Dear Editor: I am writing in response to the letter about the “Courage of Kim Davis” (Readers’ Forum, Sept. 19).
In the past century, a tradition of heroes who defied the law and went to prison over matters of conscience has arisen. Starting in the early 20th century with the American Suffragettes, others such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., inspired important change. Their civil disobedience created social change and the doing away of injustices.
But every time someone gets press for having defied a law and going to jail, is this person a hero?
Kim Davis defied the law, spent a few days in jail and got an incredible amount of press. Does this mean she is a hero? No, it means that she rode on the wave of reaction against the recent legalization of same-sex marriage. She got a tremendous amount of gain and little loss. She did not have to resign her position but continues to receive her $80,000 salary. She has had the self-adulating experience of being on national TV, flanked by Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum.
Science does not always parallel traditional religious belief. The idea that the Earth revolved around the Sun, a belief in opposition to traditional belief that the universe revolved around the Earth, was declared heretical by religious leaders of the time. Continuing forward to the present day, traditional believers rant against science. Homosexuality has long been a mystery; in recent decades, science has started to tell us that people are hard-wired for sexual orientation before birth. A slowly accepted concept, it is presently decried by a minority of believers, especially the fundamentalists in many religions. However, science stands firm; there are some things that are hard-wired before birth and cannot be changed – sexual orientation, eye color, the dominant side of the brain. This means that no one can choose to be gay or straight, to have blue eyes, or to be right-handed.
Kim Davis belongs to the minority who use their religious beliefs to deny this science and to get attention for themselves. Davis is one of these people, carefully calculating her moves to get the most press and the least inconvenience for herself. She is not courageous, not at $80,000 a year.
We always need heroes. But Kim Davis is not one.
Mildred Burke
Dear Editor: I am responding to letter of Victor Enemuo (“Courage of Kim Davis”) and the column of Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk (“Jailed for Defending Marriage”).
Both Mr. Enemuo and Father Pacholczyk praise Kim Davis for refusing to issue marriage licenses in Rowan County, Ky., to same-sex couples. They say she is standing up for her beliefs and for traditional marriage. As Father Pacholczyk rightly points out… “the ground beneath her feet abruptly shifted…” when the Supreme Court issued its decision this year that validated gay marriage nationally. Davis was the county clerk before this decision was ratified by a majority of the Supreme Court.
But from 1950 to 1967, county clerks in 14 states, including Kentucky, had the right to refuse to issue marriage certificates to black and white people before the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision overturned the ban on interracial marriage. Those county clerks also said they were following their moral principles. Would we have supported a similar moral position of a clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, prior to 1967? The Supreme Court makes decisions that some agree with, and some disagree with. Certainly, the position the Court took in Loving v. Virginia in 1967 was the right decision.
Davis is a well-compensated federal employee. She can either choose to follow the law of the land, resign or allow her colleagues to issue marriage certificates. If we respect the highest court in America, we should respect this decision, although we may not agree with it.
SELVIN GOOTAR
Woodside