County rejects 'God' resolution

A board of county commissioners in Tennessee has narrowly voted to dump a proposed resolution encouraging citizens to recognize God as the foundation of American heritage and government.

By a 10-9 vote, the Know County commissioners approved a motion to withdraw the resolution from their agenda, reports the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

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Critics of the resolution praised the action as a vote for diversity.

"This is a victory for our community. It shows we are a diverse community," Attica Scott, executive director of the Knoxville regional office of the National Conference for Community and Justice, told the paper. The organization actively opposed the resolution.

The resolution's sponsor, Commissioner Ivan Harmon, said he may bring the issue back up in January.

"Let them (commissioners) get through the holidays celebrating Jesus' birthday," Harmon said, according to the report.

Harmon said he was "very disappointed [with the vote], but proud of the nine (commissioners) that voted for it."

The resolution is similar to ones other Tennessee counties have passed recently.

Since first being passed in a non-binding vote last week, the resolution has come under fire from certain segments of the community.

According to the Knoxville paper, Commissioner Phil Guthe, who had voted for the resolution last week and voted on Monday to withdraw it, said he got more phone calls, faxes and e-mails "objecting to this than anything on commission in my five years."

Guthe told the paper the issue became "very emotional" and that he felt some of the commissioners "were trying to impress constituency and maybe others were trying to impress God, and we're not supposed to do either."

He is also quoted as saying peoples' relationships with God are "very personal" and that the resolution "was very impersonal."

The report said Al Minor, a former chaplain at the University of Tennessee and retired Episcopal priest, called the vote "a wise decision. It is essentially American not to support religion."

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