Kim Davis, as a Christian, is obligated to honor her conscience. Therefore she cannot sign marriage licenses as they are currently constructed in Rowan county.
Kim Davis took an oath to uphold the civil law which now conflicts with her conscience. Her conscience led her to publicly ask the question if the law was just, which civil authorities have now answered.
Some are expressing surprise Kim Davis is in jail. However, she was not only upholding her own conscience but also instructing her deputies to dishonor the civil law. This is a line that she is well advised not to cross now that the civil authorities have determined the law will stand. Why?
17th Century thought divides the world into two spheres — derived from the 10 Commandments. The civil authorities at that time had many unjust laws, and Christians were adept at navigating through them. The first table was based on the first five commandments. The first table is the sphere of the authority of God who speaks through consciences, with a special record of past revelation vetted by the collective consciences of inspired followers kept in scripture. The second five have to do with keeping civil peace and fall within the jurisdiction of civil authority.
Kim Davis’s conscience leads her to a position based on scripture, a source she does not have the power to alter as the inspired word of God. Civil law would have a person in her position sign a document condoning sin, which she is convicted she cannot do. Kim Davis has pursued every avenue she can to change the law, and it is not about to change at this time. She therefore cannot perform her duties while honoring her conscience.
The civil state has no authority to tell Kim Davis her conscience in governing her own actions in the first table is wrong. While it has every authority to enforce its laws, there is also a precedent of making reasonable accommodations.
When does your religion legally excuse you from doing part of your job?
Can your religion legally excuse you from doing part of your job? This is one of the questions in the Kentucky County …Washington Post
In any case Kim Davis has no authority to expect other civil servants to break the civil law. That would be a forced worship, a sin as odious in scripture (Isaiah 66) as the sins Kim Davis was asked to condone. She cannot therefore perform her duty. We must give to Caesar what is rightfully Caesars. Therefore an honorable avenue left is to resign. I would hope that the she recognizes quickly as a Christian that compelling consciences of others is as odious as condoning sin herself.
Some seem surprised she is in jail, as the judge had “lesser remedies”. However, fines would have done nothing to protect the rights of the deputies reporting to Kim Davis. An accomodation would require other government bodies in Kentucky to act. As Kim Davis is an elected official, he cannot terminate her employment without cause. The physical removal allowed the judge to enable deputies to make their own decision to follow the law or declare a conscientious objection. Until she resigns or is removed from office the deputies were in the untenable position of being forced to honor another’s conscience in violation of the established civil law. The people of Kentucky may agree with Kim Davis— and they are free to vote their conscience. To leave her in place would have forced a judge to commit her deputies to following her instruction to break the civil law, honoring her conscience but not necessarily their own. That would have been utterly unacceptable.
There is no need for Kim Davis to remain in jail. She can honorably resign. On the other hand, the state of Kentucky may yet decide to make a reasonable accommodation. That leaves her with a motive to sit out her sentence in hopes of a more modern accommodation.
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