America Now Jailing Christians for Religious Convictions

When the Supreme Court outlawed bans on same sex marriage in June, critics predicted it would only be a matter of time before the federal government began arresting Christians for holding true to their religious convictions. But even the most dire prognosticators assumed it would be years before America – a land founded on the premise of religious freedom – would reach that dire scenario.

Sadly, it only took three months.

Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge David L. Bunning threw Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis in jail for defying a federal order to issue gay marriage licenses. Davis’ term is “indefinite,” which essentially means that she holds the key to her own cell. If she wants to go free, all she has to do is renounce her religious opposition to gay marriage and begin issuing the licenses like a good little servant of tyranny.

“The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order,” Judge Bunning said. “If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems.”

The Kim Davis saga has become one of the top stories in the country, and it has divided Americans on all sides of the gay marriage issue. While she is clearly the enemy of the liberal LGBT movement, even some conservatives believe she should put her religious beliefs aside and do the job as prescribed by law. For others, it is the law itself that is the problem.

“Today, for the first time in history, an American citizen has been incarcerated for having the belief of conscience that marriage is the union of one man and one woman,” said Davis’ lawyer, Roger Gannam, after the hearing.

Davis herself said simply, “I didn’t have to think about it. There was no choice there.”

The White House has remained largely silent on the case, but Press Secretary Josh Earnest did address Davis’ arrest at a press conference Thursday. “Every public official in our democracy is subject to the rule of law,” Earnest said. “No one is above the law. That applies to the president of the United States and that applies to the county clerk of Rowan County, Ky. as well.”

Ha! It takes a special kind of gall to invoke the president when delivering such a sentiment. No wonder Republican Senator Ted Cruz was inspired to issue a statement saying, “Where is the call for President Obama to resign for defying our immigration laws, our welfare reform laws, and even his own Obamacare?“

Oh, well, the law only applies when it lines up with prevailing liberal ideology, Ted. As a lawyer and constitutional scholar yourself, you should know that.

It’s fascinating to see how many Americans are screaming at Davis: “DO YOUR JOB!” Keep in mind that Davis is an elected official, which is more than can be said for the five Supreme Court Justices who thwarted the will of the people in June. Maybe those five should have “DONE THEIR JOB” by following the Constitution instead of embarking on a liberal crusade from inside their secret chambers.

The real tragedy here isn’t Judge Bunning’s ruling – the court is fully within its rights to enforce the law. The tragedy is that it ever got this far to begin with. The Supreme Court decided that – somehow – gay rights were more important than the freedoms protected by the First Amendment. They set the stage for an inevitable clash between Christians and the LGBT movement, and Davis is the first casualty of that clash. She won’t likely be the last.