I realized that the media has buried the story (now that she was released from jail) but Kim Davis’ story was really significant to me. You are familiar with the story, right? If not, you can read all about it here.

I know it was significant for a lot of other people as well. It seemed to me to be just a matter of time before it came up. And it seems to me that it will be just a matter of time before it does again.

When it did happen, newscasts were broadcasting her face all over, comedians were making jokes about her, George Takei was thinking that everyone cared about him and his views, and Facebook pages were all abuzz with opinions.

I even posted my opinion to a friend’s Facebook page. Everyone was joking on Kim Davis and people of religious faith.  I posted, “I disagree. I think that she should have had the right to object on the basis of her religious beliefs.” Man o’ man, you should have seen the fallout from that! I was flamed up and down by my friend’s friends and later on by him, when I refused to give up my perspective. Of course, it boiled down to, ‘you better take my opinion and make it yours or you are not listening and just full of hate and you do not respect the rights of homosexuals!’ Their reoccurring retort was “This is not a theocracy, Therefore, she has no rights to put her faith into her job!!!!” I was quick to remind them that just because America was not a theocracy and not everyone has Judeo-Christian values, not everyone has secular values either. And those who have those Judeo-Christian values have rights to them. These people not just rights to have beliefs but to act on them too. This point fell on deaf ears.

My retort was also that everything that Martin Luther King did was illegal and that what the Nazis did was legal. This they would not accept either since MLK was fighting for civil rights and clearly, Kim Davis was the one who denied civil rights. The fact that MLK did what he did because he was listening to a higher law just as Kim Davis did and standing up for her own civil rights was totally lost on them.

Another point that I made to them was that there is an American tradition of religious exemption. They made the counterpoint that the situations were different since Kim Davis was an already elected official and therefore obligated to serve in a way that a typical citizen is not obligated to serve in the military. Sorry, but typical citizens ARE obligated to serve in the military. When we turn 18, we are required to register with Selective Service. And Kim Davis was in her position before gay marriage was even an issue. So it is not like she was elected and then decided to not serve.

For example in 1863, a Quaker named Cyrus Pringle refused to pay the money to be relieved of service duty (see the movie, The Gangs of New York for an illustration). He was incarcerated just like Kim Davis. President Lincoln (the man that Barack Obama thinks he is like, though Obama did not do ANYTHING) intervened and got him out of jail. Also, in 1917, the ‘Historic Peace Churches (Quakers, Mennonites, Amish and the Church of the Brethren), were legally exempt from military service, although the exception was not applied uniformly. This was also done during WW2. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) was established during this time and counseled people about being a conscientious objector through WW1, WW2, and Vietnam. That is just one example of providing an exemption to those who feel that their religious principles need to be accommodated. (http://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/171)

However, our nation’s history of religious exemption did not mean anything to anyone on my friend’s Facebook page, since again, according to them, this is not a Christian nation. But what really burned them up, beyond just using “I” statements and telling them we would have to agree to disagree, is when I told them I was going down to Kentucky to be at the Huckabee rally to support Kim Davis. The flame from even my friend caused me to have to, “un-friend” him.

Now, I was reluctant to go. I knew there were going to be extremists there from both sides. But I felt that it was a watershed moment and that history was being made, and that darn it, Kim Davis was in jail and needed support. When I finally got there, I was very surprised. I was surprised that there seemed to be over a thousand people who felt as passionately about supporting her and religious liberty enough to make the trip. There were many “normal” looking people there too. But the extremists were there as well. There was one guy with a bullhorn of his own who was calling the homosexuals, “perverts” who are going to hell. One woman had another sign that really made my skin crawl. It read, “You better be RIGHT or you are going to be LEFT”. Implying that if you do not accept the conservative right’s view, then you will be left behind during God’s judgement. There were many gay marriage supporters too, calling people names as well.

Being that I support gay marriage but I believe in a person’s right to religious exemption, I found all of it disturbing. I felt like I was back in college where I was too liberal for the “real” Christians and too conservative for the “peace and love” liberals. And when I felt like that, I thought of Jesus. He loved all people, whether they were Jews or (gasp) Samaritans or Romans or anything else. He loved them with His time and with His words and with His compassion. This of course, made the ultra -religious people very angry. Yet, He stood for something definite that caused Him to be ostracized by the “liberal elite” too and He refused to sin and He was willing to call sin, sin. And that made me think that I was actually in the right place, not on one side or the other.

Luke 6:27-36:  “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

—————————————–W.