By now, you’ve probably heard about Kim Davis, a Christian county clerk who was jailed for five days after refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in the US State of Kentucky. Now, I’m a woman and a Christian so I of course felt bad that Ms Davis was locked up for upholding her beliefs. She didn’t kill or hurt anyone. She just refused to bear witness to same sex marriage. Unfortunately, she happens to be a Government employee and was held in contempt of court since same sex unions were legalised in her state. I’ve always felt that while jail is tough for everyone, it’s even more so for women. None of that weaker sex talk but generally speaking, prison is not an ideal place for women. Personally, I worry about things like communal bathrooms and those identical prison uniforms even though I attended boarding school for most of my school years where things like that are the norm. I just like my space and above all, some privacy, something prison doesn’t accord you. There’s also the aspect of curtailed freedom. Like I said, I hope I never end up in prison, not even for my faith. Sorry Jesus. I love you but the truth is prison is tough. I respect Kim Davis for standing up for her values but she probably realised it wasn’t worth it the second her prison cell door was locked behind her. She’s out now and her family and friends must be relieved but it got me thinking about the ordinary work place and what many employees have to put up with just to keep a job. It’s the desperation and tough times we live in. It’s hard enough to find a job and so not many people are going to be picky. That is why there are Muslims working in bars or restaurants that serve pork or Catholics who work in abortion clinics. It’s not ideal but it may be the only thing keeping you from starving. You can always leave if you can’t bear the thought of compromising your values but I believe if you choose to keep the job, then you should be willing to do what it entails. In Miss Davis’ case (she’s back at her job by the way and agreed to let others in her office sign off on the marriage licenses,) issuing marriage certificates to gay couples doesn’t make one gay, much like having friends or family who drink or party each night doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll end up just like them. Like I mentioned earlier, this is not like being asked to be a hitman or anything like that. You are simply executing a duty in an office obliged to do exactly that by the law. Even the Bible quotes Jesus saying “Render to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar…” Okay so I’m stretching that a little bit but you get my point. Across the world, there are many laws people don’t like, pretty much like the rules we never liked in school but we obeyed them anyway and whenever we didn’t, there were consequences and it didn’t matter how unfair or ridiculous we thought they were. I guess what I’m saying is that sometimes, you just have to fall in line.
