Thursday, October 1, 2015

Noah Feldman — Pope Francis Sends Wrong Message to Kim Davis

We already knew that Pope Francis went out of his way while in the U.S. to visit the Little Sisters of the Poor, who object to filling out a form that would guarantee their organization an exemption from providing contraceptive care under the Affordable Care Act. But we found out Wednesday the pope also met with Kim Davis, in an event that did more than just signal support for Catholic conscientious objectors -- he was, unfortunately, giving succor to the very un-Catholic idea that public officials should break laws they don't like rather than resigning to avoid a conflict between faith and professional obligation.…
When Francis met with Davis -- who let it be noted is an evangelical Protestant, although her parents apparently are Catholic -- he was sending the wrong message, namely that there's something sympathetic or even legitimate about public official refusing to do his or her job when religious teaching goes the other way.
Running for president, John F. Kennedy had to overcome the Protestant allegation that as a Catholic he would obey the pope and not the laws and Constitution of the U.S. In a famous speech, Kennedy made it clear that he wouldn't take instructions from Rome. And he said he would be a president “whose fulfillment of his presidential oath is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation.” That's exactly what’s required of all public officials. And no one should undercut it, pope or otherwise.
Bloomberg View
Pope Francis Sends Wrong Message to Kim Davis
Noah Feldman | professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard University

See also

France 24
Pope secretly met gay marriage row clerk Kim Davis on US trip
The pope, speaking to reporters as he returned home from his 10-day trip to the US and Cuba on Monday, said government officials had a “human right” to refuse to discharge a duty if they felt it violated their conscience.
Doubling down.

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