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“Religious freedom” means the freedom to practice your religion. This freedom does not grant a license to impose your religious beliefs on other people, but that’s exactly what’s going on in Kentucky (and elsewhere) on an increasing basis, as religious right operatives continue using this excuse to rationalize their blatant bigotry.

Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis is facing possible jail time for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples, and several of the current Republican candidates for president are coming to her defense, arguing that she has a “religious freedom” exemption from following the law.

For example, Mike Huckabee, who explicitly puts his Christian beliefs above the government in a statement reported by Right Wing Watch:

“Kim is asking the perfect question: ‘Under what law am I authorized to issue homosexual couples a marriage license?’ That simple question is giving many in Congress a civics lesson that they never got in grade school,” Huckabee added. “The Supreme Court cannot and did not make a law. They only made a ruling on a law. Congress makes the laws. Because Congress has made no law allowing for same sex marriage, Kim does not have the constitutional authority to issue a marriage license to homosexual couples.

“Kim is a person of great conviction,” Huckabee continued. “When people of conviction fight for what’s right they often pay a price, but if they don’t and we surrender, we will pay a far greater price for bowing to the false God of judicial supremacy. Government is not God. No man - and certainly no unelected lawyer - has the right to redefine the laws of nature or of nature’s God. Five unelected lawyers have abused their power by ruling in favor of a national right to same-sex marriage with no legal precedent and with nothing in our Constitution to back it up. They have violated American’s most fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution - religious liberty.

“I stand with Kim Davis and every American of faith under attack by Washington elites who have nothing but disdain for us, our faith and the Constitution,” Huckabee concluded.

Texas extremist Ted Cruz actually compares Kim Davis to the founders of the United States:

Our nation was founded by men and women fleeing religious oppression. They sought out a new world where they could worship God Almighty with all their heart, mind, and soul.

Sadly, we’ve seen a war on faith break out across our nation, and we must be vigilant to protect the free exercise of religion — a value enshrined in our Constitution.

We should make it possible for believers, such as Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis in Kentucky, to hold government jobs without having to violate their religious beliefs. We can work together to come up with alternative ways to ensure that government functions are accomplished without infringing on religious liberty.

Bobby Jindal cites the First Amendment of the Constitution, but ignores its Establishment Clause that mandates the separation of church and state:

“I don’t think anybody should have to choose between following their conscience, their religious beliefs and giving up their job or facing financial sanctions,” he told the Huffington Post when asked if Davis should resign. “We are seeing government today discriminate against whether it’s clerks, florists, musicians or others. I think that’s wrong. I think you should be able to keep your job and follow your conscience.”

Jindal said that the Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage should not take away Davis’ First Amendment rights.

“I absolutely do believe people have a First Amendment right, a constitutional right. I don’t think the court can take that away,” he said.

And Marco Rubio says the government should protect the rights of anti-gay bigots to discriminate against same sex couples without losing their government jobs:

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said on Wednesday that the government should respect the beliefs of the Kentucky county clerk who has denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples, arguing that society needs to accommodate public officials who object to carrying out duties they say violate their religious beliefs.

“We should seek a balance between government’s responsibility to abide by the laws of our republic and allowing people to stand by their religious convictions,” Mr. Rubio said in a statement to The New York Times, his first public remarks on the case.

“While the clerk’s office has a governmental duty to carry out the law,” he added, “there should be a way to protect the religious freedom and conscience rights of individuals working in the office.”

There’s no doubt any more that the Republican Party has become a party that openly advocates theocracy — a system of government that affords special privileges to right wing Protestant Christians and employs the “religious freedom” scam to trick people into accepting their blatant disregard for the US Constitution and the principles upon which this nation was founded. This country will be in a bad place if these religious fanatics are allowed to run roughshod over the rights of others.

Just in: anti-gay Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis has been held in contempt of court and taken into custody by US Marshals.