LF: 'I am a follower of Christ': County clerk resigns rather than issue gay marriage licenses

Linda Barnette has issued marriage licenses in Grenada County, Mississippi for 24 years. On Tuesday, she resigned.

“I choose to obey God rather than man,” Mrs. Barnette wrote in her one paragraph resignation letter to the Grenada County Board of Supervisors.

“I am a follower of Christ and I believe strongly that the Bible is my final authority,” she wrote. ‘The Bible teaches that a marriage is to be between a man and a woman. Therefore, because of the recent ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, I can no longer fulfill my duties as Circuit Clerk and issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.”

Another worker has been appointed to replace Mrs. Barnette. It’s unclear if Grenada County will hold a special election to permanently fill the elected post.

“I told my supervisors a while back if it happened, I would tender my resignation,” she told me. “I had already decided in my heart that I could not issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. It’s my Christian belief. As a follower of Christ, I could not do it. The bible teaches it is contrary to His plan.”

Mrs. Barnette is a Southern Baptist and her husband once helped Franklin Graham with his national festivals. So when it came to choosing between her job and her faith – there never was any real debate.

“Christians are being put to the test,” she said. ‘We’re going to see the true Christians who stand. It’s going to be time to stop talking the talk. It’s going to come down to that.”

There are many public workers just like Mrs. Barnette who are struggling with the Supreme Court’s decision to redefine marriage. I received private correspondence from a minister who told me about a North Carolina clerk who resigned. The clerk refused to comment or go public over fears she would be attacked by LGBT activists.

Brian Robertson is Mrs. Barnette’s pastor at Friendship Baptist Church. He said had two reactions to her resignation.

“I am saddened in the fact that we are losing a wonderful county clerk and a very faithful and hard worker,” he said. “I am grieved as a minister and Christian because of the circumstances that have caused her to have to resign.”

However, Dr. Robertson also had praise for his parishioner.

“I applaud her as a brother in Christ,” he said. “Her testimony to the Lord is more important to her than serving man.”

The Mississippi pastor suspects she will be the first of many to lose their jobs because of their Christian faith.

“Political propagandists want to force Christians who do not agree with the liberal mindset out of office,” he said.

I asked Pastor Robertson if he was concerned about LGBT activists coming after Christian ministers. His response was rather interesting.

“I pray that I am targeted,” he said. “I will use the statement Joshua made many years ago. As for me and my house – we will serve the Lord.”

Amen, pastor. Amen!

In the coming days I believe Christians will be forced to abandon their jobs in public service. Those who remain will be targeted with lawsuits and investigations from the activists.

Resign or face the consequences.

Make no mistake. America is about to undergo a religious purging in the public marketplace – at the hands of secular jihadists.

Christians were persecuted in the Soviet Union for decades. Yet they survived and secularist regime is gone.

There is no persecution of "Christians" in America. What is happening is the abandonment of religious practice that was previously acceptable in the secular world of government.

How "marriage" is owned by government is based on centuries old practices of registration in America. But "marriage" has traditionally been a religious event and continues so. Your religious and matrimony vows & oaths under your religious practice(s) are safe from persecution.

The age ol' definitions of "marriage" are still in tact. What has been re-defined is applicability of marriage licenses issued by the state which (now) include homosexual couples. Nothing about "religious creeds" are described or excluded.

All that is occurring is the US government is further separating official paperwork from religious practices. It is not involved with marriage at ll other than licenses for marriage.

Why does anyone need a license from the state to become married, anyway? Isn't it like volunteering for some registration effort that permits a tax incentive?

To begin with, the license is used as official recognition of the fact in many aspects of today's society. In order to benefit from many of the "perks", including reduced healthcare premiums, tax reduction, insurance risk reductions (for those companies that require a license as proof), one must produce a state recognized marriage license as proof of the sanctioned status. This is similar to many functions requiring a state-issued ID to conduct some forms of business.

Besides the obvious economical benefits, having the kind of marriage you want to be accepted and legally protected requires that the law spells out that your marriage is legal in the eyes of the law. If you want to claim discrimination, the law must specifically describe the prohibited type of discrimination.

The same goes for automatic survivor clauses in possessions, insurance money, and childcare arrangements.

Let us also not forget that the current cultural revolution that this targeted at "normalizing" the LBGTABCWHATEVERS cannot the proper traction that they are seeking until they have the full support of the American justice system to enforce the values (or devaluation, depending on your moral compass) they it espouse.

So, if you want to pay less on car insurance or force a business to bake a cake against their will, you have to get the law on your side.

I may have oversimplified the issue, but there are others here who demonstrate a lower reading comprehension than required to read my normal logisti-speak.

There are no "economic benefits" to marriage, pal. You are blinded by some bullshit artist.