conflict with her beliefs. She has no right to reject same-sex and lesbian couples who expect her to do her job. It is about respect, and human equality, and, yes, following the law of the land.