Really, Pope Francis?

I am so disappointed in Pope Francis.  I wanted to like him.  I really did like him. I liked his message.  I liked his treatment of the poor and disenfranchised.  I thought when he came to this country, he did everything we expected of him.  Then, he met with Kim Davis.  You remember her - she's the county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples on religious grounds.  Unlike the rest of the people who are upset about her meeting with the Pope, I am not annoyed on civil rights grounds alone.  I am upset because the Vatican lumped this meeting in the same communique as the Pope's meeting with a group of nuns who are suing the government because of the contraceptive provisions of the Affordable Care Act.   With all due respect to his Holiness, the two are not the same.  Certainly, both are conscientious objectors, but that's where the similarity ends.

This country was founded by people who believed in religious freedom.  They believed in it so strongly that they wanted to ensure that no person was treated differently by the government because of their religious beliefs, or the religious beliefs of their government officials.  That is why we have the separation of church and state:  religion is meant to have no part in our government.  That means that elected government officials are to uphold the law no matter their religious beliefs.  If they can't do that, they have no business serving as government officials.   I respect Kim Davis' right to be a conscientious objector as a private citizen, just as I respect the nuns' right to object to the contraceptive requirements of the Affordable Care Act.  The difference is the nuns are private citizens using legal channels to determine their rights; Kim Davis is an elected government official.  I do not respect her right to subvert the laws of the Kentucky and of the United States by refusing to uphold the laws which guide the position to which she was elected because of those beliefs.  Kim Davis violated the law by denying legally recognized civil rights to a discrete group of people.

We all need to remember that the Pope is not just a religious leader; he is the leader of a sovereign power.   I am disappointed that no one in the Papal hierarchy thought of that before he met with Ms. Davis.  I am certain that his Holiness thought that all he was doing was giving support to someone who felt strongly about their religious beliefs.  I hope that he did not intend to send a message to the LGBT community.  By meeting with her, he and his country condoned the subversion of the principles upon which this country was founded. He condoned Kim Davis' violation of the laws of the United States.  By meeting with Kim Davis, Pope Francis insulted his hosts, and that makes him a bad guest.  Here in the Trenches.