Why has Kim Davis not been fired yet?
If I had tried to imagine the most absurd display possible, I doubt I could have topped yesterday's reality.
OK, I know that's not very Christian of me. Luckily, I'm an atheist. But, really, if we are being honest, who doesn't want to punch Kim Davis in the face by now?
Davis was released from jail yesterday, NOT because she finally agreed to issue marriage licenses to gay couples (like a sane human) but because the judge decided to let her out since her deputy clerks were following his orders in her absence. Davis was jailed last week for refusing to issue marriage licenses — even after being directly ordered to do so by the SCOTUS. Davis claims that doing so would violate her right to religious freedom.
Now, much has been written about Davis, and I think it's important to note that her weight and appearance have nothing to do with anything. Furthermore, while it's the height of hypocrisy to deny gay couples the right to marry based on a religion that would also condemn you for fornication, adultery, and multiple divorces, her past is only relevant insofar as it illustrates her hypocrisy. Davis can marry and divorce 100 men and that still won't be the problem — the problem is not her personal life but her refusal to stop imposing her personal religious beliefs on others. She has the right to believe whatever the hell she wants, but we also have the right to a government that is free from established religion; allowing government employees to enforce their personal religious beliefs in government roles creates a de facto government religion. And that's why it's obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that Davis is the oppressor here, not the oppressed.
Because I was trapped in an infusion center yesterday next to a woman who was watching the news, I had the misfortune of watching Davis' release from jail on TV. From beginning to end, it was a shitshow. Davis came out like a conquering warrior while "The Eye of the Tiger" played (note: The band is pissed) and then she cried tears of joy over the "support" she's received and led the cheering crowd in what appeared to be a brief sermon. If I had tried to imagine the most absurd display possible, I doubt I could have topped yesterday's reality.
While your guess is as good as mine, I doubt Davis will last a week without interfering with the marriage licenses being issued by her deputies. It's clear that she truly believes that she is doing "God's work" by denying others their legal rights simply because her religious beliefs conflict with those rights, and the support of the extreme right-wing fringe has only bolstered her in her delusions. No matter how much criticism (and, you know, facts) we throw at her, she will dismiss it. We are, after all, just sinners who don't understand the word of God.
Of course, now that your religious beliefs are a perfectly acceptable reason not to do your job, there has already been a rash of similar cases in the media. Soon, your flight attendant's religious belief may prevent you from drinking alcohol on a plane (wait, isn't that interfering with my freedom from religion?) and life simply will not be worth living. While the flight attendant in that case was correctly suspended for her refusal to perform one of the essential duties of her job, she has filed a complaint in federal court, and the future of your right to booze it up on an airplane hangs in the balance.
But, on the plus side, if you ever need a job that will allow you to do absofuckinglutely nothing, I hear that the Rowan County Clerk's office in Kentucky is a great place to work.
