Denton County Texas, where I live, has made no such decision as you state. Denton County will be issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples beginning tomorrow morning at 8 AM. There are without question some people in Texas, and probably in every state, who do not like the new SCOTUS ruling, however they will comply with the law at some point.
Dallas, our second largest city was issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples last week Friday, as were most county clerk's offices around the state of Texas. Even if one county clerk in the state did refuse to issue licenses to same sex couples that would not equal the entire state challenging SCOTUS or U.S. law. Juli Luke, Denton Country clerk did not say she would NEVER issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. She said her office was not prepared to do so on such short notice and has since announced that licenses will be issued from her office beginning tomorrow.
Agree that her office should have been prepared to begin issuing such licenses on Friday because she had to know a ruling was imminent and that compliance would be required in order to keep her job.
Being a Yankee living in Texas for more than 30 years, I've noticed that employers and others tolerate tardiness way more here in the South than it was ever tolerated up North, so perhaps Ms. Luke was hoping to challenge SCOTUS, or perhaps she was just indulging her office in what seems to be a common, almost traditional affliction (not being on time) here in Texas.
Anyone working in government on any level who wants to keep their job will comply with the law. Most county clerks are elected in this country and so they have spent money (often their own) campaigning for that office. Not a lot of money compared to running for other offices, but I suppose that is relative to how much the person running has to spend in the first place compared to their resources.
Once removed from office for refusing to comply with the law -- which all elected officials and many hired wage earning state employees must swear to uphold when accepting or taking an office, it is unlikely they would hold such an office again.
With technology being what it is, making it possible to know what's going on pretty much anywhere in the civilized world, it is possible to check your facts before making a humongous issue over something that doesn't exist.
The fact is that no public official and no one with any authority or administrative responsibility in Denton County Texas is challenging U.S. law or SCOTUS. Nor has any such person challenged SCOTUS from the beginning.
If you merely wanted to discuss how people feel generally about the SCOTUS ruling on same sex marriage why not just say so? Why invent lies? Juli Luke has never said she would not issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. She said her office was unprepared at that time. She has since announced that licenses to same sex couples will be issued beginning tomorrow, which is the very next business day after denying 3 couples a license because her office was not prepared to process them. I hardly call that a challenge to the SCOTUS ruling. Poor planning, bad judgment, and many things, but not a challenge to United States law.
Texas is no longer a country, but a state and that has been so for a long time. Texas has benefitted from being a state of the United States in many ways and no thinking person will seriously consider succession. With no U.S. military to protect it, Texas would become a terrorist haven. Likely the U.S. would have to occupy Texas and enforce martial law. Wouldn't that be more fun than a barrel of monkeys for the citizens of Texas because a few people who want to force their own religious beliefs down everyone's throat decided to cause trouble?
Marriage is a areligious term. Civil Union would be the best way for government to refer to partners in a permanent relationship. How most people define marriage is based at least 99% on their religious views. If you call yourself an atheist and still insist on a religious definition of marriage, perhaps you should rethink your beliefs on religion. Maybe you aren't so different from other religious people who want to force their own religious definitions (beliefs) of various things onto other people. Maybe you have more confidence and belief in God and a hereafter than you thought. Ask yourself why you accept the religious definition of marriage if you don't believe in God? Most laws originate from Biblical laws.
As a Christian, I believe everyone will answer for themselves regarding every thought, every word out of their mouths or written, and every deed, good or bad. I can't answer for you nor can you answer for me even if we wanted to. In this regard, feminists who believe God is sexist are wrong. What could be more equal or speak more loudly to equality than requiring women to stand alone before God and answer for themselves and their own thoughts, words, and actions? No man, husband, or father of a daughter past the age of 7, will be expected or allowed to answer for any female human.
It is never our calling as Christians to judge other people. God alone is qualified to judge any and all humans. Given that most humans can't manage their own affairs very well, I doubt very much that God would engage any one of us to assist Him in His responsibility to judge should He fall behind in His responsibility. Oddly, it is those humans least qualified who seem to expect His call at any moment requesting their assistance in judging. While they wait they are busy keeping their judging skills up to par and imagine themselves so perfect they can render opinions even though no one, especially God, is interested in their judgment.
In fact, judging other people is a sin. Yes, read your Bibles dear fellow Christians. No one except God is qualified to judge another person, so however much a person may be chomping at the bit to become God's right hand assistant in this endeavor, God has in fact given them other work to do which they are often ignoring in their anticipation of being summoned to the Great Court in Heaven to assist in the judgment.
So long as a person is not hurting another person, I say live and let live. How is persecuting someone for any reason a Christian behavior? True homosexuals are born. They do not choose to be the way they are. Do a few people choose that lifestyle just for the shock value? No doubt a few do, but when did it become correct, reasonable, fair, or just to punish everyone for the sins of one or two people?
Instead of taking issue with how other people live because it's different from your own lifestyle and choosing, why not be grateful, thrilled, and happy, that you are able to live your own life as you wish? Why not rejoice in your ability to worship as you see fit? Why not be so happy that you can choose where you will live, who you will marry or if you will marry, and what work you will do during your life? People haven't always had those choices or even any influence on them. Circumstances, traditions, parents, and other things have made those decisions for many people throughout history. So if you have so much freedom, who are you to deny that same freedom to other people just because they are not perfect like yourself?
Some of us are aware that perfect people exist in this world. Yes, we know because those people are very noisy about their perfection, demanding that everyone do this or think that because they have decided in their perfection, that we should all conform to their ways.
Oh, it's God's ways you say, not your own? Well, everyone has their own interpretation of what God's ways are and some people even have their own God. That is allowed by law in this country. You don't have to agree with them, or join their club, but neither are they required to agree with you or join your club.
In the end, for those people capable of thought, we are all so far short of perfection that we really don't have time to worry about someone else's perfection even if we could somehow force perfection onto others.
A wise person will spend their time and energy bringing glory to God by making sure they are themselves the best Christian they can be. By making sure they are tending to the work God has given them -- and I promise you, persecuting other people and judging other people is not work God gives to anybody, not even your perfect self.
While a few people with very loud mouths no doubt object to the recent SCOTUS rulings, they will have to learn to live with them or spend a lot of time being fruitlessly unhappy. Let others live as they wish so long as they are not forcing their ideas onto others or harming others and thank God, or just be grateful, that you too, can live your life your way. It's a two way street.
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