Social media as been lighted up with the hashtag #KimDavis. Kim Davis is the Kentucky clerk who has been refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples and even heterosexual couples. As you may know, back in June the Supreme Court of the United States went against the constitution and states by legalizing so-called same-sex marriage see: http://www.sacerdotus.com/2015/06/supreme-court-legalizes-same-sex.html.
As a result, it was predicted that religious freedom and conscience rights would be affected and it has. Kim Davis, a Protestant feels obliged to follow her conscience in regards to granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples citing her religious beliefs. She says she is denying the licenses based on God's authority and was arrested by US marshals for this. Seriously? The government is picking on a woman because she is following her conscience? It is a scary time but we are used to this. For over 2000 years Christians have been arrested and killed for putting Christ over man's stupid laws. We will not stop in 2015 and will continue to preach Christ in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).
Davis has been attacked for having I believe three marriages, all which happened before she was Christian. Nevertheless, her sins are irrelevant because she is bringing attention to religious freedom as it relates to conscience rights. I understand that she is breaking the law and was ignored by the courts and arrested. However, we have a moral obligation to disobey immoral laws. Dr. King broke many laws in the name of civil rights. The people attacked him then just like people today are attacking Davis and are now in the "wrong side of history."
As Catholics, civil disobedience is a must when immoral laws exist and are pushed on us. God will not judge us based on how good we follow man's laws, but His laws. Denying marriage licenses to same-sex partners may be seen as discrimination by others, but not by us because we do not recognize any other form of marriage that is different from one man one woman. The greatest thinkers in human history understood that immoral laws deserve no observance from the rational person.
“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.”
― Howard Zinn
“It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”
― Aristotle, Selected Writings From The Nicomachean Ethics And Politics
“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as Cardinal Ratzinger stated that Catholics must oppose laws that promote same-sex unions and the light. It is a moral obligation to oppose them:
"The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society. Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behaviour, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself."
(see: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html)
However, it must be noted that homosexuals must not be abused, hated upon or attacked in any way or form. This is not Christianity. We oppose immoral ideas, not people.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/us/kim-davis-same-sex-marriage.html?_r=0
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/u-s-marshalls-take-kentucky-clerk-kim-davis-custody/
https://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/kim-davis-found-in-contempt-and-taken-into-federal-custody-by-us-marshals/
http://mashable.com/2015/09/03/kentucky-clerk-kim-davis-jail/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link
http://www.towleroad.com/2015/09/kim-davis-found-in-contempt-of-court-and-taken-into-custody/
_______________________________________________________________
UPDATE** September 8, 2015
Kim Davis was just released from jail. The judge told her not to interfere with the handing out of marriage licenses. Davis has made it clear that she does not want her name or authority used for licenses for same-sex couples.
Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/huckabee-christie-cruz-weigh-in-on-controversial-128638521231.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for reading and for your comment. All comments are subject to approval. They must be free of vulgarity, ad hominem and must be relevant to the blog posting subject matter.