Kentucky clerk is correct

But here is what I want to say to Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis: perhaps before you use your religion and your position in the community to determine what constitutes an appropriate marriage, you should reflect on your three divorces and then decide if you should be considered an advocate for the sanctity of marriage.

Kim Davis is the Rowan County, KY, Clerk of Courts who refuses to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

For several weeks, the American Pastors Network (APN) has weighed in on the issue. Davis is just putting in more appeals and lawsuits with different wording but basically saying the same thing, and the courts continue to say she is wrong, has no legal basis, and also has to issue the gay marriage licenses.

Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown, a Baptist who has issued around 10 licenses to same-sex couples despite his religious objections, is leading a charge to get legislators to rewrite the law when they return to the statehouse in January.

Davis has repeatedly asked the Kentucky state government to create an accommodation so that same-sex marriage licenses can be issued without requiring her name and title.

As an elected official, her duty, under oath, is to uphold the law, which means to carry out and defend the laws of the state of Kentucky, not resign or run from the first sign of conflict. And 16% preferred Davis be forced to issue the licenses, but were against sending her to jail for her refusal. “Keep pressing. Don’t let down,” Davis said upon her release, according to TIME magazine. After being released, Davis appeared to her cheering supporters outside of the Carter County Detention Center, where she was held. Clearly it is good enough for Kim Davis.

Here in Dane County our own clerk, Scott McDonell, was on the other side of the gay marriage issue.

To balance her religious convictions with Bunning’s demands, she said, the licenses would not carry her authorization; instead, they would bear a notation that they were issued “pursuant to federal court order”.

The non-profit organization Planting Peace that also supports the LGBT community put up a billboard that criticizes Davis’ anti-gay belief and her personal interpretation of the Bible.

A recent study has found as many as 72% of American respondents agreed with the decision a judge made earlier this month to send Davis to jail for contempt of court.

To be clear, these judges aren’t banning same-sex couples from obtaining marriage certificates – the judges don’t have that power. “I pray that our dialogue remains civil and respectful”. People who identify as “very conservative” sided with Davis by more than a 2-to-1 margin. I hate no one.

“I’m glad for it in a way because it enlightens people to the plight of what’s going on”, Shannon said of all the worldwide attention.

But when all is said and done, I am convinced that the outcome in Rowan County will be remembered as a win-win for the Constitution.