Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth

In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.

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According to MSNBC, the Kim Davis Case Has 'Profound First Amendment Implications'. Does It?

 We seem to be getting away from the separation of church and state." - New  Yorker Cartoon' Premium Giclee Print - James Stevenson | AllPosters.com

In 2015, Kim Davis, in her capacity as county clerk, denied two male couples marriage licenses to which they were legally entitled. They sued. That case is now working its way up the legal ladder and will no doubt finally end up in the laps of the partisan hacks of the Supreme Court.

Apparently, Davis, a self-described “Christian”, claims the right to deny rights to others based on her own religious convictions.

According to MSNBC, her case has “profound First Amendment implications.” But does it?

If Kim Davis has religious objections to so-called interracial marriage—and it's not so long since lots of people like Davis did—does she have the right to deny a marriage license to an interracial couple?

Do her arguments have any legal merit? Is there a Constitutional right to deny Constitutional rights? Does religious law overrule secular law?

In fact, Davis and her case have no implications for free exercise whatsoever. If her fundamentalist Christian beliefs mean that she cannot in good conscience issue a marriage license to a couple who are legally entitled to marry, then she cannot hold the position of county clerk because she is not qualified to hold the position. A Mormon or Muslim cannot be a bartender if his religious principles prohibit him from serving alcohol to others. If you can't do the job, you don't get the job.

Kim, this is America. Here, thank Goddess, the law of the land—secular law—overrides religious law. Here—at least until the SCOTUS Injustices get their hands on them—people like me have laws protecting us from people like you. If you don't like that, there are all sorts of places where they do things differently.

I hear Afghanistan is nice at this time of year.

 

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Poet, scholar and storyteller Steven Posch was raised in the hardwood forests of western Pennsylvania by white-tailed deer. (That's the story, anyway.) He emigrated to Paganistan in 1979 and by sheer dint of personality has become one of Lake Country's foremost men-in-black. He is current keeper of the Minnesota Ooser.

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