Religious Accommodation Granted to Ft Hood Shooter, But Not to a County Clerk

Just days prior to the Republican debate, Gov. Mike Huckabee held a rally for the Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis who was jailed for 6-days for refusing to issue gay marriage licenses in the wake of the Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision (Obergefell v. Hodges) back in June.  Chief Washington Correspondent and anchor of a CNN weekday news show, asked Huckabee on the stage of that debate, “You’ve called what happened to Kim Davis, that clerk, an example of the criminalization of Christianity.  There are several people on the stage who disagree with you.  Gov. [Jeb] Bush, for example, says that clerk was sworn to uphold the law.  Is Gov. Bush on the wrong side of the criminalization of Christianity?”

Huckabee quickly dismissed the opening to attack Bush and instead transitioned to an answer about SCOTUS overreaching.  “I am here to fight for somebody who’s a county clerk,” Huckabee said, “elected under the Kentucky Constitution that 75% of the people of that state had voted for that said marriage was between a man and a woman.”  “The Supreme Court,” he continued, “decided out of thin air that they were just gonna redefine marriage … I thought everyone here passed ninth grade civics.  The courts cannot legislate.”  “If the Court can just make a decision and we just all surrender to it we have what Jefferson said was judicial tyranny,” Huckabee said, as Tapper tried to cut him off.

Huckabee wrapped up by pointing out that the U.S. made an accommodation to the Fort Hood shooter by letting him grow a beard.  “We made accommodation to the detainees at Gitmo,” he continued, “to the Muslim detainees who killed Americans.  You’re telling me that you cannot make an accommodation for an elected Democrat county clerk from Rowan County, Kentucky?  What else is it other than the criminalization of her faith and the exultation of the faith of everyone else who might be a Fort Hood shooter or a detainee at Gitmo?”

Huckabee has a valid point.  It prompts me to ask: Why are we so quick to accommodate Muslims with prayer rooms in schools and airports; bathing facilities for taxi drivers; and the practice of Shariah law within the United States?  While Christians in the military can’t post a Bible verse alongside their computer or have the Holy Scriptures on their desk; athletic teams can’t huddle for prayer before or after the game; and public squares can’t have a manger scene at Christmas time?  There is no other explanation then the criminalization of Christianity.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel