Posted on 07/13/2015 1:14:35 PM PDT by markomalley
County clerks across the country are resigning after the June 29 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage.
Just a few days after the monumental ruling, an entire county clerk office in Tennessee resigned. Decatur County Clerk Gwen Pope and both of her deputy assistants, Sharon Bell and Mickey Butler, resigned, saying the order clashed with their religious beliefs. All three were long-time employees of the clerk’s office. Pope told The Jackson Sun they didn’t want to make the news.
"It's kind of sort of like you don't want to draw attention to yourself for any reason," she said. "That's not why we're doing this. Not doing it in any way to draw attention to us. It's for the glory of God. He's going to get all the glory."
Though the group has no back-up plan, Pope added, “I honestly believe God will take care of us.”
But they weren’t the only ones.
The Monday following the SCOTUS ruling, a 24-year-veteran of an office in Little Rock, Arkansas, resigned. Cleburne County Clerk Dana Guffey told her superiors that it would go against her “moral conviction” to marry same-sex couples. She elaborated to CBS News that she “didn’t hate anybody” and it “wasn’t a decision she made lightly.”
In Grenada, Mississippi, County Clerk Linda Barnette made the same difficult decision to leave her job or face the consequences. Barnette, like Guffey, had also worked at the same office for more than 24 years.
She wrote in her letter of resignation, “I choose to obey God rather than man.” The New York Daily News’ Nicole Hensley bashed Barnette’s decision, saying, “Most clerks who objected to the Court’s ruling grudgingly complied or simply delegated the responsibility to staffers.” Hensley further complained, “she didn’t have to do it this way” but “evidently” Guffey “wanted to make a statement.”
Though the media may not understand why clerks are resigning, it continues to happen across the country. The most recent case happened in Texas. AP reported that Rusk County Clerk Joyce Lewis-Kugle resigned July 9 after explaining that she “could not in good conscience issue marriage licenses to same couples.”
Even more clerk offices have attempted to send same-sex couples to other offices rather than issue licenses themselves. The Christian Examiner reported that cases of clerks refusing to comply have happened in Hood County, Texas and Rowan County, Kentucky. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order saying that clerks could refuse same-sex marriage licenses for 25 days under state law, which still recognizes marriage as between a man and a woman.
“He is no fool to give what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose”
Jim Elliot
The headline of this article is “County Clerks Resign Nationwide After Gay Marriage Ruling”. They then list less than 10 County Clerk employees nationwide who resigned. At last count there were 3,143 County and County-equivalents (Parishes, boroughs, etc.) in the US If you assume that each County Clerk’s office has 10 employees (the one listed here had 3, I assume LA County has a LOT more), this comes to 31,1430 employees, of which 10 resigned. This comes out to 0.03%. Truly a groundswell of epic proportions.
The exercise of one's rights ought not be dependent upon the numbers or power of those wishing to exercise them.
I'm fairly certain there are others among those county clerks that are simply in no position to resign over this, but probably wish they could.
Yep. They should instead hold onto their jobs and scream and fight and sue for religious persecution. Resignations are exactly what the maggot in the white house wants. Their jobs will be filled by fags and atheists.
Yep. They should instead hold onto their jobs and scream and fight and sue for religious persecution. Resignations are exactly what the maggot in the white house wants. Their jobs will be filled by fags and atheists.
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Exactly!
Send them all to J.Kennedy’s chambers, let him ‘marry’ them.
Thought "crimes" are still Constitutional in my universe.
I have absolutely no problem with those people who exercised the courage of their convictions and resigned rather than do something against their beliefs. Kind of makes you question level of commitment of those who claim that this is against their beliefs and don’t do anything, doesn’t it?
I was merely pointing out that the implication that there is a nationwide groundswell of actions is not supported by the math. After all, 10 out of 31,000 isn’t real impressive, is it?
Spoken like a faithful member of the pro-sodomy crowd.
Incidentally, those are not marriages. Language, in a any society, can’t be changed by fiat...
Thought “crimes” are still Constitutional in my universe.
Temper, temper, temper. I was merely pointing out that the facts (~10 County Clerk employees quitting vs. over 31,000 County Clerk employees nationwide) don’t support the implication that this is a nationwide movement.
By the way, your universe must be a real nice universe. Doesn’t appear that skill at elementary school math is a requirement to enter.
No it isn't. Had the Supreme Court done such a thing as this in the 1960s, there would be rioting in the streets. Today, most people are "meh."
It appears we are strapped into this roller-coaster to H3ll and will not be allowed to get off.
Lots of things have changed since 1960. You can put your own judgement as to whether they are for the good or for the bad but, all things considered, I would rather be here than there.
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