Kim Davis Redux

No, Kim, “redux” has nothing to do with your religious beliefs or your sexual orientation. It simply means I’m going to revisit your situation. Mike Luckovich’s cartoon sums up his and my opinions about your stand against gay marriage. The First Amendment protects our rights to say anything we want as long as it doesn’t break any libel or slander laws. The First Amendment also protects our rights to believe any form of religion we choose. In an 1879 decision (Reynolds vs the United States) regarding the prosecution of a polygamist under federal law, The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment was read by the court as protecting our religious beliefs, not our religious practices that run counter to neutrally enforced criminal laws. See, Kim, that’s the problem. You’re claiming that your religious beliefs are being infringed upon, but no one, not the public nor the courts, is telling you what you may or may not believe. It’s telling you that you can’t decide not to sign applications for marriage licenses because you don’t like the applicants’ sexual orientations. Not too long ago, we had a case against a bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple because the owners didn’t believe in gay marriage. Their stance was that the couple could always go to another bakery. Let’s see now, that argument was also used fifty years ago when restaurants refused to serve blacks. What ever happened legally to that stance? Could I also refuse service to anyone I considered gay? What about transgenders? What if Caitlyn Jenner wanted to get married in Kentucky and came to your window for a license? Would you refuse because of your religious beliefs that marriage is the union of a man and a woman? And what Biblically is the definition of marriage, the reason for a male/female union? It seems to me to be all about procreation for the protection and continuance of mankind. But is that still a valid interpretation of the need for marriage only between a man and a woman? The world doesn’t need more rampant procreation. But even if having children is still a valid reason for marriage, can’t gay couples have children? Our modern concept of what defines man and woman has become hazy and indistinct. Oliver Wendell Holmes jr. said “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.” It seems to me, Kim, that your fist has gone a bit too far when you refused to sign gay marriage licenses.