00:00Kim Davis, the former Kentucky clerk who violated the rights of a couple when she refused to issue them a marriage license following the legalization of gay marriage in 2015, is now petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodge altogether.
00:14In a filing last month, Davis asked SCOTUS to review the 2015 ruling, calling it a legal fiction.
00:21Matt Staver, the chairman of Liberty Council, a non-profit that is representing Davis, said,
00:26Kim Davis' case underscores why the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn the wrongly decided Obergefell v. Hodge's opinion because it threatens the religious liberty of Americans who believe that marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman.
00:43But that's not what religious liberty is.
00:46The First Amendment does indeed protect the rights of Americans to exercise their religious beliefs without interference from the government.
00:53That is a sacred right that is fundamental to dignity and freedom.
00:59But religious liberty does not require that you personally agree with every law that your government passes.
01:05Religious liberty certainly doesn't mean that any one religion or church will get to decide what rights other people in this country are granted.
01:13That would be the opposite of liberty. That would be state-mandated religion.
01:17And while some people may be of the opinion that their own personal religious beliefs should be enshrined into law,
01:24most Americans would probably take issue if someone else's religion were enforced by the government,
01:29which is exactly why the First Amendment explicitly prohibits the government from establishing a religion.
01:35Staver went on to say that the First Amendment precludes making the choice between your faith and your livelihood.
01:41But that just isn't true. The First Amendment protects the expression of your faith.
01:47It does not guarantee you a job.
01:49And no faith system requires you to be employed as a county clerk.
01:53Davis could have resigned or allowed her deputy to issue marriage licenses in her stead,
01:58which would have allowed her to continue adhering to her beliefs while also not violating the rights of someone else.
02:05She did not.
02:06In Obergefell, the Supreme Court ruled that the ability to marry is a constitutionally protected right that applies to same-sex couples.
02:15This does not prevent anyone from holding their own opinions about marriage.
02:19It simply prohibits the government from preventing couples from marrying based on their sex.
02:24In her filing, Davis may think that she's fighting on behalf of liberty,
02:28but what she's actually fighting for is more government interference and less freedom for everyone.
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