Gay marriage has been legal here in North Carolina for almost a month now, and the craziest thing has happened: Heterosexual marriages have stayed intact. Imagine that. It's almost as if gay marriage was never a threat at all.
There are some who continue to disagree, though, even in the face of this mind-boggling evidence, and it's a big problem when these people are North Carolina magistrates. According to their website, their mission is "to protect and preserve the rights and liberties of all of the people, as guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States and North Carolina."
In his resignation letter, Rockingham County Magistrate John Kallam Jr. told a Chief District Court Judge that performing a same-sex wedding, as he is now required by law to do, would "desecrate a holy institution established by God himself." At least six magistrates across the state have resigned as of press time, stating that marrying a gay couple conflicted with their religious beliefs.
These magistrates took an oath to serve all people within their communities in accordance with the law, and now they don't like the law so they're refusing to do so. And surprise! Some high-profile members of our General Assembly think that should be OK. State Senate leader Phil Berger said last month he'll introduce a bill in the next legislative session protecting civil magistrates who refuse to perform duties that violate their religious beliefs — in other words, he wants to use tax dollars to pay employees representing the State of North Carolina to deny people their legal rights because of religious prejudice. He'll be proposing state-sanctioned discrimination.
Under the precedent Berger's law would set, would there be job protection for a Register of Deeds who believes the same as former magistrate Kallam and refuses to issue marriage licenses? After all, if one believes marriage is a holy institution established by God himself, then how could they support the idea of issuing state licenses for couples to wed, let alone allow themselves to be the actual person approving the license? Wouldn't that be infringing on God's territory?
Under that same logic, will it be OK for a Christian civil magistrate to refuse to initiate an eviction because the Bible commands in both Leviticus and Isaiah to give shelter to the homeless? What about a Catholic judge refusing to sentence a child-molesting priest, because the church says it should be an internal matter? Or a Christian district attorney who won't prosecute a man who beats his wife because she didn't submit to him as the Bible commands? Would their jobs be protected on religious grounds as well?
These instances are perfect examples of why separation of church and state is a good idea. Lucky for us, the United States Constitution mandates it.
But Berger also cites the Constitution to justify the law he's proposing. He said in a statement: "Complying with the new marriage law imposed by the courts should not require our state employees to compromise their core religious beliefs and First Amendment rights in order to protect their livelihoods."
While it's true that no one should be required to do a job that goes against their religious beliefs, those whose religious convictions run so deeply probably shouldn't stake their livelihoods on a career in which separating their personal religious views is required of them by law. A job in the private or religious sectors would have been far more appropriate, and our lawmakers in Raleigh cannot expect their constituents to pay the price for these magistrates' poor career decisions in the form of tax dollars or expectation of fair and equal treatment.
If they're unable to check their prejudices at the door of their county courthouses, they were clearly never fit to perform the duties expected of them in the first place. Stepping down is the most honorable thing these magistrates could've done for our state, and I wish everyone who holds both the same religious convictions and a government office would be just as brave and honorable.
My message to those magistrates who resigned is this: I express my deepest appreciation to you for resigning, on behalf of all North Carolina citizens who deserve unbiased treatment from our legal system. It's my sincere hope you find more appropriate work for yourself as quickly as possible, and as we say here in the South: Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.