WASHINGTON – Earlier this week the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay in the case of a county clerk in Kentucky seeking the right to refuse to perform same-sex marriages. In the days following this decision the clerk, Kim Davis, has returned to work but has refused to serve perform marriages for any couple. Today, Rabbi Jack Moline, executive director of Interfaith Alliance, released this statement:
“The Supreme Court promised to bring marriage equality nationwide with its landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. This week’s refusal to let a Kentucky clerk turn away same-sex couples is another important step toward that goal. There can be no marriage equality if a couple has to worry that a county clerk may refuse to serve them; there can be no religious freedom if a government employee can pursue a sectarian agenda from his or her office. Interfaith Alliance remains committed to protecting the religious freedom, at the altar and at the office, of all Americans. That freedom must not translate into the ability to use religious beliefs to discriminate.
“I hope that Ms. Davis will acknowledge her strong faith does not exempt her from her duties as an elected official. The law is religiously neutral, and her position is not a personal platform to impose her beliefs on others. If she cannot reconcile her religious ideology with her duty as an agent of the state, she should look for a different line of work.”