Ten Commandments Plaque Sullivan County Tennessee
Ten Commandments display
Sullivan County Courthouse
Blountville, Tennessee

Two Protest at Sullivan County Tennessee Plaque Ceremony

By RICK WAGNER

12/13/99

Bristol Herald Courier

BLOUNTVILLE While about 35 people gathered inside the old Sullivan County Courthouse Sunday afternoon for the dedication of a Ten Commandments plaque, two protesters complained they could not go inside. Carletta Sims, a Hawkins County atheist, and Lewis Loflin, a deist from Bristol Virginia, carried placards in protest of the "private" ceremony in a public building.

"We dedicate this plaque here today as a plaque that will be read and remembered by our children and our grandchildren and their children," said the Rev. Tom Suiter of Indian Springs Baptist Church. "We pray that this will not just be a plaque but it will be a representation of the kind of moral and civil government that we have in the coming days," he said.

The American Heritage Documents display, which includes the Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, was placed on a courthouse wall by 'die Sullivan Baptist Association, a group of 30 Kingsport-area Southern Baptist churches.

The County Commission authorized placement of the plaque in the courthouse last year. All of the costs were borne through donations collected by the association, and the plaque was installed earlier this month. "These documents contain the founding principles of our country. They enshrine our freedoms," said Ann Bennett, the event's organizer and the Southern Baptist Association's director of Christian education.

Outside, Sims hoisted a placard that pro claimed the plaque's placement in a public building a violation of the separation of church and state. And Loflin said he. was protesting because he was denied equal access when the county rejected his proposal to also erect a display in honor of Dayton, Tenn., school teacher John Scopes, who was tried in the 1920s for teaching evolution.

Sims and Loflin claimed county Sheriffs Deputy Paul Taylor told them not to go into the private ceremony, but Taylor denied that. Sims said she went into the building and took a photograph of the plaque before many people had arrived and that Taylor later told her not to go past the steps leading to the front door.

Taylor, however, said he merely told Sims and Loflin that County Commissioner Marvin Hyatt of Piney Flats had an invitation to the event. No one was challenged as uninvited at the door, and two doors were propped open before the event began. Sims and Loflin said they also read media accounts of a news release from Bennett that indicated the ceremony was private. Bennett said no one was turned away.

"I intentionally opened the doer," she said. "We certainly didn't exclude anybody who wanted to come in. It's private but not closed.... I can't provide refreshments for 150,000 people in Sullivan County." Commissioner Mike Gonce of Indian Springs, sponsor of the commission resolution allowing the plaque's placement, also pointed out the event was open and thanked Joe Campbell of Blountville and Jerry Dykes of Central Heights; who often speak out at commission meetings for their support of the resolution.

"Our roots are firmly planted in these documents," Gonce said. "Our forefathers provided for us, (the documents) have passed for us from generation to generation. We have upheld our responsibility, ensuring that our history is never forgotten. May these documents hang forever. Others attending the dedication included state Rep. Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol, and County Commissioners Howard Patrick of Bloomingdale, Q.W. Ferguson of West Carters Valley, Randy Morrell of Holston Valley, Archie Pierce of Kingsport and Gary Mayes of Kingsport.

Gonce said County Executive Gil Hodges and Commissioner Buddy King of Bristol could not attend because of illness. "It represents a lot of the reasons this country was founded," Morel said of the plaque. We felt like this was what the majority of residents in Sullivan County wanted."

Bennett, Morrell, Hyatt and Mayes said they are not concerned about potential lawsuits, which may be filed by the American Civil Liberties Union or Loflin. "We are doing a perfectly legal presentation," Bennett said after the ceremony. "We'll let the ACLU worry about it. We're not going to."

Back to Sullivan County Religious Wars


God protect me from your followers

Quoting the Kingsport Times-News (1-18-2004)
Sullivan County Tennessee attorney Dan Street on the Ten Commandments,

"It seems clearer and clearer and clearer that we are promoting a particular religion, and that's a violation of the Constitution. The Constitution is the one document that protects minorities, and just because most people feel the Christian faith or the Jewish faith is the right faith, that doesn't mean they have a right to impose it on everyone else.

Plenty of Christians and Jews who may follow the Ten Commandments, but don't believe they should be displayed in public buildings. Most of the time, however, those people don't come forward with their opinion because they are afraid of being chastised. People think if you want the Ten Commandments down you're an atheist, and that's just not true.