Kim Davis Married Four Times, But Supporters Say Conversion Wiped Her Slate Clean

There are plenty of passages in the Bible, that holy text that Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis has used to justify discrimination against gays, about judgment.

“Judge not, that you be not judged.”

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

She’d be wise to take that advice. The revelation that Kim has been married four times has given her critics plenty of ammunition, especially since the county clerk has insisted that she’s refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples “under God’s authority” and bases that defiance on a strict interpretation of the Bible.

Kim Davis respects the sanctity of marriage but has been married four times?? Hmmm.

— Andy Cohen (@Andy) September 1, 2015

We wouldn't care about #KimDavis' life choices if she wasn't standing in the way of other's right to marriage…. http://t.co/4y6pMiRpiI

— UniteWomenOrg® (@UniteWomenOrg) September 2, 2015

So Kim Davis, that Kentucky marriage clerk, has been married four times. Glad to see she's preserving the sanctity of marriage.

— bring on the dancing horses (@inthefade) September 2, 2015

Except, the Bible also covers divorce in rather strict terms — namely, that it is also a sin. But according to her supporters, her sinful past has been wiped clean and forgiven since she converted to Christianity — something she promised her dying mother-in-law she’d do, the Washington Post reported.

The court records don’t lie. U.S. News and World Report and the New York Daily News both dragged them out and peered into Davis’ personal life. These records show Davis has been married four times — and divorced three times in 21 years. The first was in 1994, and more followed in 2006 and 2008.

She also had twins born out of wedlock, five months after divorcing her first husband. The children were fathered by her third husband and adopted by her second. And that is also considered a sin, according to Davis’ own strict interpretation of the Bible.

The four-times-married Davis has prevented dozens of other couples — including same-sex couples eager to take advantage of the federal law recognizing their union — from getting a marriage license. Kim has turned away one gay couple five times. Another was so infuriated when they were denied a marriage license again that they filmed their confrontation with the clerk and put it online.

“I pay your salary,” David Moore said Tuesday — his relationship with his fiancé has lasted longer than any of Kim’s marriages. “I pay you to discriminate against me right now, that’s what I’m paying for.”

But her supporters contend the details of Kim’s past are completely irrelevant to this current controversy, including Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel.

“I know she was married more than once – I’ve heard three [times.] It’s a matter of fact that she’s been married multiple times. (But) it’s not really relevant, it’s something that happened in her past. It’s something that’s not relevant to the issue at hand. She was 180 degrees changed.”

In fact, Davis converted to Christianity four years ago. She’s a member of the Apostolic Church, which believes in “high moral boundaries,” and decries smoking and drinking and interprets the Bible literally. Adherents also don’t cut their hair and dress modestly.

Kim’s beliefs are getting her in plenty of trouble. The American Civil Liberties Union wants her to be severely fined. The State Legislature can impeach her, but probably won’t, and she can’t be fired because she’s elected, and refuses to resign. A federal judge will decide Thursday whether not she’s in contempt.

The revelation that the defiant clerk has been married four times points to a confusing hypocrisy on Davis’ part, a practice of applying Biblical teachings to other people, but not to herself. But here to clear up why divorce isn’t as great a sin as being gay is fellow county clerk Casey Davis, speaking to U.S. News.

“I don’t have any problem with that whatever, how she was before. If the Lord can forgive her, surely I can. That’s something that’s forgivable just like any other sin, but if you continue in it and live in it, there’s a grave danger in that.”

[Photo Courtesy Twitter]