If one were to liberally interpret Hebrew 11:1, one could safely say that Faith is believing in what is true and that Faith is both being convinced of the truth and the reality of unseen things as well as believing, embracing and hoping for that truth.
There will certainly never be a problem with a person having their own set of religious beliefs but when those beliefs infringe on the Constitutional rights of others; well then, all bets are off. If it is a question of faith, then step aside. If it is a matter of conscience, then step aside. If it is a matter of law, then comply.
In “What is Enlightenment”, the Philosopher Emmanuel Kant argued that although we make ourselves followers of a symbol and religious dogma everybody should be free to develop novel perspectives on moral and political questions and to be enlightened.
“But would a society of pastors, perhaps a church assembly or venerable presbytery (as those among the Dutch call themselves), not be justified in binding itself by oath to a certain unalterable symbol in order to secure a constant guardianship over each of its members and through them over the people, and this for all time: I say that this is wholly impossible. Such a contract, whose intention is to preclude forever all further enlightenment of the human race, is absolutely null and void”
“One age cannot bind itself, and thus conspire, to place a succeeding one in a condition whereby it would be impossible for the later age to expand its knowledge (particularly where it is so very important), to rid itself of errors, and generally to increase its enlightenment”
Faith without enlightenment cannot survive. The LGBT couples are not asking for Ms. Davis’s blessing, approval, to walk them down the aisle or to perform their marriages. They are asking for her to issue a license similar to the one she has received four times in order for them to perform a secular ceremony. Ms. Davis does not have the right to publicly and staunchly disregard and disrespect the rights of an entire group of Americans, based on her personal belief, misguided definition of faith and lack of enlightenment.
She was previously ordered by a federal judge to issue the licenses and upon appeal the decision was affirmed and lastly refused by the full Supreme Court. Her unwillingness to obey has landed her in contempt of court and remanded into Federal custody for the last six days.
Now, her lawyers and Liberty Counsel Founder Mat Staver, are seeking an emergency relief from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals asking it to grant Davis an exemption from the "governor's mandate that all county clerks issue marriage licenses," because "The governor's refusal to take elementary steps to protect religious liberties has now landed Kim Davis in jail”.
Her landing in jail is not a direct result of her recalcitrant and intransigent refusal to perform her sworn duty or to abide by the rule of law as expressed by the U.S. Supreme Court but it is all about the inability of another Constitutional officer to deny her the ability to obfuscate, ignore the law and violate a citizens’ right. Intransigence indeed. Although there is still one lone holdout, the county has started issuing marriages licenses.
In Judge Bunning’s ruling to follow the law: “the act of issuing a marriage license to a same sex couple merely signifies that the couple has met the legal requirements to marry. It is not a sign of moral or religious approval”. To quote Kant again: “Argue as much as you want and about what you want”, “but obey”.
Faith must be the belief in the best of each other and that must surely include our love from one another and our acceptance of each other.
I remember both the United States v. Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) as tangible assertions off my faith and belief in the Constitution and the engraved words in front of the Supreme Court of Equal Justice under the Law. Those decisions forever justified my “believing, embracing and hoping for that truth” aspect of my faith.
To quote Justice Kennedy: “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Ms. Davis, as an American, has the undeniable right to her own moral and religious beliefs but those are hers and hers alone to live by. To pretend to live a life of apostolic faith and use that faith to enforce her beliefs on others beyond the scope of her job as a public official is un-American, unethical, reprehensible and criminal. Ms. Davis's right to object does not give her the right to violate anyone else’s rights.
Simply put: she must obey and sooner or later be enlightened.
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