There’s nothing equal about how some public officials are responding the U.S. Supreme Court’s freedom to marry ruling from a couple of weeks ago.
Sure, on its face, doing the same thing for everyone sure does sound equal. But in this case we’re talking about public officials who don’t want to do something for anyone, nevermind that the “something” is part of their officials duties and the job you, me and every other taxpayer is paying them to do.
Take, for instance, the Rowan County Clerk in Kentucky. She has decided that, no, she will not be issuing any marriage licenses to anyone if it means she also has to issue them to same-sex couples. She cited her religious views as the reason.
“You can go to our surrounding counties,” this couple was told by a staffer at the Rowan clerk’s office.
We’ve also heard of a couple of justices of the peace in Temple, Texas, who have taken a similar stance and are refusing to marry anyone rather than have to marry two men or two women.
Some politicians want to take the issue even further and make “no marriage licenses for anyone” the law of the land. Most notably, the idea has been floated by Republican presidential contender Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Here in Texas, it’s state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, who’s asking Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to get government out of the marriage business.
Rep. Simpson writes:
Marriage is a divine institution, defined by God and revealed in nature. Government should recognize it and respect it. Government has no legitimate authority to define marriage and no reason to license it. Why should we allow government to meddle with marriage, to cheapen it and to parcel it out for profit?
One wonders if Rep. Simpson would show the same urgency to get government out of marriage if the Supreme Court had ruled the other way and it was still only heterosexual couples who could legally marry in Texas.
Regardless, this kind of response is a temper tantrum. It’s similar to a playground hissy fit where you take your ball and you go home.
Most of us don’t get to pick and choose which of our job responsibilities we’re willing to do. In this case we have public servants, being paid with taxpayer dollars, who have decided to punish everybody because they want to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples who now have the freedom to marry.
No one is asking public officials to change their religious beliefs or views on marriage. They’re only being asked to do the job they agreed to do when they signed up to do it in the first place.
6 Comments
I don’t see why we are letting the religious zealots get by calling their actions “Religious Freedom” when their actions are clearly religious tyranny. The same goes for the so-called “Religious Freedom” laws.
And if states no longer issue marriage licenses, then no one in that state can get married. Claiming “married” on a fed tax return, SSA application, etc requires that you have a GOVERNMENT ISSUED marriage license. If their state refuses to issue marriage licenses, then they effectively make it impossible for ANYONE to legally get married in their state.
If this clerk is unwilling to do her job, then she is no longer clerk, and a new clerk should be hired that will do their job.
She can’t “take her ball and go home” because it’s NOT HER DAMN BALL. If she doesn’t want to play, she needs to leave the GOVERNMENT ball where it sits for someone else to take up, and get off the team.
I stand by my stand on this. Their god means NOTHING TO ME AT ALL. Their god is not my GOD. Nor, to press the point, IS THIS A RELIGIOUS BASED COUNTRY!
If their god tells THEM what to do or not to do it means NOTHING. When it comes to the laws of this land and state their objections, based on deeply felt bigotry MEAN NOTHING.
What is it going to take to get it through those people’s little brains that we do not mix religion and state. They want to have their special favors from the state while giving the state the finger.
Anyone who takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States must put their hypocritical religious beliefs behind them while they are working in an official office.
My God loves all his children, not just those radical, non-thinking bigots who will break the law when it suits them with an excuse that should never have anything to do with the law.
Federal Marshall’s, where are you? People are breaking the Federal law. Arrest them, they are unAmerican.
Getting government out of the marriage business is not a bad idea. It is done in some European countries. You have to have a civil event that determines how the government views you. Joint tax returns, inheritance all that stuff governments are concerned about. Then there is a religious service. The religious service does not exempt you from still having the contract registered by the state.
The churches can have whatever rules they want. However, that does not limit the ability of two people to sign a contract with each other that is recognized by the state. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to god what is god’s.
Christians have special rights, privileges and protections under the law, more than any other group of people in the USA, all the while, claiming persecution. This is how the Conservative Christian has always acted, whenever any minority even gets close to just having equal rights as themselves. Of course they will be deemed “special rights” in the eyes of the majority. No other job, (tax funded or not) that I know of, gets you the attention of media, churches, religious organizations, and politicians, where someone refuses to do their job. They are actually honored, celebrated, it’s disgusting. Words can not express my hatred I have towards these people. They have never, and yes I mean “never”, have Conservative Christians tried to help people outside of their sacred circle, they won’t, because they believe those who aren’t like them deserve to suffer, to be oppressed, murdered and raped. The only way things in the USA will change is religion is removed 100% out of all things funded by tax payers. Or, if they all get wiped out, which would make me very happy. They are the true embodiment of a devil, a demon, Satan if you will. If I had the power, with a touch of a finger, to eliminate all Conservative Christians, I would gladly push that button.