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Submitted by awoodle on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 3:45pm

The NS online site has the following lead at 2:45 p.m., but when you click on "full story" you get bounced...any ideas why?

Commission passes 'God' resolution
Knox County Commission passed a resolution last night that set out "to urge all American citizens who have similar beliefs to proclaim to every level of government its responsibility to publicly recognize God as the foundation of our National Heritage."

Anne Woodle

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awoodle's blog

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when you click on "full

Submitted by Knoxquerious on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 3:54pm.

when you click on "full story" you get bounced...any ideas why?

God is angry.

Works now

Submitted by D Mac on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 4:02pm.

It is up and running now. You will get to read about Lumpy's wonderful new friends.

Except Lumpy didn't call

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 4:15pm.

Except Lumpy didn't call them "Muslims"; he called them "Moslems."

Why the heck did R. Larry need to hear from the clergy? Does Doug Sanger's viewpoint count more than mine?

Oops, sorry. Dumb question.

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." - John Maynard Keynes

Be it resolved...

Submitted by marat on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 5:48pm.

THIS is a ground-breaking bit of news from the Bible Belt. What are Christians afraid of?

A major metropolitan

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 6:18pm.

A major metropolitan legislative body with a member named "Lumpy" passing such a resolution is evidence that Nietzsche may have been right.

Game over

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 8:29pm.

Personally, I thought it was a grand idea Hammond had to add the citizens "with similar beliefs" clause to the resolution so that we could put this dawg-ma to bed.

Of course, folks "with similar beliefs" would support the resolution. Why wouldn't they? But Hammond's amendment also acknowledges, by implication, what we all knew in the first place, namely that some folks just don't share those beliefs--and that's OK.

My read is that the resulting resolution is quite Democratic, and its sponsors don't seem to mind that it is also totally ineffectual.

Anyway, game over. Thanks, Mike.

Mmm, interesting

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 10:30pm.

Mmm, interesting interpretation. I read it more as Hammond having it both ways, which I thought was sort of wimpy.

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." - John Maynard Keynes

Laughably altered

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 10:50pm.

I dunno, Rachel--I think if I were an out-of-towner, reading the final text of that resolution for the very first time, I would laugh out loud and say "Well, THAT one got watered down considerably, didn't it?" To me, that final text is really no statement at all...

I guess I'm more impressed that Hammond disposed of the darned thing, never to return again.

I'd have been more impressed

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 11:26pm.

I'd have been more impressed if he'd said what Tank Strickland did - that govt had no business in religion - and voted against it, or refused to even vote on it on the grounds that it was not proper Commission business.

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." - John Maynard Keynes

I would think this little

Submitted by tenbuck2 on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 8:54pm.

I would think this little stunt from county commission is nothing but a distraction to keep the "sheep" from focusing on the real issues at hand.

Hmm...let's see...what issues has county commission dealt with lately? Illegal appointees, massive fraud, unchecked spending, an on-going and ridiculous internal feud. Basically the average Knox County citizen looks at the commission with disgust. What could be a better distraction than to play the faith card?

I thought the same thing. It

Submitted by jbr on Wed, 2007/12/19 - 7:16am.

I thought the same thing. It reminded me of a couple times I have heard some tough questions be asked regarding questionable roads being proposed and the roadbuilder/MPC type suddenly blurt out awkwardly 'Are you for safety?' to get the questioners off track.

I used to think it was like someone saying 'Don't you love God?' in middle of probing questions to get you off their trail. A few years later, son of a gun, here we are.

I think it gets back to this earlier post ...

"Do-gooders can become the worst cheats
Study: Sense of moral superiority might lead to rationalizing bad behavior"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21820808/

cross post of mine from the blab

Submitted by cafkia on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 10:41pm.

--
"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."

Thomas Jefferson

--
"The Bible is not my book, and Christianity is not my religion.
I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements
of Christian dogma."

Abraham Lincoln

--
"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church,
by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church,
by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of.
My own mind is my own church."
Thomas Paine

--
"The United States is in no sense founded
upon the Christian religion."

George Washington

bonus

--
CHRISTIAN, n.
One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely
inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs
of his neighbor.

One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as
they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
--Ambrose Bierce,(THE DEVILS DICTIONARY)

extra bonus

--
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
-- Matthew 6: 5,6
__________________
CAFKIA

-----------------------------------------------------------

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.
- William G. McAdoo

Amen, Reverend

Submitted by Factchecker on Tue, 2007/12/18 - 11:31pm.

Beautiful mini-sermon, Father Dupree. I couldn't have put it better than them fellers you quoted.

Patriotism and Religion...

Submitted by Elrod on Wed, 2007/12/19 - 12:08am.

...are the last refuges of the scoundrels. It's as if the Commission is TRYING to prove atheists' point that religion is just a convenient distraction from reality.

Does the County Mayor have

Submitted by Somebody on Wed, 2007/12/19 - 1:00am.

Does the County Mayor have to sign or otherwise respond to such resolutions? I'm thinking so, and I'm thinking one of the reasons for passing this resolution was to put something on Ragsdale's desk that he would refuse to endorse (because it's historically innacurate and probably unconstitutional on both the state and federal levels), which would then allow his opponents to accuse him of being 'against God.' Perhaps I'm attributing too much strategic thinking (or just too much thinking) to the Commision sponsors of this idiocy. Hammond's watering down of the resolutoin gives Ragsdale something he can hold his nose and sign, and eliminates the political game that I think was afoot.

Seems to me if there's a

Submitted by CBT on Wed, 2007/12/19 - 5:47am.

Seems to me if there's a political motive here it's to get some Commissioners on record as being 'against God'. 'Dear Ms. Voter, have you heard, Commissioner/candidate X voted against honoring God, I think that's awful, please vote for me'. Same is true for those voting for it. They can't be accused of being 'against God'.

Chad's exactly right. This

Submitted by Bbeanster on Wed, 2007/12/19 - 9:46am.

Chad's exactly right.
This is like the notorious anti gay resolution in 1993 -- those who are so inclined can use it against candidates who are "against" God -- or "for" gays. Ivan, who used to be City Council's designated prayer (meaning that he prayed aloud before every meeting) loves to flaunt his piety. Too bad he doesn't just show it by the way he lives.

As an aside, he's been elected more times to more offices than anybody on that commission. He has been a city school board member, a City Council member and now a two-time County Commissioner -- all without two brain cells to rub together, which I guess makes him smarter than his constituents.

You realize that

Submitted by Rachel on Wed, 2007/12/19 - 2:28pm.

You realize that he-who-shall-not-be-named is going to write another post about how dare the TBG slur such a good Christian public servant....

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." - John Maynard Keynes

Ho Ho Holier Than Thou

Submitted by S Carpenter on Wed, 2007/12/19 - 9:39am.

Scott McNutt has written an excellent "news" item concerning the Knox County Commission resolution urging all people who believe in Santa Claus to act on their beliefs.