That didn't take long, not even by the standards of the Arkansas Legislature. Less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down bans on same-sex marriages, some lawmakers were already talking about finding ways around the law of the land.
The state has to issue licenses to homosexuals who want to be married. Them's the rules now. At least for state and local governments. As Governor (and Republican in good standing) Asa Hutchinson noted last week, the Supreme Court's ruling "affects government action only. It has no bearing on private individuals or institutions." In other words, nobody can make a pastor or priest violate his own convictions when it comes to homosexual marriage, no matter what some might have said on Facebook. There's still something called the First Amendment in this country, long may it protect all Americans.
But county clerks? They're part of the local government. And if a couple wants to get married, they are allowed a license from the government. Simple.
Or maybe not. It didn't take long for state Senator Jim Hendren, R-Re-election, to say the law should be the law only sometimes. Or as he put it, Republican lawmakers are now looking for ways that county clerks "with sincere religious convictions" can get around issuing marriage licenses for homosexuals.
Sincere religious convictions? As opposed to insincere religious convictions? What about those convictions that aren't all that sincere? Maybe tepid convictions? Apathetic convictions? We're so confused we don't know whether we've lost a horse or found a rope.
"It is somewhat unfair," Senator Hendren says, "to change the rules and the interpretation for somebody in the middle of their term. We need to make some sort of accommodation for them."
Accommodation for those who have sincere religious beliefs? What in the world for? What are sincere religious beliefs if they can be accommodated? Can somebody put up with just a little heresy? Maybe only on weekdays, 9 to 5?
If a person has Sincere Religious Convictions then, dammit, they should have sincere religious convictions. And not ask for ways to cheapen or compromise them. Since when do sincere religious convictions come without sacrifice? Has there ever been such a time?
Having conviction is no tea party, or shouldn't be. It's not all public prayers and midnight vigils and guest appearances on Fox. Convictions come from a higher law. If county clerks in Arkansas have convictions that will keep them from issuing marriage licenses, then, bless them, shouldn't they accept the obligation that goes with that? That is, the willingness to sacrifice?
Better to follow the example of one Dana Guffey in beautiful Cleburne County, Ark., who last week announced she would resign as county clerk rather than issue same-sex marriage licenses. And not only did she announce her resignation, but did so with a kind of dignity and Christian charity that really does come when somebody holds actual sincere religious convictions, and doesn't just talk about them. Here she is when the press caught up with her:
"It is definitely a moral conviction for me. I didn't announce anything publicly or on social media or anything because I didn't want my decision to be seen as hateful. I know some people will look at it like that, but this wasn't easy. It wasn't a decision I made lightly. And I do not hate anybody."
"My office mates understand," she said. "They're not judging me, the same as I'm not judging anyone else who issues the licenses. It's my conviction, though."
Her conviction though. Which means she cannot hold the job of county clerk, and she knows it. Funny, but she didn't appear in her statement to try to find a backdoor way out of standing up for her convictions. Which might be the best way to tell if they are sincerely held.
Dana Guffey's is an example to follow. For all of us, no matter where we stand on one political issue or another.
Having convictions never has been easy. Tell it to Paul and Silas singing in the prison house after they had been beaten and chained. Tell it to the man who wrote "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." People like that make changes, real changes, in their world. And they don't usually go around looking for exemptions from the local magistrates or sheriffs--or Arkansas lawmakers--to make their convictions easier to endure.
Editorial on 07/09/2015