Beam Me Out Of Kentucky

George Takei is like a fine wine. He gets better and better with age. Live long and prosper, George.

Too many of the GOP presidential candidates are siding with Kim Davis. One of them could become president and take the oath swearing to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States". How can you preserve, protect and defend something you do not understand?

George Takei: Kentucky clerk Kim Davis is ‘no hero to be celebrated’:

This post comes on the heels of outpouring support for Davis from 2016 GOP presidential candidates Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, and Bobby Jindal.

Huckabee’s campaign reportedly organized the rally for Davis, and Huckabee said he would be willing to go to jail for the Kentucky clerk.

“I’m tired of seeing people just harassed because they believe something of their faith,” Huckabee said to reporters at the Tuesday rally. “We cannot criminalize Christian faith or anybody’s faith in this country.”

Cruz thanked God after Davis’ release was announced, tweeting that it was “Outrageous she was jailed 6 days for living according to her Christian faith.”

Santorum also tweeted support for Davis, saying “we should not have to choose between keeping our job and practicing our faith.”

Santorum called Davis heroic in a CNN interview and compared Davis to Martin Luther King Jr. last week on a radio show.

“You know Martin Luther King went to jail because he didn’t follow the law,” he said. “There’s a long precedent in America from people saying, ‘you know the law has to change to accommodate what is the right thing to do, in their own moral judgment.’”

The right thing for Santorum is to pass a “First Amendment Defense Act” that would accommodate “people who have very strong religious beliefs that are antithetical to the ‘new law’ of the country,” essentially allowing them to ignore the law.

Jindal defended Davis’ right to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, telling the Huffington Post he doesn’t “think anyone should have to choose between following their conscience and religious beliefs and giving up their job and facing financial sanctions.”

George Takei has a better understanding of the Constitution than any of these people.

George Takei owns Kim Davis and her defenders on First Amendment:

Leave it to George Takei to make this plain. In observing the ongoing mess in Rowan County, Kentucky, Takei commented that, “she is entitled to hold her religious beliefs, but not to impose those beliefs on others.” He added:

Permitting a state employee to foist her religion upon others, denying them a fundamental right as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell, would be to give government, through this agent, the power to impose religious doctrine and viewpoint. That it cannot do. Ms. Davis is in effect establishing religion by using her governmental powers to impose her religious views.

George Takei Calls Kim Davis Supporters ‘Un-American’:

Takei posted the following on his Facebook page:

Well this is a bit of a circus. So let us be clear: This woman is no hero to be celebrated. She broke her oath to uphold the Constitution and defied a court order so she could deny government services to couples who are legally entitled to be married. She is entitled to hold her religious beliefs, but not to impose those beliefs on others. If she had denied marriage certificates to an interracial couple, would people cheer her? Would presidential candidates flock to her side? In our society, we obey civil laws, not religious ones. To suggest otherwise is, simply put, entirely un-American.

In response to Takei’s post, a Kim Davis supporter named Shawn replied with the following:

George, learn the first amendment.

Takei responded to Shawn with yet another brilliant civics lesson:

The First Amendment has two clauses that are relevant here. One is the Establishment Clause, and the other is the Prohibition Clause. Congress may not prohibit free worship, and that is what so many claim, wrongly, is being violated. But it is also not empowered to establish any religion, nor to enact any laws favoring one religion over the other. Permitting a state employee to foist her religion upon others, denying them a fundamental right as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell, would be to give government, through this agent, the power to impose religious doctrine and viewpoint. That it cannot do. Ms. Davis is in effect establishing religion by using her governmental powers to impose her religious views. I know the First Amendment, Shawn. Do you?

I agree with George Takei.

Unlike the faux bigotry claimed by Kim Davis and her supporters, George Takei has had to deal with real bigotry for all of his life.

This bears repeating:

Ms. Davis is in effect establishing religion by using her governmental powers to impose her religious views.