Thursday, September 3, 2015

the reason we have separation of church and state


Well, I see that Ms Kim Davis accepted jail in defense of her principals, that she is standing by her faith that same sex marriage is an abomination and she won't let herself be tainted by that sin. It's too bad she doesn't show the same adherence to faith and religion when it comes to her own personal life since she hasn't observed the other strictures concerning marriage that are laid out in her scripture.

I think she is wrong not to comply with the law regardless of her position on marriage and who may or may not get married as dictated by her religion. She may have been raised to think that marriage didn't exist until Christianity but that does not give her the authority to deny the license required by law, not religion, to any couple who wishes to marry. Her faith does not give her the authority to determine the course of other peoples' lives. Her religious beliefs do not allow her to break the oath of office she took when elected to her position. Her religion, her beliefs, her faith are pertinent to her life alone. It is not for her to judge the lives of others. If her religion tells her something should not be done, then she should not do it. It is not her place to force others to comply with what she deems acceptable. Indeed, her own religion tells her not to judge. Her own religion tells her that her faith is a private thing. Her own religion tells her to obey the laws of the land.

In her own arrogance, in refusing to sin, she has sinned many times over. If, of course, you believe in all that sinning stuff. Which I don't exactly. Right/wrong, yin/yang, light/dark, up/down, in/out...duality, opposites, balance but also that great gray void in-between. Anyway, that's beside the point. 

The point is that if her religious beliefs, her faith, were such that they compelled her not to do her job, a job she was elected to do, and worse, prevented others in the office from doing the job, then she should have resigned her job even if what she was required to do was not required when she was elected. She took an oath to uphold the law, not whatever law she agreed with.

Had she just done that, instead of wrongly thinking she had the right to impose her sense of morality on the public at large in defiance of the law, she would not be in jail today.

I'm sure the Founding Fathers never imagined this sort of struggle between religion and rule but they well knew the danger of religion in law.




13 comments:

  1. Thank you, Ellen, for so skillfully voicing what so many of us feel.

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  2. IMHO, the federal government should be taking action against the county government for violation of the civil rights of the citizens of the county. Yes, she need to be in jail, but the county has a responsibility to follow the law. They should be impeaching her. I really to not understand this idea that this is a violation of religious freedom.

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  3. If it was worth going to jail, keep her there where she will be happy

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  4. She should have made the ultimate sacrifice for her faith and resigned rather than making everyone's lives miserable. Why did not the authorities step in and get rid of her (legally) for not serving fully? Yes, she is a twit, but authorities better be prepared for more of these who want to impose their beliefs on others.

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  5. She wants to have her cake and eat it, too. And, it's an $80,000 per annum cake.

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  6. dang, Ms Ellen, you really must say what's on your mind..just teasing.. I am an old wore out conservative, born hard headed and had a relapse, but once again I am gonna agree with you. BUT all this silliness has caused us to take our eyes off a more important goal of seeing the big picture and what that big picture is will vary to as many of us that have opinions. Being able to share and see other peoples' ideas is being cut out of the argument, SO I agree with you totally on this but dang we have a lot of things that we need to consider,, reckon... :) glenn

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  7. I agree with you completely. This woman claims to stand on religious principles, yet she has a choice--she can resign. Instead, she wants to keep her salary without doing her job. That's theft of funds, not standing on moral principles.

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  8. And her mama had the job for forty years or something like that before she got elected to the position. And her son is one of HER deputies.
    You know how I feel.

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  9. Agreed.

    I think she is a stooge of the religious right at large, which is funding her defense. They long to make her a martyr to this cause.

    Still, the governor should remove her from office for dereliction of duty.

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  10. I think she's a stooge, set up to generate fake smoke and fire for the floundering candidates of the GOP. I notice Ted Cruz was quick to cause this ambulance. Someone ought to check her bank account...

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  11. You are so articulate in your outrage! I love that you can make an argument that makes sense and relays exactly how you feel. I get frustrated with the nonsense of people like this and the publicity they receive for being ridiculous. I enjoy your rants:)

    And thank you for your kind comments over at my place. It's been a tough year but I try to put forward the positive. I appreciate your insights....

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.