Kim Davis is 'NO" Christian hero!

Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis, who spent five days in jail for defying federal court orders and refusing same-sex marriage licenses, was given tickets to the president's final State of the Union address, an invitation-only event. Why?

Regardless if her religious beliefs are right or wrong she is divisive. Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who leads the conservative House Freedom Caucus, acknowledged that his staff gave Davis a ticket. Was it a childish ‘tit for tat’  political move because First lady Michelle Obama invited Jim Obergefell, lead plaintiff in the case in which the United States Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage across the nation. A lot of our politicians and religious leaders act like school yard bullies. They continue to perpetrates ‘us vs them’ in America.

After the Supreme Court's decision, Kim Davis cited "God's authority" and refused to issue marriage licenses, despite a series of federal court orders. She quickly became the hero of some in the religious right. Politicians, including presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee, flocked to a rally on the jailhouse lawn during her brief stay behind bars to be seen supporting her in hopes of gaining a few votes. The very two candidates that complain the most on Fox News that President Obama does not obey the law or the constitution was supporting someone who advocated breaking the law.  

Mat Staver, founder of the law firm Liberty Counsel that advocates against gay rights, said he and Davis would be seated in the House chamber "to stand for religious freedom and to represent Judeo-Christian values." Whose religious freedoms were they representing and whose Christian values were they representing – not mine! Kim Davis violated the First Amendment by trying to force her religious belief on everyone. Kim Davis violated a ruling of the United States Supreme Court. Kim Davis violated a number of legal court orders.  

Where was Mat Staver? I guess he had a better seat because he was not shown with Kim Davis. Kim Davis is nothing more than a pawn being used by some in the religious right.  

She took an oath of office to serve the people of Rowan County she violated that oath. A Christian who felt they were being forced to violate their religious beliefs should have resigned, not violated her oath and not violated the law of the land. I would have respected her resignation, but I do not respect her defiance of the law. I think Jesus said, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The law of the land belongs to the ‘emperor’ not any particular religious group. Kim Davis took an oath in order to work for the ‘emperor’.

She chose to work for the government and she vowed to uphold the law and serve people. When you take an oath for the ‘emperor’, you are also swearing to play by the ‘emperor’s’ rules. If you do not like the rules you try to bring about changes in the rules. You do not ignore them or disobey them. That is what Obama does and people like Kim Davis do not like it, nor do I.

Kim Davis is no Rosa Parks. It does not advance Christians in the public arena to have one of our own attempting to enforce her illegal bigotry and then being rallied around like a modern-day Joan of Arc by our religious leaders. Kim Davis is not a hero; she is a law-breaker, a criminal and a poor role model for Christians.

Kim Davis told a reporter on Tuesday that she attended, Obama's State of the Union address to provide "encouragement" to "all Christians." What is she trying to encourage us to do – revolt, disobey the law, ignore laws we do not like or disregard our promise and oaths? If Kim Davis can violate her oath then why is it wrong for Obama to do the same? If Christians are going to glorify Kim Davis for ignoring the laws she does not like then we not attack Obama when he does the same. 

The three Supreme Court Justices who dissented to marriage equality and who probably did not approve of Obama’s childish attack on the Supreme Court in the 2015 State of the Union  — Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas — showed class and maturity by not attending Obama’s address. Their absence spoke louder than Kim Davis’ presence.

Let us not forget Kim Davis does not always tell the truth, she has a tendency to embellish the truth. Do you remember she and her attorney once boasted of a private meeting with Pope Francis and he embraced her and blessed her? The Vatican later clarified the secret rendezvous was a public meet-and-greet with Pope Francis where a dozen or more participated.

If homosexuals are allowed to marry or not in no way “tramples” on my religious liberties as Kim Davis stated. I am not forced to participate in same sex marriages; I am not forced to change my religious beliefs one way or the other; my denomination is not being forced to perform same sex marriages. I’ve become increasingly convinced that there is no Biblical justification for Kim Davis’ disobedience of the law.

I stand by my claim that government officials who fail to enforce the law are not practicing civil disobedience, but instead are simply violating the rule of law and their sworn obligation to enforce it. They are not forced to hold office or work for the government. They have an option to enforcing a law they do not like — they can resign and then take their cause to the media.

I do not have to do business with someone who uses their freedom of speech to say things that disagree with my religious beliefs. Likewise, I would personally argue that Christian business owners should not have to perform services that they believe violate their religious beliefs. If I felt strongly enough about it I should be trying to get likeminded people to get the Civil Rights Law changed. Unfortunately, I do not have an alternative law that I think would work better. If not forced some business owners would discriminate against race, gender, weight, height, religion, etc.   Kim Davis is a paid government employee, paid by all taxpayers, she is does not own the County Clerks office.

Let us not forget that the Civil Rights Laws are PRIMARILY the results of Southern States (some Christians) refusing to end discrimination against blacks in business, schools and CHURCHES on their own. They had to be forced to do what was right and it was a bloody brutal battle to accomplish it.  

We Christians cannot appeal to the authority of the Constitution or laws when it suits us, but take the law into our own hands when we do not like the determinations of governmental authorities. This does not mean we should violate our consciences or the higher laws of God, but it means we suffer the consequences of conflict between faith and law respectfully, remembering that God’s kingdom is not of this world.