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    Tally BriggsNov 3, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    Really great article Lauren, but some corrections are in order.

    1. County Clerks don’t “marry” anyone. They validate ID’s and issue the document the citizen requests (fishing/gun/hunting/marriage licenses, birth/death certificates.)

    2. Kim Davis’s job is to issue the license, after validating you are who you say you are. She refused to issue Marriage Licenses, which are required to legally marry in the US. You sign the license, the issuing clerk (sometimes, depending on the state, not always) signs it, your spouse signs it, your witnesses sign it, and your officiant (the person who actually performs the ceremony, and is also licensed by the state to do so.) If you don’t send the signed license to the state capital for filing (then THEY issue/send you your Certificate of Marriage, making it legal) before the license expires, you’re not legally married.

    Now my 2¢:

    I can’t wait for the day someone like Davis explains what it was like the day she “chose” her “straight lifestyle”, and explain how she’s involved in any way with any gay wedding. I got a marriage license once that I never sent in and allowed to expire…. thankfully – then I was able to kick that loser to the curb when needed instead of spending money, stress, and time to divorce him. Point is – a license ≠ a marriage.

    Kim Davis says she’s asking for a “reasonable accommodation.”

    How is it a “reasonable accommodation” to deny fellow citizens their rights to a public secular/non-religious service, to not do your secular government job, and still get paid by the very citizens you’re denying rights and services too? That’s theft, and a sin.

    Her job is to validate IDs, making sure that the person is who they say they are, then issue the document/license the citizen is requesting. That’s it. She’s not marrying anyone. She’s not validating anyone’s marriage, nor is it her place to do so. Her job isn’t with any church, it’s with the State of KY, which is part of the USA. The US GOV isn’t a religion/Church. The License for Marriage in the USA and in KY, has nothing whatsoever to do with any religion, and exists WITHOUT any religion being involved, since it’s got nothing to do with that whatsoever.

    The Sacrament of Marriage is performed by a Church, you don’t need a license, the church in question must approve (not the government), and isn’t a legally binding contract (so without the state version of Marriage (the one that requires a license), it isn’t recognized by the government so there is no reason for divorce since you’re not legally married, and good luck trying to get a fair division of your property….. (which is the whole reason for marriage in the first place. Love is a very modern / last century addition to the entire institution of marriage.)

    As you rightly pointed our, if Kim Davis’s faith was honestly her priority, she’d have quit her job when it came to the place where she felt her conscience couldn’t allow her do it. But her $80k paycheck and her media fame are far more important, as is her $$$$$ book deal. Kim needs to read Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, and take ALL of it to heart especially Matthew 6:6. (Why/HOW do so many “Christians” have so much hate in their hearts, and have so much desire to control other people?)

    As for her “deeply held religious convictions regarding marriage as the union of a man and a woman”, where did she even get that? It’s not in the Bible. The Bible states a man must marry his wife’s widowed sister(s), and take her/their dead husband’s property thereby retaining that property for the tribe. PROPERTY. Many wives. It seems as though most of today’s “Christians” haven’t read the Bible, or lack the basic understanding of it, and history itself.

    If you want a job that doesn’t require you to interact with people you don’t like or agree with, then you should find one that doesn’t involve working for the government or the public. Both of those jobs must follow laws that state you cannot pick and choose which members of the public/citizens you want to deal with. You must serve ALL, and you cannot use your “faith/religion” to deny anyone the service you’re paid to give. That’s called discrimination, and it’s illegal.

    If your religion doesn’t allow you to do the job you’re hired to do…. you get a different job, not file for a religious accommodation to get paid to NOT do your job. Reasonable religious accommodations are for things like taking off for Yom Kippur, or wearing a head scarf…. you know, things that still allow you to DO THE JOB YOU’RE PAID TO DO. A Christian Scientist who doesn’t believe in any medical treatment, should never apply to be a licensed pharmacist, since they wouldn’t be able to do the job they’re applying for.

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Do not Mistake the Incompetence of Kim Davis for Courage