http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ke...-marriages-as-their-boss-is-jailed/ar-AAdUq1U
BBM for emphasis.
KD was
not jailed for her beliefs. She was jailed for contempt of court-- for her ACTIONS. She is free to believe whatever she wants. No one is forcing her to "believe" something different from what she believes.
IMO, we have a sincere, major problem socially in this country, in that many people don't understand that
beliefs-- however sincerely they are held-- do not justify or excuse
unlawful BEHAVIOR.
It may be that some people have sincerely held beliefs that are in conflict with local, state, or federal laws. But those people do not have any right or entitlement to take action on those beliefs in a way that obstructs OTHER people's rights under the law.
Sometimes that inner conflict may mean that a conflicted person has to resign from a job they need, or even like. That is the price we ALL pay for having an inner compass, a conscience, on the job. At the point in which one's conscience at work compels behavior that is unlawful, or not in accordance with policies, procedures, etc-- then the decision is easy. You leave your job, and keep your conscience and BELIEFS intact. OR, you make peace on some level with the conflict, see if there is some work around that doesn't inconvenience others, and stay in the job. But there are some jobs that just can't accommodate every person's beliefs.
I certainly have experienced that in my own profession, with hiring and staffing issues. From time to time we get applicants who show up with a long list of what they "will not do"-- cases they will not take, procedures they will not participate in-- we even had one applicant who wanted to "opt out" of any case involving female patients! We simply don't have the numbers of staffers needed to properly serve patients and fulfill our contract with hospitals if we take on one of the applicants with a long "will not do" list-- no matter how skilled or experienced they might be otherwise. We explain it as clearly as we can, and then encourage those candidates to apply to bigger institutions, where there are enough other staffers for them to have another person substitute for their "will not do" situations, or continue to look for another environment that can accommodate them. It's a very tough situation as an employer. You constantly have to keep separate BELIEFS and ACTIONS in those conversations.
