Picking the wrong battle …

An elected official in Kentucky – Kim Davis – took an oath to uphold the law. She then decided she wouldn’t when it came to issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples.

She claimed it violated her religious beliefs. 

Even if that’s true, it’s irrelevant.  She violated her oath of office. She swore to uphold the laws of Kentucky and the United States and she didn’t. 

Now, however you feel about same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriage is legal in the United States. That means same-sex couples can marry.  That also means, of course, that they are entitled to get a marriage license first. 

That applies to everywhere in the United States, including Kentucky. 

Right now she’s in jail on contempt of court charges because a judge ordered her to obey the law and she refused.  Some Republicans, like Huckabee, are claiming she’s a prisoner of conscience. Huck’s drawing comparisons to Dr. King who was jailed in Birmingham for holding civil rights protests without a permit.

Huckabee sees a parallel.  He conflates Dr. King’s opposition to unjust laws restricting blacks’ access to the same schools and facilities as whites, with this official’s refusal to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  It’s nonsense.     

Those of us of a certain age who lived through the civil-rights movement of the 50s and 60s understand that Dr. King was trying to expand the rights of individuals to be treated as equals in our society.  The Kentucky official is doing the opposite.

Yes, both broke the law. Yes, both framed their arguments on moral grounds. But Dr. King wasn’t an elected official sworn to uphold the law; she was.

This is the wrong battle for social conservatives. Some, like Huckabee, are saying this proves there’s a war on religious values in general and on Christianity in particular. They point to the Bible to support their premise that same-sex marriage is contrary to God’s will.  Huckabee has even said that it’s time to stop the “criminalization of Christianity.”

This will accomplish absolutely nothing.  Except, of course, to reinforce the view many Americans have of social conservatives as religious fanatics hell-bent on imposing their own brand of morality on others.  There’s merit in insuring that religious liberties are preserved, but like past rulings that knocked down segregation and miscegenation laws, personal religious beliefs alone don’t supersede the law.    

It’s the wrong battle for Republicans, too.  If Republicans claim to be outraged over Obama’s disregard for his oath of office and picking and choosing which laws to enforce based solely on his personal beliefs, then they should be equally outraged over Kim Davis’ actions. 

The rule of law is the rule of law; you either believe in it or you don’t. There are no squishy areas. If you don’t like a law, there are procedures you must follow to change the law.  If you don’t like something in the Constitution, there are procedures to change that also.

If you decide not to follow the law, you must be prepared to face the consequences.

Kim Davis is not a martyr.  She violated her oath of office. 

If she was morally opposed to following the law then she should have resigned her office.  That would have been the honorable and principled thing to do.