It seems that common sense goes out the window when conflict arises between the law and the religious convictions of those serving the law. The woman tasked with issuing marriage licenses in the Rowan county clerks office in the American state of Kentucky is refusing to do so - on moral grounds.
The American High Court recently handed down a judgement making it legal for same sex couples to marry and Kim Davis, the Rowan registrar is refusing to process marriage certificate applications to gay and lesbian couples because she says this conflicts with her religious beliefs - that marriage is God's union only between a man and a woman.
Not surprisingly, County officials have ducked for cover and left her to face the music alone. As an employee of the county, it would be usual for officials to stand her down or move her to another department when a morals issue arises. In extreme cases, she could be dismissed for not upholding the law that applies to an official of public standing, but it seems the world of officialdom wants to stand clear of moral issues.
" God's moral law conflicts with my job duties ", she told US District court judge David Bunning in Kentucky. He promptly jailed her for contempt of court - and now this case in an obscure backwoods town is headline news across the entire world.
Comparisons have been made to Martin Luther King's battles to gain civil rights for blacks in the American south. His march in Selma was against the law in that it lacked a permit from the authorities, but the brutality of the response went beyond the expectations from civilized law enforcement agencies. Beating people senseless with truncheons and allowing savage dogs to maul them is way out of step with the standards of common decency.
That was then - and this is now ! There is still a degree of racial discrimination in many parts of America, but a black person can not be denied the right to vote and the vast majority of " Jim Crow " laws no longer apply. The battle for equality still has a way to go to reach finality.
The highest court in the land has spoken on this gay marriage issue. A lot of people disagree with it's finding, but this marriage license refusal in Rowan county is simply a person tilting against windmills - and the vast majority of the nation is obeying that law. In the Rowan county office other clerks are processing marriage license applications for gays - and normalcy has returned.
There will now be a rush to smooth ruffled feathers. No doubt Kim Davis will be quietly released on the basis of " time served " for her offence, but if she still refuses to change her stance a face saving change of official designation will probably be necessary in the Rowan county office structure - and officialdom will have to be involved in sorting out that mess.
Sooner or later this gay marriage issue will reach finality here in Australia. It may be settled by a vote in parliament, or it may go to the people by way of a referendum, as was the deciding factor in Ireland. No doubt there will be holdouts who refuse to accept a new legal definition of marriage and it is quite possible that this Rowan county dispute may be replicated somewhere in one of our states.
At the time, they generate angst and public interest, but that quickly fades from view. The world we live in is subjected to constant change. A year from now issues that seemed world shattering will have simply become part of the background - and we will wonder what all the fuss was about !
Remeber that first Sydney Gay Pride MardiGras on June 24, 1978. The authorities refused the LGBT community a license for the parade and they held it anyway - with some baton wielding cops trying to drag performers off the passing floats while other uniformed officers stood with the cheering crowds lining the sidewalks. Today the police march in empathy with this event that is covered by the media on a world wide basis - and who would have predicted that as a likely outcome for the future - back in 1978 ?
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