On November 12, 2012, a week after Americans re-elected Barack Obama to the White House, Dr. Paul Kengor mournfully — and presciently — declared a sunset for the culture of life in the Untied [sic] States. He wrote:
The battle to end legal abortion in America is over. The election and reelection of Barack Obama has made Roe v. Wade a permanent part of American life, with tens to hundreds of millions of unborn babies the coming casualties. Barack Obama got two Supreme Court picks in his first term and will get more in his second.
But it’s worse than that. All of us will now be handmaidens in this destruction. In the not-so-distant past, abortion advocates didn’t demand that all of us forcibly pay for their abortions—and for Planned Parenthood, contraception, and embryo destruction. They weren’t demanding that taxpayer-funded contraception become a new “entitlement.” That, too, has changed under Barack Obama, and we will not be able to conscientiously object as faithful [Christians]….
This is a devastating defeat. The heights of abortion absurdity will be thrust to once unimaginable depths.
Little did Dr. Kengor know then what we now know that the “heights of abortion” involved the harvesting of organs and tissue from still-alive aborted late-term babies in the taxpayer-funded slaughter-houses of Planned Parenthood. (See “Planned Parenthood horror: Baby’s heart beats during harvesting of his brain”)
Nor did Dr. Kengor anticipate that 2½ years after, the U.S. Supreme Court would rule that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right. (See “Judicial Tyranny: Dissenting opinions on Supreme Court’s ruling on homosexual marriage”)
But where Dr. Kengor was wrong was in predicting that “we will not be able to conscientiously object as faithful” Christians. Faithful Christians are doing just that, most notably a brave Kentucky county clerk named Kim Davis.
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis
Four days ago, on September 3, 2015, Kentucky Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples.
Davis has refused to issue marriage licenses for two months since the Supreme Court, by a razor-thin margin of one (5-4), legalized same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015. She argues that her Christian faith — “God’s moral law” — should exempt her from signing the licenses.
U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning jailed Davis for contempt of court — for refusing to follow his order to issue the licenses. Bunning said Davis’ religious beliefs don’t allow her to disobey the law, “Her good faith belief is simply not a viable defense.” Banning said he didn’t make the decision lightly and spoke of his own religious beliefs. But he said that the oath he took, and the oath Davis took, supersedes those beliefs. Bunning also said that it’s not his job or the court’s job, but that of the legislative and executive branches, to write laws or make changes.
Meanwhile, 5 of 6 Rowan County deputy clerks all succumbed and told Judge Banning they would hand out marriage licenses to homosexual couples beginning the next day, Sept. 4. The lone holdout is Davis’ son.
Kim Davis’ mug shot
Kim Davis’ attorney Roger Gannam called Judge Banning’s decision “unprecedented.” Gannam said this is the first time in history that an American has been jailed for believing in their conscience, “for having the belief of conscience that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.”
Bunning told Davis she would be jailed until she complied with his order to issue the licenses. Davis said “thank you” before she was led out of the courtroom by a U.S. marshal. Davis says her supporters are raising funds for her, but she herself hasn’t requested any money. (Source)
U.S. federal judge David Bunning
David Bunning was appointed by Pres. George W. Bush to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He is the son of Jim Bunning, who was a U.S. senator from 1999 to 2011. Throughout Davis’s months-long legal battle, Bunning made it clear that he knew his decision to force the Rowan County clerk to follow the law put him at odds with the deeply held personal beliefs of a lot of Americans, himself included. Bunning wrote in his ruling:
“Personal opinions, including my own, are not relevant to today. The idea of natural law superseding this court’s authority would be a dangerous precedent indeed. Our form of government will not survive unless we, as a society, agree to respect the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions, regardless of our personal opinions. Davis is certainly free to disagree with the court’s opinion, as many Americans likely do, but that does not excuse her from complying with it. To hold otherwise would set a dangerous precedent.”
“Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!” -Isaiah 35:4
Please pray for Kim Davis.
H/t FOTM’s MomOfIV
~Éowyn