Posted on 11/14/2003 10:44:35 AM PST by Viva Le Dissention
God joins guns in local politics
By BRENDEN SAGER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kennesaw's motto is "Freedom First," but perhaps the council should consider "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."
The Kennesaw City Council's recent decision to pass a resolution supporting government's recognition of God appears to have played well on Main Street. Several locals said they agreed with the measure.
Mayor Leonard Church proposed the law on the eve of his Nov. 4 re-election, and won in a landslide.
The city of about 20,000 first put itself on the national political map more than 20 years ago by passing a resolution requiring homeowners to own guns and ammo -- an ordinance adopted as a reply to an Illinois town that banned handguns.
The God resolution was passed to lend support to other communities throughout the South that are installing religious displays in public buildings. The resolution was adopted "to urge all American citizens to proclaim to every level of government . . . its responsibility to publicly recognize God as the foundation of our national heritage." The measure passed unanimously as a crowd of more than 100 urged the council on.
But do laws supporting God and guns make Kennesaw a more attractive place to live? Some locals say yes.
Margie Nazerian, 68, a 17-year Kennesaw resident, said she supported the city's weapons and worship measures.
"I agree with that. We do support God," Nazerian said. "I think God should stay in government. The nation was founded on [religion]."
Nazerian, who said that prayer should be returned to public schools as well, said local politics didn't so much play into her family's decision to move to Kennesaw.
"We lived in Marietta and wanted to get out of some of the congestion, and it come right up with us."
Other residents agree that politics had little to do with their decisions to live in Kennesaw. Five-year Kennesaw resident Tonya Bolden said she moved to the city for its affordable housing and to stay close to family. But she supported the God resolution.
"We're Christians," said Bolden, 37. "Religion is the foundation of our government."
Bolden said she did not feel strongly about the gun law: "I just thought it was an odd law . . . but it doesn't really bother me."
Jerry Davis, 60, said he supports the God measure, too. Though he does not live in the city, Davis has owned Kennesaw Motors in downtown Kennesaw for more than 30 years.
"It's good to support God," Davis said.
"People who don't like that [resolution] should be shipped back to wherever they came from."
The most vocal opponent of the God measure was Church's opposition in last week's election, Peter Popham, who said Church entered the resolution as a political stunt. Church denied the charge, saying that Kennesaw needed to act in solidarity with other communities considering public religious displays, such as Cherokee and Barrow counties.
When Kennesaw passed its gun law, the small town was on the cutting edge of national politics. Much of the nation was embroiled in a debate about violence in inner cities. In the early 1980s, Morton Grove, Ill., passed a law banning handgun ownership. In response, Kennesaw grabbed national headlines when it adopted its law requiring homeowners to keep a gun.
But with the God resolution, Kennesaw is in a supporting role. The Cherokee County Commission voted last week to post a copy of the Ten Commandments and other significant documents, such as the U.S. Constitution and the Magna Carta, in its courthouse. Barrow has had a Ten Commandments display in its courthouse for more than a year.
The debate over displaying religious documents in public buildings got hot after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order to remove a granite Ten Commandments display from the Alabama Judicial Center in Montgomery.
Church said Kennesaw's God resolution was based on a similar measure adopted by officials in Green County, Tenn.
Councilman Bob Baker said officials opted for a resolution rather than a physical display to be more inclusive to residents. Baker said regardless of religion -- Christian, Jews, Muslims and even atheists -- people have a shared belief in a unifying force.
"You can even call it destiny," Baker said. "It's the belief that there's a larger presence in the universe than us."
Two days after Kennesaw adopted its resolution, Cherokee County commissioners voted to display a copy of the Ten Commandments in its buildings along with other historical documents.
"If we stay on the cutting edge of things," Church said, "I'm proud to be part of it."
Douglas county high class of '85 here.
"They have had only 1 murder there since the law was passed, and it was a stabbing. And the place has grown 10-fold or more since I moved away(the little 2 lane road I lived on is now a 4 lane divided highway!(Wade Green road)"
Didn't that road used to be called something else?
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