It is perfectly fine for an owner of a private business to decline to participate in an event or produce a product if it requires violating one’s religious beliefs. It’s another thing entirely for a person who works for the government — on behalf of the taxpayer and paid by taxpayer funds — to decline to do the job required of them.
Kim Davis is no hero. Her job is to process marriage licenses. If she felt she could no longer consciously do her job, she had an obligation to step aside. No only did she not do that, she barred the rest of her staff from executing their duties as well and ceased issuing all marriage licenses. A reasonable accommodation could have been made for Ms. Davis by allowing her other assistants to process that with which she disagreed. But she chose all-or-nothing, to stop doing her job entirely. For that, she should resign.
Ms. Davis was perfectly free to choose not to process the licenses with which she had disagreement, but in making that choice, the only logical and honorable conclusion was resignation — because she could no longer fulfill the oath she swore to when she was elected.
Not only is her judgment on the matter incorrect, but she is also mucking up the opportunity for those who deserve an honest day in court when they have faced persecution for their beliefs in the private sector.
As stated by Judge Andrew Napolitano, “The free exercise clause guarantees individuals the lawful ability to practice their religion free from government interference. It does not permit those in government to use their offices to deny the rights of others who reject their beliefs. That is the lesson for Kim Davis”.
I totally and completely agree with your rationale regarding the Kim Davis controversy. If an individual accepts a government paid position then they are bound to execute their duties and responsibilities according to the law even if it violates their religious beliefs. Although I respect Davis for maintaining her deep religious beliefs the honorable thing for her to have done was resign. Now that would have spoken volumes. I must say however that there is a war being waged by leftist non believers with ACLU support against people of faith in the PRIVATE SECTOR. Hobby Lobby, Chick- fil A and some baker I believe in Minnesota come to mind. In fact I just heard a few days ago that a woman was suing a barber in Philadelphia because he didn’t cut women’s, hair not because of gender but because he never did and didn’t know how to. Can you imagine if he was forced to cut her hair and it came out terribly ? The woman in question would undoubtedly sue him for incompetence. In the orthodox Jewish religion some men believe that they cannot touch a woman (even shaking her hand) who is not their wife or daughter. So how can you force these people to vi8olate their sacred religious beliefs without violating their religious rights ?
The barber in question had to pay a $750 fine for the incident! Absurd! The private sector is indeed under attack and it is particularly egregious. Religious liberty must always be fought for. There’s a reason why it is part of the 1st Amendment. I don’t have any good answers, because in many of these cases, the government has severely overstepped their boundaries (IMO). I applaud those who have the fortitude to try to fight back.