the clerk is where the rubber meets the road
the clerk is the person that must declare and then enforce Christian scruples
“The clerk is the person that must declare and then enforce Christian scruples”
Um, no. Not a good idea. The clerk has administrative duties as an officer of the government. He or she must follow the law as it exists, not as they want it to exist. In private life, clerks are free to do whatever their scruples say but should not overlay their religious opinions in picking and choosing what laws to obey. If they have a problem with their duties, there are other ways to challenge it, legally, or they may resign if they find their duties repugnant to their personal moral codes.
Otherwise imagine what might happen in similar situations. Should a Muslim government official be permitted to refuse to issue liquor licenses? Perhaps a fervent environmentalist might refuse to issue driver licenses. A pacifist official refuse to allow gun ownership. We are a nation of laws or we are chaos. What we do in our private lives is our business. What we do as government representatives is another matter entirely.
This editorial is ridiculous. Yes usually makes sense, but expecting individual county clerk’s to form the resistance to this law is not a realistic plan.