{"id":127888,"date":"2015-09-05T00:29:45","date_gmt":"2015-09-05T06:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/05\/god-is-my-strength-and-my-shield-but-not-really-a-very-good-legal-defense.html"},"modified":"2015-09-13T12:05:46","modified_gmt":"2015-09-13T18:05:46","slug":"god-is-my-strength-and-my-shield-but-not-really-a-very-good-legal-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/05\/god-is-my-strength-and-my-shield-but-not-really-a-very-good-legal-defense.html","title":{"rendered":""God is my strength and my shield, but not really a very good legal defense""},"content":{"rendered":"

Kentucky's Rowan County Clerk, Kim Davis, has issued a statement via Liberty Counsel (http:\/\/www.lc.org\/index.cfm?PID=14102&AlertID=1965<\/a>) about her jailing for defying a federal court order to issue (legal) marriage licenses to same-sex couples.<\/p>\n

I have worked in the Rowan County Clerk’s office for 27 years as a Deputy Clerk and was honored to be elected as the Clerk in November 2014, and took office in January 2015. I love my job and the people of Rowan County. I have never lived any place other than Rowan County.<\/i><\/p>\n

I have not heard anyone questioning the job Ms Davis has done up to this time. Nor is that presently relevant. "I never stole anything before" is not a defense against a burglary charge.<\/p>\n

Some people have said I should resign, but I have done my job well.<\/i><\/p>\n

Except to county residents of the same gender who wish to lawfully obtain a marriage license.<\/p>\n

This year we are on track to generate a surplus for the county of 1.5 million dollars.<\/i><\/p>\n

And Nixon went to China and was re-elected to office. That doesn't change the grounds under which he was going to be impeached before he resigned. Ms. Davis' revenue generation for the county has nothing to do with this particular case.<\/p>\n

In addition to my desire to serve the people of Rowan County, I owe my life to Jesus Christ who loves me and gave His life for me. 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. I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven and I love my Lord and must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God.<\/i><\/p>\n

I respect Ms. Davis' faith. That doesn't mean she gets to place her religious beliefs above the legal requirements of the position she was elected to.<\/p>\n

(I will confess that I find the construction, "I'm not perfect but I am forgiven" to be appallingly self-serving as a bumper sticker, let alone from a theological standpoint.)<\/p>\n

I never imagined a day like this would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage.<\/i><\/p>\n

I am tempted to debate whether opposition to same-sex marriage, or homosexuality in general, is a "central teaching of Scripture," but that's regardless. Ms. Davis' oath of office, and clearly defined job responsibilities, is to uphold the law of Rowan County, Kentucky, and the United States — not to uphold Scripture.<\/p>\n

To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience.<\/i><\/p>\n

That seems kind of extreme, since you don't seem to cavil at issuing signed marriage licenses to divorcees or adulterers. Regardless, if such licenses are legal for the county, state, and nation, your conscience and our oath of office should lead you to resign, not refused to execute your position's duties.<\/p>\n

It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision. For me it is a decision of obedience.<\/i><\/p>\n

I can respect a decision to obey the moral dictates of your religious beliefs. I cannot respect an implementation of that decision which means that the citizens of your county cannot exercise their legal rights. <\/p>\n

I have no animosity toward anyone and harbor no ill will. To me this has never been a gay or lesbian issue. It is about marriage and God’s Word.<\/i><\/p>\n

Even if I take you at your word (which I am inclined to), clearly your beliefs about marriage and God's Word directly affect<\/i> gays and lesbians. Pretending that it's not about animus toward them is beside the point — same-sex couples are not able to obtain lawful marriage licenses at your county office.<\/i> That's the bottom line, as far as your job goes. <\/p>\n

It is a matter of religious liberty, which is protected under the First Amendment, the Kentucky Constitution, and in the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act.<\/i><\/p>\n

Your religious liberty to act ends at the tip of my nose, Ms. Davis. You are not required to violate your religious conscience, but you are also not allowed to deny me, or any other citizen, the services that they are legally and rightfully entitled to. <\/p>\n

Our history is filled with accommodations for people’s religious freedom and conscience. I want to continue to perform my duties, but I also am requesting what our Founders envisioned – that conscience and religious freedom would be protected.<\/i><\/p>\n

I will be blunt, Ms. Davis. If James Madison — or the other Founders — were asked if a devout Episcopalian should be allowed to deny a government service, such as a marriage license, to a Baptist couple because of objections to their religious beliefs, they would have answered with a resounding no.<\/b> The very meaning of the First Amendment — and, I presume, Kentucky's constitution — is to protect against governmental action against a citizen's rights. In this cae, you are<\/i> acting as the government. The threat to religious discrimination is not about you, but about the couples you are refusing to serve based on your own religious predilections.<\/p>\n

