A Tennessee county plans to take up a resolution begging God for mercy and asking that the deity not smite their community " like Sodom and Gomorrah" because of the Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage.
The "resolution condemning judicial tyranny and petitioning God’s mercy" was written by Blount County commissioner Karen Miller and will come up for consideration at Tuesday night's meeting.
Miller's resolution claims the "so help me God" part of the oath taken by lawmakers means they are committed not only to upholding the U.S. Constitution but also "higher Natural Law."
As such, the resolution calls on lawmakers throughout the state "to protect Natural Marriage, from lawless court opinions, AND THE financial schemes of the enemies of righteousness wherever the source AND defend the Moral Standards of Tennessee."
It continues:
"WE adopt this Resolution before God that He pass us by in His Coming Wrath and not destroy our County as He did Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities. As the Passover Lamb was a means of salvation to the ancient Children of Israel, so we stand upon the safety of the Lamb of God to save us.
WE adopt this Resolution begging His favor in light of the fact that we have been forced to comply and recognize that the State of Tennessee, like so many other God-fearing States, MAY have fallen prey to a lawless judiciary in legalizing what God and the Bible expressly forbids."
At least some of the county's voters are unhappy with the resolution.
"That is not a primary characteristic of the God I know and love," Ginny West Case, a retired Christian educator in the United Methodist Church, told the Daily Times, a local newspaper. "I’m tired of God being used as a battering ram. The Bible, over and over, tells us God is the God of love and grace and mercy."
She added: "I think the wrath of God is more inclined to fall on those people who are so condemning and judgmental."
Both PFLAG Maryville and the Tennessee Equality Project are calling on supporters to attend the meeting to protest the resolution, and write to the commission via an online feedback form, which can be found here.
The resolution is the seventh item on Tuesday night's new business agenda -- just after setting school board salaries, and just before a letter from the state comptroller regarding approval of the budget.
Miller was elected earlier this year.
“I want to make a difference in the county,” she told The Daily Times in April. “I feel Blount County’s taxpayers need accountable representation. I want to work for and not against the citizens.”
Blount County has a population of 126,339, according to U.S. Census data, and includes part of the Knoxville area, but not Knoxville itself.
(h/t Raw Story)
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