I would like to consider myself a person of conscience who is willing to stand up for my convictions and beliefs as a Christian. Well, I can also be something of a chicken, but I have taken unpopular stands at times and even taken part in a rally or three for various issues, although I've never been locked up for doing so. Of course because these are my convictions, my stances are noble and true. It's the other guy who may be a little sketchy, or dogmatic, or prejudiced.
There has been a lot of coverage of a clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. In the end she was jailed for what she claims is a Christian conviction. This is the way the Toronto Star reported the story:
ASHLAND, KY. —A defiant county clerk was sent to jail for contempt Thursday after insisting that her “conscience will not allow” her to follow a federal judge’s orders to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.“God’s moral law conflicts with my job duties,” Kim Davis told U.S. District Judge David Bunning. “You can’t be separated from something that’s in your heart and in your soul.” The judge said she left him with no alternative but to jail her, since fines alone would not change her mind. A deputy escorted her out of the courtroom, although not in handcuffs, to be turned over to the custody of federal marshals. “Her good faith belief is simply not a viable defence,” Bunning said, noting that allowing an individual’s beliefs to supersede the court’s authority would set a dangerous precedent. “I myself have genuinely held religious beliefs,” the judge said, but “I took an oath.”
“Mrs. Davis took an oath,” he added. “Oaths mean things.”
I figure the judge made the right call. He even gave Ms. Davis an "out," saying that she could be released if she let other staff issue the licenses. Nope. She wouldn't budge. Eventually licenses were granted to couples, but Davis wasn't involved.
I do not agree with her interpretation of scripture, and I appreciate why the judge found her in contempt of her oath of office. It has got me wondering how far I would go to uphold my own convictions. Bill C-51 may put lots of us to the test on this one.
What do you think?
1 comment:
When I taught in the Provincial Schools for the Deaf , we had several changes in communication policy, from strictly oral to adding fingerspelling, to Signed English, to using pure American Sign Language - we did not all agree with the changes, and some could not get "on board" ... so they left and went to another field of teaching - those who cannot get on board with the new laws re marriage should do the same - go to another field of work ... and allow others the freedoms the changes in the laws are granting...(as it turns out, the newer communication policies were more beneficial for many more of our students, and allowed them to be fully human ... exactly what could happen by allowing gay marriages.)
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