So we all know about this clerk in Kentucky who has now been jailed for refusing to do her job and issue marriage licenses. I think we all know she is not by her actions going to overturn any laws or establish the principle that a government employee can refuse to do a part of their job they feel is in conflict with their religion.
What I'm kind of curious about is what's on this woman's mind. As I write this, she's in a jail cell and she ain't gettin' out until she backs down on this position or quits or something. I keep seeing different scenarios here that are possible…
- She actually thinks she's going to change some laws or policies or something. She's wrong but she actually thinks that.
- She's the unwitting puppet of the lawyers advising her who see a chance to serve their political goals or financial ones and don't really have the best interests of their client in mind.
- She's loving the attention, the fact that she's famous, the fact that so many people consider her a hero…and she hasn't figured out the endgame yet.
- She thinks she has a future in right-wing media or politics and can use this publicity as a stepping stone to something she wants to do besides issue licenses all day.
- She has no idea where she's going with this. She earnestly believes what she believes and is convinced that if she holds to those beliefs, it will somehow work out well for her in the end.
Any others? Those are the ones I came up with. I'm leaning to #3 at the moment but I think it could be any of them. And of course, we have Mike Huckabee out there claiming that people in this country are now being jailed for being Christian. I don't for a minute believe he thinks that; only that it may rile some people up to the point of supporting him.
Someone needs to quote a Jon Stewart line to these people: "You've confused a war on your religion with not always getting everything you want."