LGBT News Kareem-abdul-Jabbar comments on Kim Davis and her supporters

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Kim Davis Is Not a Patriot

Although I disagree with him when he compares her supporters to the "Death to America" crowd, I think almost all of his comments are spot on when it comes to not only Kim Davis, but her supporters also. Even people who personally oppose or don't like same sex marriage should take heed to what he says, particularly about some people who are currently running for President of the US. Today it's this issue, tomorrow it could be something else entirely.

some of the key comments, for example, were:

"On Sunday, around 300 supporters gathered outside the jail where Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, is being held. They waved signs like “Kim Davis for President” and “We Ought to Obey God Rather Than Men.” The crowd in itself is not newsworthy—you can get 300 people to support pretty much anything (in England’s 2001 census, almost 400,000 people stated their religious preference as Jedi)."

and

"What makes this situation especially significant is that also offering their support to Davis were presidential candidates Mike Huckabee, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz said, “Today, for the first time ever, the government arrested a Christian woman for living according to her faith… I stand with Kim Davis. Unequivocally.” Perhaps Sen. Cruz forgot all the black and white Christian women who were arrested during the Civil Rights era. And the Christian women suffragists arrested in support of voting rights. And the Christian lesbian women arrested in support of gay rights. All for their belief that God wanted all people to be treated equally."

and

"Americans have a long history of using religion to rationalize atrocious behavior. Confederate President Jefferson Davis echoed many Civil War Southerners when he validated slavery by claiming that it “was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation.”

and particularly in the case of people like Cruz or Huckabee,

"When politicians support Davis in defying the U.S. Supreme Court, they are making it clear why they should never be elected to any office, let alone the Presidency of the United States where they would take the oath to “support and defend the Constitution” since they are emphatically telling America that they wouldn’t support and defend it. They have announced that if you sincerely disagree with the Constitution, feel free to ignore it. And not just ignore it, make sure to use your position so that others are barred from following it."

also,

We sometimes confuse the devout with the delirious, the spiritual with the stubborn. We love people who “stick to their guns.” The phrase itself refers to soldiers who keep firing no matter the odds or personal danger. Stories of self-sacrificing heroes dominate our storytelling. “Remember the Alamo!” “Are you not entertained!” “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!” If you can identify all these cinema exclamations, then you are familiar with pop culture’s canon of martyrdom. (If you’re not: The Alamo, Gladiator, Braveheart.) But sticking to your guns for an ignoble cause makes you a fool, a criminal and a traitor to the principles of the Constitution. The gathering of Davis’ supporters and their anti-American signs are no different from the “Death to America” rallies we see in some foreign countries.

"If Davis really was defending her soul against doing something immoral, then she shouldn’t have taken a government job that required her to issue marriage licenses to people she doesn’t approve of. Though she tries to fashion herself as a modern-day civil rights leader (her attorney has compared her to Dr. King), she’s no Rosa Parks. Instead, she’s the bus driver maintaining the status quo of injustice while forcing all the passengers to go where she takes them, not where they want to go. This country offers many options to those who are not satisfied with our laws. She could petition her legislators, she could become an activist, she could organize protests. She could even quit her job rather than compromise her spiritual principles. Quitting would have been more in keeping with martyrdom because by definition it requires sacrifice with no hope for personal reward. But there’s no celebrity in that.

"Once the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether or not a law is constitutional, then that’s the law of the land until the Constitution is amended. If the majority of the people want it amended then it will be. That’s the democracy we’re always celebrating on the Fourth of July and bragging about to other countries. However, if we get to break any law we don’t personally believe in, we will have destroyed the country. It’s shocking to me that anyone supports government officials overriding the Constitution to impose their personal beliefs on the people. It’s especially shocking when those who want to be president advocate it."