(John Schoonejongen knows more than most about government bureaucracy and religion. He’s been thinking about happenings in Kentucky and shares his thoughts on both in this guest column.)
By John Schoonejongen
A great number of Americans are outraged over a county clerk in Kentucky refusing to grant same-sex wedding licenses in violation of a U.S.Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.
Whether you object to her actions on religious grounds (clerk Kim Davis says her brand of Christianity considers homosexuality a sin) or on legal grounds, there is little doubt that Davis stepped over a line.
Even a conservative federal judge – David Bunning, son of former U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky – said that allowing Davis to refuse to serve acertain segment of the citizens of Rowan County would set a “dangerous precedent.” Then he threw her in jail.
But I fear we have gotten the reasons why we should be angry at Kim Davis all wrong. Those who predict a budding theocracy because of what Davis did are hyperventilating. She sits in jail for her actions, and while a certain tiny clique of conservatives and Christians will seek to make her a martyr, Davis’ reality is a cell and either capitulation or the loss of her $80,000-a-year job.
Those who want to make this about prejudice have a better point, but again the reality is that relatively few public servants have balked at complying with the law. Gay folks are getting married, and America trudges on with barely a break in stride.
Then there are those outraged over her jailing, saying it’s a blow to religious freedom. Um, not really. Millions are still worshipping in the church of their choice with nary a jack-booted federal officer busting up their hymn sings.
There is an outrage here, but it is none of the above. It is, rather, the persistent belief of public servants that they really aren’t in their jobs to serve the public at all. Instead, they indulge their whims, and the public be damned. This epidemic, unlike false worries of theocracies and threats to the First Amendment, is very real and remains a troubling flaw in our democracy.
Kim Davis’ actions are no different from that New Jersey municipal clerk who denies a citizen public records, despite a fairly strict Open Public Records Act. Think I’m kidding? Take a look at the docket of the New Jersey Government Records Council. It is rife with adjudicated failures to provide information by public officials. And while the GRC is generous in not declaring such failures as willful, it’s clear that a number of these cases stem from the laziness or recalcitrance of public employees, people whose salary is paid by you, the taxpayer.
Then there is the curious case of Raritan Borough, which spent years and thousands of dollars trying keep public information from being presented to Gannett newspapers (my former employer) in a usable format. For the borough’s trouble, a judge found that it needed to pay more than $500,000 in legal fees (again, your tax dollars) to the newspaper chain.
The problem, then, is not Kim Davis’ religion; it is instead the religion of the bureaucracy, which too often states, “Thou shalt not serve.”
If we want to be outraged over something, let’s try getting ourselves worked up over the travesty next door. Our democracy would be better for it.
(C. John Schoonejongen is the former state editor for Gannett New Jersey newspapers. The son of a Baptist minister, he maintains a strong interest in issues of faith and all things New Jersey.)
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