SEVIERVILLE — After drawing a crowd large enough to circle the entire courthouse block last month, defenders of the County Commission’s practice of starting their sessions with a Christian prayer are planning another rally to precede Monday’s meeting of that group.

New Center Baptist Church Pastor Tony Sutton spearheaded the April gathering, which drew hundreds to prayer and singing before the commission’s last meeting. He says he’s hopeful the second event, which is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday, will be even bigger than the first.

“I want to see a multitude of people there,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Mountain Press. “I believe we should show folks that we too are citizens of this wonderful nation and we too have rights. I applaud people for standing on what they believe.”

Supporters of the prayer see themselves as defenders of the American way of life and argue the fact Sevier Countians predominantly identify themselves as Christians prove it’s right for the commission to say the Lord’s Prayer at its meetings. In postings on The Mountain Press’ Web site, some have even suggested those who disagree with the practice should move somewhere else.

On the other side of the fight is an apparently smaller group of local citizens who have as of yet not held any similar public events and who mostly want to keep their identities a secret. At least one of those folks called in a complaint to Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), a Washington-based legal group that fights court battles on the grounds of First Amendment violations.

Several of their number have also signed on to a lawsuit AU is set to file demanding that the prayer stop and that a picture depicting Jesus, the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer be removed from the meeting room, AU Senior Litigation Counsel Alex Luchenitser has said. The group argues the constant recitation of the Christian prayer amounts to an establishment of an official religion, which the First Amendment forbids. Additionally, the practice could unfairly and illegally alienate those who are not Christians, with freedom of religion and from persecution because of one’s beliefs one of the core tenets of America’s foundation, Luchenitser said.

For his part, Sutton has done little to combat the First Amendment questions, instead calling on Christians both locally and nationally not to stand up for their beliefs.

“It’s time to stand and let the world know that we are a religious nation,” Sutton told The Mountain Press. “South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, all states please come; we need your help. We welcome people from around the world.”

Sutton and many other prayer supporters see the issue not as a question about whether the county is violating the Establishment Clause, but rather as an epic battle against outside forces that would tell them to give up their religion. In the Bible Belt, they say, that sort of push can’t be successful or it will equal ripples across the country.We need to show this nation that we are serious about this issue,” Sutton said. “I don’t hate anyone and I am not trying to impose anything on anyone, but we do live in a nation that was founded on these principles. To rid this nation of all religious symbols and acts would be a travesty. Not only would it be a travesty, it would devastate the world. We are not only the Bible Belt, but possibly the buckle. If we can not beat this thing here, what hope will the rest of this world have? It is our duty as a Christian to take a stand.”

dhodges@themountainpress.com