Mormons and Westboro Baptist Church turn on Kim Davis

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October 22, 2015 | Sex & Society

Mormons and Westboro Baptist Church turn on Kim Davis

You all remember the lovely Kim Davis, don't you? She's the Rowan County clerk who refused to sign the marriage licenses of same-sex couples, thereby denying them the legal right to wed.

A judge told her she needed to start signing the licenses. She said no. She went to jail for contempt of court. She was released once the other clerks in her office started following the judge's orders.

Of course, many people on the left said Kim Davis should be expected to do her job and didn't have the right to cry for a religious exemption. But she's also being attacked by other churchy types.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke out this week against the Kentucky-based clerk.

“Office holders remain free to draw upon their personal beliefs and motivations and advocate their positions in the public square," he argued. "But when acting as public officials they are not free to apply personal convictions — religious or other — in place of the defined responsibilities of their public offices. A county clerk’s recent invoking of religious reasons to justify refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-gender couples violates this principle.”

“We may have cultural differences, but we should not have ‘culture wars,'” added Oaks. “On the big issues … both sides should seek a balance, not a total victory. For example, religionists should not seek a veto over all non-discrimination laws that offend their religion, and the proponents of non-discrimination should not seek a veto over all assertions of religious freedom.”

This is quite the position, considering the Mormon Church was one of the major backers of the anti-gay marriage Prop 8 in California.

Even more surprising: the Westboro Baptists Church (WBC), the biggest caricature of Christian-based homophobia ever to exist, has an issue with Davis.

The WBC said Davis was nothing but a hypocrite, because she had children during an affair and has been married multiple times.

"This woman wants to say that her sin isn’t as grievous as the same-sex marriage sin," said spokesdemon Shirley Phelps-Roper. "It’s all sin. It’s all awful. But her sin enabled that sin. When you look up, and all the Christians have given over the moral high ground, what voice do they have left?"

Phelps-Roper even said Davis should protest gay marriage on her own time.

Religious infighting is such fun!

October 22, 2015 | Sex & Society

Mormons and Westboro Baptist Church turn on Kim Davis

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