Christian Witness
Christian Rebellion
Self-Imposed Exile
The Amish are biblical literalists who believe The Gospel is a clarion call to total pacifism.
"Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy," A Glimpse Of True Christianity
http://paxonbothhouses.
http://paxonbothhouses.
"Why The Bible Belt Is Delusional"
Kim Davis' determination to conduct her office as a theological satrapy is not "religious resistance" but refusal to perform her job according to requirements set forth by all three branches of government, including The Supreme Court.
"American Theocracy," By Kevin Phillips
God may not approve The New Sodom, but Ms. Davis' personal disapproval - and consequent refusal to perform the duties of public office - is un-American.
"You cannot serve two masters."
Since when is this a secret?
In conscience, Ms. Davis should quit her post rather than cling to an agency whose essential structure -- at least in her view -- is "enemy ground."
Davis' determination to continue operating on enemy ground is as sensible as staking out a homeplace in Hell.
Yes, all citizens are entitled to operate within The System but only when they operate by The System's rules.
If change is to occur, it will come through participation in the same political process that -- over decades -- slowly mustered a majority for gay rights.
Instantaneous "miracle-working" is not The American Way.
America is about hard work and "playing by the rules," even when those rules leave no legal alternative but self-imposed exile.
The Tyranny of False Alternatives represents a dichotomous choice: either "Goliath" imposes his unjust will, or "David" Davis -- in single combat -- will, by striking government right between the eyes, win the day for Conscience and Goodness.
The tertium quid that lies behind The Tyranny of False Alternatives is that Davis -- as an American, as a civil servant, and as a dissenting Christian -- should do what the Amish have always done: bring exile on herself.
The Evangelical Persecution Complex (Projection's Finest Hour?)
http://paxonbothhouses.
"The Politics Of Horror In Conservative Evangelicalism," '09 Outstanding Academic Title"
http://paxonbothhouses.
The core intent of False Alternatives (at least in the "Christian" world) is to inflame sexual politics to camouflage the age-old normalization of belligerence, almost all of which is unnecessary, unjustified and counterproductive.
Hobgobbledygook: The Motive Force Behind Perpetual Warfare
In the modern world, the counterproductivity of belligerence has morphed into self-destruction.
Marshall McLuhan's epitomizes this transposition: "To the spoils belongs the victor."
If Ms. Davis and other bible bangers were to employ Christian conscience in such a way that the world would actually become a better place they would "follow the money" and re-channel their sexual grievance to the unconscionable imposition of taxes in support of global murder and mayhem, most of it in service of capitalist profiteers.
People of conscience should be able to withhold that portion of federal taxes devoted to The War Machine.
Again, the Amish have shown the way.
"Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy," A Glimpse Of True Christianity
"Plutocracy Triumphant"
Cartoon Compendium
"Politics And Economics: The 101 Courses You Wish You Had"
"Politics And Economics: The 101 Courses You Wish You Had"
"Pope Francis Links"
"Pope Francis Links"
"Do War's Really Defend America's Freedom?"
(Homage Marine Commandant, Major General Smedley Butler)
Protesters against same-sex marriage hold signs in front of the federal courthouse September 3, 2015, in Ashland, Ky.
When 'religious liberty' is code for intolerance
Leonard Pitts
The Miami Herald
"To me,” she said in a statement, “this has never been a gay or lesbian issue. It is about marriage and God’s word. It is a matter of religious liberty.”
It’s telling that Kim Davis chose those words to defend herself last week. Davis, the clerk of Rowan County, a rural, impoverished and previously obscure patch of northeastern Kentucky, made international headlines for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She had, should it need saying, not a legal leg to stand on, the U.S. Supreme Court having ruled in June that states may not bar such couples from marrying. On Thursday, Davis was jailed for contempt. The thrice-divorced clerk had said she was acting upon “God’s authority” and fighting for “religious liberty.”
The political right has long had a genius for wrapping noxious notions in code that sounds benign and even noble. The “Patriot Act,” “family values,” and “right to work.” are fruits of that genius. “Religious liberty” is poised to become their latest masterpiece, the “states’ rights” of the battle for a more homophobic America.
A few months ago, you will recall, “religious liberty” was claimed as the rationale for failed laws in Indiana and Arkansas that would have empowered businesses to refuse service to gay people. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Georgia lawmakers will introduce a new “religious liberty” bill there next year. Last week, Mike Huckabee praised Davis for “standing strong for religious liberty.” Chris Christie, while conceding the need to obey the law, spoke of the need to “protect religious liberty,”
As if religious liberty were seriously in danger in one of the most religiously tolerant nations on Earth.
Of course, like all good code, this one hides its true meaning in the banality of its words. Most of us would likely support the right of Native Americans to ingest peyote in their religious rituals, or Jewish or Muslim inmates to grow beards. Some of us even believe no religious order can be required to ordain a woman, admit a congregant of a proscribed race or, yes, perform a same-sex marriage. We understand a core American principle that, within certain broad parameters, one’s right to practice one’s faith as one pleases is inviolable.
But “religious liberty” as defined by Davis and her supporters is about what happens in the wide world beyond those parameters, about whether there exists a right to deny ordinary, customary service and claim a religious basis for doing so. And there does not.
Davis is wrong for the same reasons Muslim cabbies in Minneapolis-St. Paul were wrong some years ago when they claimed a right to not carry passengers who had alcohol on them and Christian pharmacists were wrong when they claimed a right not to fill birth control prescriptions. You have a right to your religious conscience. You do not have a right to impose your conscience upon other people.
And if conscience impinges that heavily upon your business or your job, the solution is simple: Sell the business or quit the job. Otherwise, serve your customers and keep your conscience out of their affairs.
Taken to its logical conclusion, it is not just gay men and lesbians who are threatened by the “religious liberty” movement, but all of us. Is it too much of a stretch to suggest that most of us probably run afoul of somebody’s reading of their religion in some way or another? Who would welcome a future where you couldn’t just enter a place and expect service but, rather, must read the signs to determine if it caters to people of your sexual orientation, marital status, religion or race?
We tried something like that once. It didn’t work.
Sadly, if people like Kim Davis have their way, we may be required to try it again. They call it “religious liberty.”
It looks like intolerance from here.
Tribune Content Agency
Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald.
lpitts@miamiherald.com
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