In a Facebook post, author Anne Rice
weighed in on the controversy surrounding Kentucky clerk Kim Davis.
Davis, who is expected to return to
work as early as Friday, was jailed for five days for refusing to
comply with a federal judge's ruling ordering her to issue marriage
licenses to all eligible couples. Citing her religious faith, Davis
has defied the Supreme Court's June ruling striking down gay marriage
bans in all 50 states.
Rice, who in 2011 quit organized
religion over its anti-gay rhetoric, said Davis comes across to her
as “a stubborn, self centered and self obsessed individual with
little grasp of the belief system she references as she shows
complete disregard for the rights of her fellow Americans.”
“All my life I’ve known Christians
– Catholics, Protestants, independent believers, bible readers and
church goers, nuns, priests, ministers, people devoted to Christ and
transformed in his teachings – good people who are charitable, kind
and considerate of other human beings,” Rice wrote. “This woman,
Kim Davis, who has been jailed for refusal to fulfill her duties as
an elected official, and for her refusal to obey a judge’s ruling
on the matter, bears little or no resemblance to the believers I've
known. She comes across to me as a stubborn, self centered and self
obsessed individual with little grasp of the belief system she
references as she shows complete disregard for the rights of her
fellow Americans. It is sad to think anyone would regard this
gravely misguided and obviously bigoted individual as a poster girl
for 'faith in God.' I hope this soon blows over, that the citizens
of this county in Kentucky, gay and straight, religious or
non-religious, can go on with their lives. This is America. Whatever
gave this woman the idea that any individual has the right to
publicly and stubbornly disregard the rights of an entire group of
Americans, based on her personal belief? And to think all of this is
over secular marriage licenses! Not life and death. Not war and
peace. But secular marriage licenses! What a colossal waste all
this has been of the tax payer’s money and the court's time. I
congratulate my gay brothers and sisters of all faiths, and of no
faith, for standing up to the selfish and arrogant bias of this woman
and politely and justly demanding their rights.”
Rice, who is best known for her Vampire
Chronicles series, devoted a decade to writing Christian-themed
novels, such as Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.