The Poor Persecuted Ruth Sheldon
Today’s featured guest is Ruth Sheldon, but before we get to Ruth’s story, don’t you just love the intense music NOM uses at the beginning of their videos? Ruth was the Town Clerk for Granby for nearly 16 years. She wants us to be sure we know that she loved the job, but was forced to give it up because of those icky gay people expecting to be treated fairly. She wrote in her resignation letter that “New York State passed the same-sex marriage law, a law which violates my conscience and my faith.”
We get a ways in here before we find out that Ruth went to the town attorney, who actually gave her a way to accommodate her beliefs. He said the town could quit giving out marriage licenses altogether. I suppose the people in Granby would then just go to the Clerk of Court or the County Clerk’s office. But despite having an “out,” Ruth decided she just had to quit and make a video about it for NOM. Because if she hadn’t quit and just started not providing the service to anyone (which would be fair), then she couldn’t claim to have been persecuted for her religious beliefs.
Ruth quotes some scripture near the end of the video about standing for what you believe, but I’d quote another scripture, Micah 6:8: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”