I think I will tell the publisher I can no longer do my job as editor of East Penn Press and Salisbury Press because of my religious beliefs.

If I do that, I may secure a private meeting with the pope and attend the next State of the Union address.

That is exactly what Kim Davis did, the Rowan County, Ky., clerk who refused to do her job issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples citing it was against her religious beliefs. Davis took office Jan. 5, 2015, and makes an estimated $80,000. Her term ends in January 2019. She allegedly stopped issuing all marriage licenses following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex couples to marry in June 2015.

Davis was jailed for five days in September 2015.

Imagine my surprise, when I tuned in to watch the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama deliver his last State of the Union address Jan. 12, to see the camera show Davis at the event. It turns out Davis and her lawyer Mat Staver were invited guests of Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Jordan gave the tickets to the Family Research Council who then gave the tickets to Davis and her lawyer.

This on top of a meeting Davis had in Washington in September 2015 with Pope Francis. The meeting was allegedly arranged by the Vatican’s Ambassador to the United States The Rev. Carlo Maria Vigano. The pope later issued a statement explaining his meeting with Davis should not be considered a “form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects,” Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.

I am not jealous– I have no desire to meet the pope or attend the State of the Union address. I am, however, concerned about the message Davis is sending and the support she is receiving around the country. The message that if you don’t want to do your job, you don’t have to.

Davis has an interesting past which needs to be a part of the discussion. She is the daughter of Catholic parents. She has been married four times and divorced three times with an affair and pregnancy while married in between.

She joined the Apostolic Christian Church in 2011. In the church doctrine, it lists divorce as being “rare.”

However, Davis continued to issue marriage licenses to divorced individuals. Wouldn’t that be against her religious beliefs? Why now, when being told she has to issue licenses to same-sex couples does she create such an international news event? Who is she to judge law-abiding, taxpaying couples who want to get married? I don’t believe the Bible declares Davis to be the final judge and jury in these cases.

I am against politicians who decide to get in on the action during campaign time, but that is exactly what former Arkansas governor and 2016 presidential candidate Republican Mike Huckabee did. A Christian minister, Huckabee visited Davis in jail and escorted her out of jail upon her release. He started a campaign on social media, “Free Kim Davis Now” and said on his website “Exercising Religious Liberty should never be a crime in America.”

Davis chose to run for an elected office where there is a clearly defined separation between church and state. If she felt she could not perform her duties because of her religious beliefs, she should have resigned. End of conversation.

Instead, she went on this campaign using religion as the basis for not being able to perform her duties which, to me, appears somewhat hypocritical, as she chooses who can and cannot receive a marriage license.

Social media has weighed in on Davis both positively and negatively.

One of the funniest comments I read was the following scenario: Davis could divorce her husband, Huckabee could divorce his wife, Huckabee could win the election and become president, marry Davis and she would become our new First Lady.

I’ve seen stranger things happen. I’m not sure what would be worse– Kim Davis as first lady or Donald Trump as president.

Debbie Galbraith

editor

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press