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‘Ms Davis’s behavior signals something important about the place of sexual minorities in the United States.’ Photograph: Timothy D. Easley/AP
‘Ms Davis’s behavior signals something important about the place of sexual minorities in the United States.’ Photograph: Timothy D. Easley/AP

Kim Davis's denial of same-sex marriage licenses is not what Jesus would do

This article is more than 8 years old

While Jesus opened himself to be changed by people who were different, the Rowan County clerk is using religion as a social bludgeon

The resistance of Kim Davis, the country clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, to the law of the land would be funny if it weren’t sincere. After bucking various court decisions in recent months, Ms Davis has yet again declined to administer marriage licenses to couples of the same sex. When asked by what authority she hoards the licenses, Ms Davis responded: “God’s.” What makes this position so compelling is not its simplicity, but its complexity. When Ms Davis invokes the Christian God or any form of divine authority to justify discrimination, she is saying that the thrust of her actions originate in a force and entity beyond this visible realm.

We Americans have a long tradition of using religion as a social bludgeon. During the era of chattel enslavement, many white landowners argued that the abolition of black enslavement would upend the created order. During Jim Crow, racist politicians, clerics and civic leaders argued that God desired racial segregation. Today, many of the same arguments are being made by Christians in regards to marriage equality.

“Since God created man and woman, and the Church has never supported rites or rights for uniting same-sex couples in matrimony,” the line of reasoning goes, “we can’t in good conscience amend a sacrament.” And yet, like with many sacraments of the Church and laws in the United States, our understanding of them evolve, change and deepen.

Just as it was with those who justified black enslavement, Jim Crow and other horrific forms of institutional violence in the name of the Christian God, so it is with Ms Davis. For some reason unbeknownst to me, she is entitled to force God’s authority down the throats of unwilling recipients. Her beliefs, however sincerely they may be held, are antithetical to the spirit of Christ.

While Jesus opened himself to be changed by other people unlike himself, Kim Davis is closing herself off to the possibility of allowing “the other” to transform her. And this, according to various Christian marriage liturgies, is a mockery of the spirit of matrimony. In it, the partners offer themselves to one another, opening themselves to the risk that comes with loving and being loved. In vows of vulnerability, the two commit to seeking out the best interest of the one, reflecting what they’ve experienced in the love of Jesus Christ.

Ms Davis’ behavior signals something important about the place of sexual minorities in the United States: our flourishing can’t be taken for granted. While there have been momentous strides made in recent years regarding social visibility and equal protection under the law of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, genderqueer, intersex, asexual and queer people, these strides have not been enough to convince the whole of society that non-cisgender, non-heterosexuals are just as deserving of the dignity afforded straight people. This forces us to wonder why a person like Ms Davis continues to be charged with the public trust, especially when her personal wishes outweigh the common good. What does it say about our nation that someone like her has not yet faced a more forceful reprimand by the judicial system?

While same-sex couples are facing dehumanization and embarrassment at the behest of Ms Davis, they could be enjoying the fruits of hard-fought battles against institutionalized heterosexism. No couple seeking the mutual enjoyment, vulnerability and delight of marriage should be subjected to the circus of stubborn Christian fundamentalism. Instead, Ms Davis would do well to celebrate and support these couples, mindful that the very God she invokes has no interest in her demeaning tactics.

At the heart of the Christian faith is the reality that the whole world – human animals, non-human animals, plants, bodies of water – is profoundly rooted in self-giving love. Ms Davis’ understanding of that basic catechetical truth has somehow been blurred over the years. As her dilemma continues to unfold, I hope she will allow the same-sex couples whose lives she is disrupting to draw her deeper into the mystery of love.

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