Do Your Job or Go to Jail

I can't help but recall the political rhetoric surrounding the Terry Schiavo case in Florida, when I read about the Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis.  Elian Gonzales also comes to mind.  These cases are similar, not legally, but politically, in that the legal outcome is a foregone conclusion, but the political fervor escalates to a fever pitch.
When Presidential candidates who are educated, and often attorneys disregard the rule of law in order to whip up the base, they lose all credibility.  My religious beliefs, or lack thereof cannot be used to refuse to do my job.  As an attorney, I can't refuse to represent a client because of their religion.

Let's for a moment consider that the government employee is a Judge, she is Catholic, and refuses to grant divorces. Would people be so quick to come to her defense?  Or consider a town clerk who is a Muslim, and he refuses to issue a marriage license to a couple where one is Muslim and one is Jewish. Would Presidential candidates consider him a "hero."
The reason politicians are blindly supporting the Kentucky clerk, is because the underlying "fight" is about gay marriage, an issue that gets people to reach into their pockets and contribute money to campaigns. They know however, that the law is clear and that she is in fact, rightfully being held in contempt.
Kim Davis is not in jail because of her religious beliefs, she is in jail because of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to individuals who are legally allowed to marry.  Her comparison to the fight of Martin Luther King should infuriate anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of the Civil Rights Movement.
Recently, HBO aired a mini series called Show Me a Hero, it was based upon the refusal of the city of Yonkers to obey a Federal Court mandate to build low income housing.  The elected officials, whipped their constituents  into a frenzy about desegregation.  They violated the court orders and were hit with hefty fines, bringing Yonkers to the verge of bankruptcy.  (the fines against the individual councilmen were overturned by the Supreme Court, those against the city were not).
 The rule of law must be respected, we cannot deny individual their civil rights in the name of God.