Today Kim Davis, county clerk for Rowen County in Kentucky, was jailed for contempt of court. She argued that God's authority prevented her from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. The court, of course, disagreed.
Conservatives argued that Ms. Davis was being persecuted for her Christian faith. Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator and presidential candidate agrued for ending states issuing marriage licenses and have religious institutions do it.
Here's the thing. Our form of government was designed to prevent any religious authority to dictate to others how they should conduct their lives. The Puritans, Quakers, Catholics, and others came to America to escape the authority of the Church of England.
We have a secular government for this reason. While Ms. Davis may be bound to her religious beliefs, she cannot bind her believes to others. Under our system government, as a representative of the people, she must respect all be!iefs and perform her duty under the law. She should consider this. Suppose when seeking a marriage license for her second marriage, the county clerk refused stating that under God, she was married to her first husband 'until death do us part.' Would she agree with that?
No comments:
Post a Comment