That is all I am asking. I never sought to be in this position, and I would much rather not have been placed in this position.<\/i><\/p>\n

I am sure of that. <\/p>\n

I have received death threats from people who do not know me. I harbor nothing against them.<\/i><\/p>\n

I profoundly condemn anyone who has threatened Ms. Davis' life. That is inappropriate and wrong<\/i> for a wide array of reasons.<\/p>\n

I was elected by the people to serve as the County Clerk. I intend to continue to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience.<\/i><\/p>\n

Then you are only intending to serve some<\/i> of the people of Rowan County in some<\/i> ways. That cannot stand by your very oath of office (so help you, God). If you cannot violate your conscience to allow your office to act as required by law, then you must<\/i> step down, and find some other fashion to serve others as you deem appropriate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/a>\u00a0\n<\/div>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kentucky's Rowan County Clerk, Kim Davis, has issued a statement via Liberty Counsel (http:\/\/www.lc.org\/index.cfm?PID=14102&AlertID=1965) about her jailing for defying a federal court order to issue (legal) marriage licenses to same-sex couples. I have worked in the Rowan County Clerk’s office for 27 years as a Deputy Clerk and was honored to be elected as the … Continue reading “"God is my strength and my shield, but not really a very good legal defense"”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,718,358,378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-marriage-equality","category-poor-citizenship","category-intolerance-persecution"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Gay_Marriage_Kentucky-0f2d95B15D.jpgimgmax=660.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":127995,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/14\/scrambling-for-an-extra-few-minutes-of-fame-martyrdom-kim-davis-edition.html","url_meta":{"origin":127888,"position":0},"title":"Scrambling for an extra few minutes of fame \/ martyrdom (Kim Davis Edition)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 14-Sep-15 7:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm hoping the return of Kim Davis to her job and her sad, sad proclamation that she won't stand in the way of her deputies issuing marriage licenses marks the end (or at least the beginning of the end) to Ms Davis being anything more than a future trivia question\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52017,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/01\/if-non-equality-county-clerks-are-conscientious-objectors-treat-them-as-such.html","url_meta":{"origin":127888,"position":1},"title":"If non-equality county clerks are conscientious objectors, treat them as such","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 1-Aug-15 1:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Attorneys from Liberty Counsel for Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, claim she is like a conscientious objector in wartime. '\u201cLike a noncombatant who cannot shoulder a rifle, a county clerk who cannot issue\u201d same-sex licenses \u201ccan still faithfully and devotedly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":127887,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/04\/laws-oaths-faith-and-kim-davis.html","url_meta":{"origin":127888,"position":2},"title":"Laws, Oaths, Faith, and Kim Davis","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 4-Sep-15 5:37pm","format":false,"excerpt":"For those who are couching the Kim Davis debate as one of religious freedom (I'm raising an eyebrow at you, Messrs. Cruz and Huckabee), two questions:1. Should a Kentucky county clerk have been allowed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, before Obergefell made it legal, using the excuse of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31925,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/12\/27\/the-perpetual-trump-of-religious-convictions.html","url_meta":{"origin":127888,"position":3},"title":"The perpetual trump of religious convictions","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Dec-12 3:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So are people who strongly believe that divorce is not religiously allowed free to not give out marriage licenses where one or both of the applicants are divorced? \u00a0Are people who believe that God intended for the races to stay separate allowed to decline to assist marriage license applicants who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23030,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/11\/rose-marie-belforti-is-well-confused.html","url_meta":{"origin":127888,"position":4},"title":"Rose Marie Belforti is … well, confused","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 11-Oct-11 4:40pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I do not want to call his lady a dolt, but she does seem to have a very strange idea of what her duties and responsibilities as a town clerk entail. Ms Belforti likes to \"help people,\" but she is morally opposed to same-sex marriage, based on her Christian beliefs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14622,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/04\/24\/unblogged-bits-for-friday-24-april-2009.html","url_meta":{"origin":127888,"position":5},"title":"Unblogged Bits for Friday, 24 April 2009","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 24-Apr-09 6:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Waking up to torture truths -- chicagotribune.com - There's the bottom line in the bottom two paragraphs: if \"it works\" is the real reason, what line can ever be drawn, and on what moral\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marriage Equality"","block_context":{"text":"Marriage Equality","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/marriage-equality"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127888"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127970,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127888\/revisions\/127970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}