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Friday, September 4, 2015

Saying Something about Kim Davis

Everybody's Doing It





Joe Carter provides information on the Clerk, her stance, and the consequences she is experiencing.

RNS reports Clerk is jailed but some deputy clerks will issue licenses.

Adree Seu Peterson says she would do the same thing.

Al Mohler shows how complicated the world is and how much trouble Christians can expect in the aftermath of the sex and marriage revolution.

John-Henry Westen says Davis is a hero.

Darryl Hart argues that understanding the relationship between Christianity and the secular society could help Davis.

David Murray contends that the Clerk is a martyr for whom we must pray as an imprisoned Christian sister.

And, of course, the Curmudgeon has some thoughts, these written in response to Ms. Peterson's column for World:


The Clerk was elected to an office which licenses marriages in her county on behalf of the state of KY. KY, as all other states, is bound by the decision of the Supreme Court which asserts that the Constitution trumps state laws with regard to right to marry. The Court found that there is a fundamental right to marry, granted by the Constitution, that extends to all persons regardless of whether the proposed marriage is heterosexual or homosexual. That right may not be abridged by state laws limiting the right to marry because state laws may not conflict with Constitutional rights. The clerk as an officer of the state is obligated to follow the laws and court orders that apply to her state and thus to her office. The office she holds is now obligated to issue licenses to both heterosexual and homosexual couples which means she as the office holder is obligated to do so. If she will not do it, then she must resign or the state must remove her. In my view the Court made a bad decision. But it made a decision. I do not think she is implicated in the sins of others by fulfilling the duties of her office. (What should a clerk who is a member of a church that forbids divorce in all circumstances do when a couple one or both of whom are divorced appear and ask for a license?) But, if she cannot in good conscience issue the licenses then it is better for her to resign than to continue to defy the law.






1 comment:

Curt Day said...

And my blog will have something about Kim Davis, and I throw in Donald Trump as a bonus, tomorrow. But here is one of our main problems illustrated by the choices made by Kim Davis. How will we share society with others? Will we seek some degree of privilege that entitles us to call the shots when necessary, or will we share society with others as equals. Davis selected the former option. I don't think that is consistent with how society is described in the NT when Church discipline is being described.