To the Editor:
The claim by Ryan T. Anderson that a refusal to issue a marriage license by a public official falls under the rubric of religious freedom is a frail and cynical policy stance.
The exercise of religion is not practiced in a clerk’s office. A gay couple’s marriage license does not diminish the issuer’s relationship with the deity or the church.
A public official has a public duty to do what the law requires. If that is beyond one’s comprehension, then the proper response is to find another line of work. The North Carolina workaround is a ploy that is too clever by half to sustain a discriminatory practice.
STEPHEN WERTHEIMER
Boca Raton, Fla.
