Tag Archives: Rowan County KY

Now the clerk is free … to quit her job

kim-davis

Believe this or not, but I am glad thatĀ Kim Davis is no longer in jail.

A federal judge ordered the Rowan County (Ky.) clerk to jail because she had stopped issuing marriage licenses to protest the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage all across the United States of America; the ruling includes Kentucky.

I didn’t want her jailed over this.

Davis is free, therefore, to make a critical decision.

She needs to quit her job as county clerk. Heck, she won’t perform all the duties required of her. She cites religious objections to the legalization of gay marriage, even though she has a rather checkered heterosexual marital history herself.

The germane issue is whether Davis will do the job to which she swore an oath.

She insists she cannot. Her husband says she’s become a victim of a government that is persecuting her because of her Christian beliefs — which, by many people’s thinking, is a serious crock of mule fritters. Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz say Davis is a victim of “judicial tyranny,” which also is so much malarkey.

Just quit your job, Mme. Clerk, and take up the cudgel against gay marriage as a private citizen. You are free to do so. No one’s going to arrest you.

 

A county clerk divides the Republican Party

TAMPA, FL - AUGUST 28: Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 28, 2012 in Tampa, Florida. Today is the first full session of the RNC after the start was delayed due to Tropical Storm Isaac. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

On one side of this debate over a county clerk’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples is a former Republican southern governor, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who says the dispute proves that government is trying to “criminalize Christianity.”

On the other side is a sitting governor, Republican John Kasich of Ohio, who says the county clerk must follow the law, which requires her to issue the licenses to those who ask for them, regardless of their sexual orientation. Both men are running for president of the United States.

I’ll stand with Gov. Kasich.

Kasich: Follow the law

Rowan County (Ky.) Clerk Kim Davis is in a federal lockup for refusing to do her job. Kasich doesn’t like that she’s in jail. Frankly, I don’t like it, either. I just wish Davis would resign her public office on the grounds that she cannot perform the duties required of her. If she wants to stand behind her Christian belief, that’s fine with me … and she’s totally within her rights as a U.S. citizen to do so.

As for Huckabee and his overheated response to the Davis brouhaha, well, no one is “criminalizing” anyone for their beliefs. He should know better than to mutter such demagoguery.

All public officials swear to uphold the law, which states that gay people are entitled to get married. They need a license to do so. That means county clerks are required to issue them.

If you can’t do the jobĀ  because of your religious beliefs, then quit.

There will be no criminal charges filed, Ms. Davis. Honest.