I sat and watched for the last couple of days this epic battle between some county clerk in Kentucky and the court system. The county clerk says she's got religious empowerment, and she just can't issue marriage licenses to gay couples. The court system, via a US federal judge, has issued out the ruling that there's no choice in the matter, and demands she come to court.
Personally, I wouldn't normally care much for the story or the events unfolding....but there's this odd factor which bothers me.
You see...when you go and do some public service job...whether elected or hired....your religious background, tendencies, and interpretation of some Biblical factor....makes your service to the public a question mark.
I could walk in and present myself as a heavy drinker or a guy who has relations with dozens of women monthly, and you as the public servant of whatever function you serve.....might decide that your holy-attitude needs to invoke rule X, Y or Z....thus denying me service. You see, it's not just a gay thing or such.....you could invoke any interpretation and just say these verses are enough to deny service.
If there were an alternate deal.....like I wanted a barber to cut my hair but he decides that my big hooter mermaid tattoo situation offends him, well, it's not all bad because I can find another barber in ten minutes.
If I walked into a Burger King and they wanted to deny me a sausage and biscuit because I wore flip-flops, well, I could go down the street and find a McDonalds operation who doesn't care about my flip-flop situation and serve up a sausage and biscuit.
In the case of the county clerk....where license are issued via one particular person for the whole county, there's a problem for me to go and find another clerk in the same county.
In this case, this gal's religious convictions are such....that she might want to find another line of work.
In our modern world, there are hundreds....maybe even thousands....of moral decisions made and it reflects upon character. For a heavily defined religious person....there's probably a minimum of two-hundred 'flaws' where you might be on the no-go or unacceptable list. In the world of capitalism and commerce, it doesn't matter much....there's always an alternate place for service. But when there's NO alternate deal.....your public service situation is called into question. This gal has a profession where she can't perform at the level required. My humble guess is that the federal judge will offer one chance to grasp the big-picture, and she won't understand that.....he'll ever remove her from position, or put her into some home-arrest deal until she cooperates.
