When the U.S. Supreme Court approved same-sex marriage June 26, it was only a matter of time before the religious right tested the ruling. Refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses now under federal law, U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning ordered Rowan County, Ky., Clerk Kim Davis to jail Sept. 3. With other Rowan County personnel issuing the license, Bunning decided to release Davis from jail today. Giving the religious right a shot in the arm, GOP’s evangelical candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, jumped all over the airwaves, protesting what he calls the Supreme Court’s war against Christians. Davis’s own attorney, Roger Gannam, insisted Davis held on to her Christian principles, something she contends allow her to refuse to marry homosexuals or lesbians. Huckabee called the Supreme Court’s June 26 ruling on same-sex marriage “judicial tyranny.”
Bunning jailed Davis Sept. 3 for contempt, failing to following the Supreme Court’s ruling requiring city, county and state courts to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Davis insisted the Supreme Court ruling violated her Christian principles that she applies at work or elsewhere. Davis’s attorney maintains that it’s Davis’s right under the First Amendment to practice her faith without compromise while performing her everyday work as Rowan County Clerk. Gannam’s argument suggests that one’s religious convictions supercede the U.S. Constitution. “It’s six days too late,” said Gannam, referring to the Davis’s time-served in jail. “But we’re glad to report Judge Bunning has ordered her release early Tuesday,” said Gannam, raining on Huckabee’s plans to hold a publicity stunt outside Bunning’s courtroom. Huckabee appeals to voters devoted to God’s law.
No government employee, elected official, member of law enforcement or the judiciary can rewrite the U.S. Constitution to make the bible the law of the land. For evangelicals, like Huckabee or Davis, they seeks to turn the U.S. Constitution on it head, claiming that God’s law supercedes the U.S. law. “People have a right to practice their religion,” New Jersey Gov. and GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie told “Fox and Friends” today. Christie, a former U.S. Attorney and governor, knows the meaning of a Constitutional Oath but pounced the opportunity to win over evangelical voters, giving his poor showing in the polls. “For the first time, we’re seeing a Christian thrown in a jail for standing up for her faith,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), also a GOP candidate, told
Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, again pandering to evangelicals, hoping to save his flagging campaign.
Proving that Fox News is not a news network but a propaganda channel for the GOP’s most extreme right wing, Kelly proves why Rupert Murdoch’s network is neither fair nor balanced. “Now I’ve said what I would do with this woman is to move her to another job where this in snot an objection for her. Because you have to follow the law—and the law has to be these licenses to be issues,” said Christie, hedging his bets. Fox News no doubt plans to celebrate with Christian evangelicals over Davis’s release from jail. Instead of misleading viewers that Davis had a right to take her Christian beliefs into the work place to violate the U.S. Constitution. There’s really nothing ambiguous about the Constitution’s Separation Clause, requiring religion to be kept out of the public square. Keeping one’s religious views in Church or at home is fundamental to U.S. Constitutional law.
Telling Fox News viewers, by parading biased experts that share the evangelical point of view, that they have a First Amendment right to practice their faith at their jobs in the public square, completely distorts the law. Davis had no right under U.S. law to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples once the Supreme Court ruled June 26. She could have stepped down or appointed an underling to sign the licenses, to avoid her contempt of court and incarceration. Using Davis to whip up evangelicals during an election years shows the extremes to which politicians go to get votes. Huckabee’s plan to stage a PR event outside Bunning’s courtroom, accusing the Supreme Court of “judicial tyranny” shows how off-the-wall politicians go to stay relevant. Huckabee’s public accusations of “judicial tyranny” show the extent to his desperation due to recent presidential polls.
Turning Davis’s Sept. 3 incarceration by Judge Bunning into a religious conservative cause célèbre exposes the ugly truth about desperate politicians. “What we’ve seen here is the overreach of the judiciary,” Huckabee told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week,” Like other politicians, Huckabee likes to seize his chance to grab headlines. He knows the Supreme Court isn’t about “judicial tyranny” or “overreach,” it’s about applying the U.S. Constitution to all citizens, including the one’s the religious right would deny Constitutional rights. “I’ll tell you, I stand with Kim Davis unequivocally. I stand with her or anyone else that government is trying to persecute for stand up for their faith,” said Cruz, who, like Huckabee, likes to manipulate less informed voters about the Constitution’s role of religion in society. Pandering for votes can’t be the only reason to feed the public nonsense.
