I don’t think Kim Davis should go to jail for refusing to
grant marriage licenses to anyone in Kentucky as a protest against gay marriage
because that would be basically handing her a set of nails and two pieces of
wood and directing her to the nearest hillside. I do think she should be
impeached or however we would treat an elected official who has exhausted her
legal options and acts in contempt of court. Maybe they can work around her
somehow. Just resolve this how you would any other official who will not do her
job.
Anyway, what I read recently gets to the heart of what this seems
to be about for Davis. One of the couples asked her on whose authority is she
not issuing marriage license. “On God’s authority,” she said.
Really? Because it actually seems more like it’s on her authority. She’s acting on beliefs
and preconceptions that sprung from her. Please show me the pile of evidence
where God or Jesus explicitly condemned gay marriage.
Many of us, myself included, do this: We make God into our
own image rather than the other way around as it was in Genesis. We cherrypick
passages from the Bible and ignore the overall message of love thy neighbor. We
do this to try to justify our very human personal prejudices. This is nothing
new.
What especially bothers me about this is Davis is
essentially making this issue, which affects who knows how many gay and
straight couples in her county, all about her. I saw a still photo of her
pointing to herself as if to say “This is about me.”
It’s not. It’s about the people she serves, as it is for any
elected official. Leave aside the God stuff and Davis is still charged with a
civic duty that has been confirmed by court after court. I don’t believe her
argument that she is somehow legitimizing these marriages. Solemnizing the
marriage is the job of a judge or the clergy (and clergy members can still
reserve the right not to marry couples for reasons not limited to sexual
orientation, which is why we have a secular process in place to let people
access marriage). Davis is just handing out paperwork. If people are opposed to
gay marriage, fine — then don’t marry someone of the same sex. But don’t stand
in the way of people who have been together for years when it’s your job to
facilitate their union.
The other thing that pissed me off is how she told the gay
couples that they will have to answer to God’s judgment. When people say this,
I’ve always wanted to tell them that they should stop bloviating and leave the
judging to God because they are not God; they are at best middle management.
Mrs. Davis, step side, hand out the paperwork and let these
couples start their loving marriages. It’s over.
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