Davis using Supreme Court as Hail Mary attempt

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Last week I wrote a column about Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who has made national headlines in recent weeks for defying the Supreme Court’s June ruling that same-sex couples have a nationwide right to marriage. I hoped it would be the last time that I had to address the subject, as a federal judge ruled that Davis had to start issuing licenses and an appeals court upheld that decision.

And yet here I am writing about this same subject because simpleminded people always refuse to acknowledge defeat, and that just maybe, they have a narrow view of the world.

In my previous column I wrote that same-sex marriages end in divorce less often than straight marriages, that children of same-sex couples are no more likely to suffer from significant personality flaws than children of straight couples and that yes, the Bible condemns homosexuality, but it also condemns eating shellfish, something that almost no American anywhere seems to object to.

I also wrote that according to the most fundamental interpretation of the law, Davis has no legal leg to stand on, as her stated religious objections don’t cover for the fact that she is a public official obligated to follow the law.

Because her attempts at every level of the court system have failed so far, Davis is making a Hail Mary attempt by appealing to the Supreme Court to intervene and protect her so called “religious freedom.” It’s hard to imagine that the Supreme Court would undermine their own ruling, making this arguably the most predictable judicial outcome in recent memory.

Now all I can do is give a quick lesson on how those who fight progress are viewed when the history books are written.

About a century ago, interracial marriages between blacks and whites were illegal in more than half the states in the U.S. By the time the landmark Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case rolled around in 1967, 17 states still outlawed the practice, but found their laws invalidated by this new ruling.

Images portraying opponents of interracial marriage legalization can be found with a quick Google Images search. You’ll quickly find pictures of social conservatives, many of which were Christians, holding up signs saying, “Stop the race mixing,” and “Race mixing is communism.” Opponents at the time said that marriage between blacks and whites was immoral, unnatural, and would produce children plagued with problems far beyond repair.

And yet here we are decades later with interracial marriage a social norm. Our society hasn’t decayed because a black man and white woman can fall in love and build a life together, and even the president of our country is of mixed racial descent.

Our society almost universally looks back on these opponents and thinks of them as nothing more than prejudiced bigots using their religion as a disingenuous excuse for their behavior. In time, Davis and others like her will be viewed the same way.

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