Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Kim Davis is not a saint.

She’s not a warrior, she’s not brave and she’s definitely not a martyr.

The Kentucky clerk was arrested last week for denying gay couples marriage licenses. She was released from jail  this week and was lauded by devoted Christians who welcomed her like Pope Francis had just made his last appearance.

Indeed, it looks like the leader of the Catholic world can make progressive changes to religion, but Kentucky can not.

A woman who has been married four times, cheated on her first husband and had twins out of wedlock thinks she has the right to define what “traditional marriage” is.

Kim Davis is no hero, and she comes prepared with an army of non-heroes to back her up.

Our dearest Texas Sen. Ted Cruz thought he should make it clear that he was an avid Davis supporter. According to a CNN report released Tuesday, Cruz said on his Facebook page that “it was an outrage that she was imprisoned for six days for living according to her Christian faith.”

At least we know this isn’t the worst we’ve heard from him.

Organized religion should serve the purpose of self-knowledge and spiritual fulfillment, but never to overrule government policy, especially when it comes to constitutional rights.

When same sex marriage became legal in the United States in June, more than 9 million Americans were granted a right that was long awaited. In Houston alone, over 700,000 people celebrated such recognition as a victory for the LGBT community.

It is offensive and humiliating to a vast portion of the population of this country to deny members of the LGBT community an important right such as marriage equality.

It is time people stop praising her attitude as if she were the new messiah. Her arrogance devalues the LGBT movement, which just like any other minority group still suffers from society’s backlash and rejection.

As she left jail, Davis gave an emotional speech thanking her supporters for the love. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee confirmed that the speech wouldn’t end without an old school Christian touch to it.

He even volunteered to go to jail because of the “tyranny” of “people who believe they can take our freedom and conscience away.”

The only thing Huckabee forgot to mention was that we do not live in a tyranny and same sex marriage is now just as much of a constitutional right as freedom of religion.

We’ll make sure to tell him next time.

Opinion Columnist Luiza Braga is a print journalism senior and may be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

—
“Kim Davis is not a hero” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar