Six time NBA championship winner Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has come out slamming Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and her high-profile supporters, in a column Abdul-Jabbar writes for Time Magazine.
In the column Abdul-Jabbar comments on the rally held in Kentucky upon Davis’ release from jail where she was being held for defying a federal judge’s order that her office must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Davis cited her religious beliefs as the reason for her lack of compliance with federal law and has since gained the support of multiple Republican presidential candidates including Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee who were both competing for the spotlight at the rally.
Abdul-Jabbar writes, “Americans have a long history of using religion to rationalize atrocious behaviour.”
“Today, for the first time ever, the government arrested a Christian woman for living according to her faith… I stand with Kim Davis. Unequivocally,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote in response to the comments made by Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz at the rally.
“Perhaps Senator. Cruz forgot all the black and white Christian women who were arrested during the Civil Rights era. And the Christian women suffragists arrested in support of voting rights. And the Christian lesbian women arrested in support of gay rights. All for their belief that God wanted all people to be treated equally.”
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal , another presidential candidate, had lauded Davis by saying that taking a stand as she did is ‘an important part of the American way.’
Abdul-Jabbar also responds to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on his comments saying that taking a stand as Davis did is “an important part of the American way” by stating that “using religion to justify bigotry, exploitation of the poor, religious persecution, and war is part of the American way, but it’s an inglorious part that we have worked hard with noble resolve to put in our past.”
Abdul-Jabbar who is now 68 years old goes on to explain why Church and State where separated by the founding fathers to the Republican candidates trying to become the chief executive of the United States.
“The reason we separate Church and State is because the Founding Fathers believed government should be guided by a balance of morality and reason, not blind religious faith.”
Last Updated on Sep 13, 2015
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