The Mormon Church on Tuesday criticized
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis for refusing to issue marriage
licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
According to the AP, Dallin H. Oaks, a
member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles, made his remarks during a closed gathering of
judges and clergy in Sacramento, California.
Oaks said that government officials
must follow court rulings.
“Government officials must not apply
these duties selectively according to their personal preferences –
whatever their source, A county clerk's recent invoking of religious
reasons to justify refusal by her office and staff to issue marriage
licenses to same-gender couples violates this principle,” Oaks
said.
While he did not call out Davis by
name, church officials confirmed the reference.
Davis became a Christian celebrity
after she served a five-day jail sentence for refusing to comply with
a federal judge's ruling ordering her office to issue marriage
licenses to all qualified couples.
Matt Staver, chairman of Liberty
Counsel and Davis' attorney, responded in an emailed statement.
“Kim Davis has a right to represent
her county as an elected official without violating her deeply held
religious convictions,” Staver said. “Of all religious
denominations, the Mormon Church should understand the importance of
protecting religious freedom. How sad [that] the church officials
have forgotten their history and the importance of protecting
conscientious objectors.”
(Related: Westboro
Baptist Church pickets Kim Davis; Blames her for gay marriage.)