Comes a post on Facebook, noting legislation is proposed that would exempt public officials not wanting to do so from issuing marriages licenses to gay couples.
My first thought is that it might be a worthy law, as it would allow a person not to be required to do something he or she doesn't believe in. Do we not want to protect the rights of all?
But, after a little more thought, I am against such a law. If these marriages are legal, perform them. If you are a public official, uphold the law. By performing the marriages, it does not mean you agree with them. You are simply acknowledging that those getting the licenses have the right, by law, to be married. Marry them, then. To pass such a law as this, exempting some officials is going to bring ridicule upon Utah, from some quarters, while not achieving anything that actually reduces the number of these relationships.
If you are a public official called upon to issue these licenses and do not feel you should do so, then, yes, you probably ought to find a different line of work. It is not so different than a person in a BLM office who does not believe the land should be violated, and who therefore would refuse to issue a drilling permit. Bless that person for their wanting to protect the land, and bless them for their opinions, but they probably are in the wrong line of work and ought to find another job.
And, it is exactly the same as a person who must issue alcohol permits, but doesn't believe people should drink alcohol. Do we create a law for them, excempting them from performing the task? I think not, and I think we do not create a law excempting the BLM workers, either.
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