The religious right’s martyr machine now kicks into high gear, with its new Kim Davis marketing mania.

Now that the Kim Davis daily circus is starting to close down, it’s time for the religious right to start marketing her martyrdom to “prove” just how persecuted Christians in America really are. Of course, they’re not, but theÂ Family Research Council has rarely let facts get in the way of a good anti-gay hate campaign.



Tony Perkins has just announced Kim Davis will be the recipient of the second-annual Cost of Discipleship award. Last year’s recipient was Mariam Ibraheem, theÂ Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death for her Christian faith. She later gave birth while shackled in jail, but ultimately was released.

Her story, absolutely terrible and an actual story of Christian persecution abroad, of course makes Kim Davis’ tale of lawbreaking and faux Christian martyrdom all the more small.

Davis will receive theÂ Cost of Discipleship Award at the 10th annualÂ Values Voter Summit on September 25.

“After meeting with her last week, I can tell you that Kim Davis wasnâ€™t looking for this fight, but she is not running from it either,” Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council said in a statement today.Â

“What militant secularists are almost certainly afraid of is what is coming to pass: courage is breeding courage. When other people might have cowered in fear, Kim took a stand. And today, millions of Americans stand with her and for the religious freedom upon which our nation was founded.”

Of course, Davis’ refusal to simply do her job and not confuse issuing a marriage license with blessing a marriage has nothing to do with the First Amendment or the “religious freedom upon which our nation was founded,” but rather with a out-of-control sense of privilege and anti-gay animus.

“While the [Supreme] Court redefined marriage, it did not redefine the First Amendment,” Perkins said. “Thank goodness for people of courage like Kim Davis, who refuses to let religious liberty be trampled by legal tyranny. We applaud her. In the face of intense pressure, she’s shown more courage than 99 percent of the elected officials in Kentucky.”

Now #KimDavis is an award winning obstructionist. https://t.co/uOolGhIWcD â€” A Religion Critic (@areligioncritic) September 14, 2015

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