Love and Marriage Licenses
This weekend the Lovely Mrs. Shabazz and I are celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary. And while I am not the most religious person on the planet, I thank God Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis wasn’t the person who issued our marriage license back in 2009, because she would have likely told us no because it would have violated her religious beliefs.
How, you might ask?
Well since Ms. Davis refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, and later no licenses, because it violated her interpretation of God’s law, it’s fair to assume she would have also used the same logic to deny our marriage license.
It’s no big secret that my wife is Christian and I am a Muslim. Of course between the cigars, the scotch and the bacon I’m not doing a very good job of it these days. But on Sunday mornings, my wife goes to church and worships at her altar and I watch myself on Indianapolis this Week on RTV 6, so in a way I am at my own altar. However, because we are different religions, Ms. Davis could, and likely would have said issuing our license would violate that Corinthians passage that says “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”
This is why we don’t let government officials make public decisions based solely on their faith. It is not infringing on their religious liberty, they are free to practice their faith anytime, just when they are on the clock, they have to take the public into account.
Just imagine the Quaker who refuses to issue a gun permit because they don’t believe in violence. Or the border guard who allows illegal immigrants to cross freely because his faith cannot allow the poor to suffer when a better life is possible. Or my personal favorite, the Christian Identity law enforcement official who likes to spend his free time beating these and separate the whites; interracial couples, not eggs.
See where this is going? Exactly! We can debate public accommodation and religious liberty in some instances, although I really don’t think there is that much to debate. However when we are talking about public officials performing their public duties on the public’s time there really isn’t much to debate. Do your job or do something else. Or in the case of Ms. Davis do your job and get out jail.
Now if you will excuse me, I have to go wrap my wife’s anniversary presents. Anyone know where I can find 5′ 8″ wrapping paper?
