There is a loud and misinformed minority that believe that Kim Davis, the Rowan County Clerk who refused to issued wedding licenses to same sex couples even after receiving a court order that she is in fact required by law to do so, was thrown in jail because of her Christian beliefs.
That is not true. In fact, the person who put Kim Davis in jail is Kim Davis. She's in jail because she refused to obey the court order. Did she have to obey the court order? Yes, she did. Why?
Because Kim Davis promised to do exactly that.
Her religious faith has not been at issue at any time in this entire series of events - at least, not as far as the law is concerned.
Kim Davis took this oath of office:
"I, (Kim Davis), do swear that I will well and truly discharge the duties of
the office of (Rowan) County Circuit Court clerk, according to
the best of my skill and judgment, making the due entries and records of
all orders, judgments, decrees, opinions and proceedings of the court,
and carefully filing and preserving in my office all books and papers
which come to my possession by virtue of my office; and that I will not
knowingly or willingly commit any malfeasance of office, and will
faithfully execute the duties of my office without favor, affection or
partiality, so help me God."
-- The Courier-Journal, September 6, 2015
Let's break this down, with some emphasis on key points.
"...making the due entries and records of
all orders, judgments, decrees, opinions and proceedings of the court,
and carefully filing and preserving in my office all books and papers
which come to my possession by virtue of my office"
Note that it says ALL , not SELECT. She promises that she will stamp and record everything that her office is responsible for, period, no exceptions.
The court order she received clearly falls into the category of "all judgements, decrees, opinions, and proceeds of the court."
Furthermore:
"...I will not
knowingly or willingly commit any malfeasance of office, and will
faithfully execute the duties of my office without favor, affection or
partiality, so help me God."
So she swore to process everything, no exceptions, and she promised complete impartiality, that is, that she wouldn't allow her personal beliefs or convictions By stating that she would not issue the wedding licenses because it violated her religious convictions, she clearly violated the part of her oath where she promised to do her job "without favor, affection or
partiality."
There is no question that Kim Davis willfully broke the law.
She's trying to wiggle out of it by claiming that she understood the oath to mean "...in upholding the federal and state constitutions and laws, she would not act in contradiction to the moral law of God."
She is basing this spurious claim because the oath ended with the words "So Help Me, God"
So what does that phrase actually mean?
"used to make a promise in a very formal and serious way"--Cambridge Dictionary Online
"The essence of the phrase is to emphasize that one means what one is saying or has said. It therefore implies greater care than usual in the act of the performance of one's duty" -- Wikipedia
Basically, it means that you are calling for God to help you keep your oath. In this case, it means that Kim Davis called on God to make sure that she would "faithfully execute the duties of my office without favor, affection or
partiality."
Kim Davis: Sinner, not Martyr
Kim Davis claims that she is keen on following the dictates of her faith; but in fact, she pays it only select lip service. And this is apparent to us because she broke her oath of office.
Homosexuality is forbidden by the book of Leviticus. Leviticus also mentions oaths:
"Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord."--Leviticus 19:12
Let's review the facts:
- Kim Davis took an oath of office when she assumed the position of County Clerk
- In that oath, she promised to make all records presented to her in accordance with law.
- In that oath, she also promised to do so impartially, without inserting her own opinions into the mix.
- She called on her higher power to ensure that she did not break her oath of office.
I can only come to these conclusions:
- She broke her oath of office by refusing to issue the licenses.
- She broke the law by refusing to obey the lawful order of the court.
- She committed a sin by breaking the oath she swore to God that she would uphold.
And yet there are STILL those who think that Kim Davis is justified in breaking her oath in order to enforce her personal religious beliefs over the law in direct violation of the Constitution.
To those people, I would task them with reading Mark 12:17
Then Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Ultimately, it is Ms. Davis' right to believe in anything she chooses. But it is not her right to impose her own beliefs in place of the law while holding the office of County Clerk. Not only is that a violation of the Constitution, it's a breach of the promise she made to not do exactly that.
Kim Davis does not have to stay in jail, however. She can walk out the instant she agrees to abide by the oath she swore to uphold the law as Count Clerk of the Courts. Or she can walk out the moment she steps down from that office because she can no longer honor her oath of office.
As ever, her eternal salvation is up to A Higher Power. But we'll note that in Leviticus, most violations are solved with lots of rocks.
At least, that's my conclusion, based on her claim that the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is pornographic, as reported in The Huffington Post.
