Today is Constitution Day. This is when we celebrate the date, back in 1787, when delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia. Our Constitution is currently under attack by conservatives who really believe religion should trump the document of democracy and equality. We need to let our members of Congress know that this is a wrong move.
Back in June the so-called “First Amendment Defense Act” was introduced:
Rowan County (KY) Clerk Kim Davis was jailed on Thursday 9/3 after being found in contempt of court for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in her county. She previously lost all of her appeals including a last ditch effort to have the US Supreme Court issue a stay. Of course reaction by the religious right is apocalyptic. The reality is Davis was jailed for not following the law – not for her religious beliefs.
From the Friendly Atheist:
Federal court Judge David L. Bunning ruled against Rowan County Kentucky clerk of courts Kim Davis, Wednesday. Davis had refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the June 26th US Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges decision. The main points are that Davis’ religious freedom isn’t taken away in doing her sworn duty as clerk but her ‘no marriage licenses’ policy injures all residents of Rowan county.
The 28 page decision is full of delicious statements and rebuttals against Kim Davis’ lame arguments against doing her sworn duty. Here are some highlights:
During the recent firestorm over state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA) like those passed by Indiana and the use of them to discriminate against LGBT people, one of my conservative friends pointed out many liberals and the ACLU supported the federal RFRA passed in 1993. He implied they were being hypocrites. Late last week the ACLU formally repudiated its support of the RFRA.
The ACLU provided some of the same reasons to remove their support of the RFRA that has been mentioned in previous posts about this issue:
A committee of the Southern Baptist Convention has published a pamphlet teaching members how to subvert civil laws against discrimination. The main idea is to pretend all church employees are ministers so they can use the ministerial exemption.
Friendly Atheist has the info on the pamphlet:
Last month, as co-chair of the Secular Coalition for Ohio, I had a letter to the editor printed in the Columbus Dispatch about the firestorm over the attempt by Indiana to discriminate against LGBTQ people by using a Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Someone who opposed my letter responded to that letter by sending a typed letter to my house. Below is the letter in question and my response.
It should be noted that my response was mailed to the address on the envelope but was returned back to me, unopened – addressee unknown. It really doesn’t help your cause if you use a fake address or refuse to be responded to using the same method you used to rant at me.