This morning a judge freed Kim Davis, the heretofore obscure Kentucky county clerk who has made national headlines because of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. As of this writing, her next move has not yet been broadcast, but the story is certain to continue.
Part of what makes Davis’s case compelling is her claim to religious freedom and the implicit question her behavior raises about what constitutes permissible civil disobedience. (It is worth noting that, contra to their current outcries in favor of obeying the law and staying neutral, liberals tended to take a pro-civil disobedience position when clerks were illegally issuing licenses to same-sex couples in the mid-2000s.) But I think these shiny objects are occluding something more fundamental.
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