The prayer fight

Forsyth County better hope that 850 Christians can't be wrong. That's the number of people who showed up at the county commissioners' meeting Monday night to show support for sectarian prayer. They prevailed in a deal that was all but done before the vote. Now the county faces a long fight that may be costly in terms of unity, tax dollars and public accountability.

The commissioners voted 4-3 to appeal a federal court judge's January ruling banning prayer in the name of a specific deity to start their meetings because it's unconstitutional. Commissioner Chairman Dave Plyler, the swing vote, approved the appeal after being pressured by a local group, the North Carolina Partnership for Religious Liberty, and fellow Republicans Debra Conrad and Gloria Whisenhunt. Conrad and Whisenhunt reveled in Monday's crowd -- even as Commissioner Beaufort Bailey publicly wondered why there weren't any black faces in it.

As he voted for the appeal, the normally jovial Plyler looked as if he'd been kicked in the stomach. After the crowd stopped cheering, he cautioned that the board is still under Judge James Beaty's order not to allow sectarian prayer, and a court decision that could lift the ban could be years away.

The push for the appeal, led by the Rev. Steve Corts, who is the chairman of the North Carolina Partnership for Religious Liberty, was well-organized. Corts, who says he's no politician, out-maneuvered Plyler, who said last month that the county should never have gotten involved. Corts said at a news conference a couple of weeks ago that Plyler should think long and hard about his decision on the appeal -- implying that he should vote in favor of it -- "because the political ramifications are going to be serious." Plyler said yesterday he's 72 and it wouldn't it be the worst thing in the world if he lost in 2012.

The North Carolina Partnership for Religious Liberty entered the fray because the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal organization that is defending the county's prayer, said it would represent the county in the case for free, but not pay the legal costs of the American Civil Liberties Union were the county to lose the case. The ACLU, representing local residents Janet Joyner and Constance Lynn Blackmon, won a major round with Beaty's decision. It has calculated its legal costs so far at $127,000, but Plyler said that the organization offered to settle with the county Monday for $55,000 if it doesn't appeal.

The local partnership has raised almost $300,500 for the appeal. Before the meeting, Plyler secured an agreement by which the partnership agrees to use the funds it raises to pay the county's legal costs if it should lose. But Plyler had sought a guarantee that the group would pay all costs. He didn't get it, but told the Journal that he had to compromise. Corts said yesterday that integrity is crucial to him, and he couldn't guarantee money that has not been raised.

Up until Monday, Plyler, a moderate Republican, had shown calm and strong leadership on this issue. He said that he voted for the appeal because he thinks that the prayer question needs to be answered in court, he trusts Corts and he wants to restore board unity.

He should have realized that the county's public accountability is at risk. County Attorney Davida Martin, realizing that sectarian prayer at government meetings is illegal, declined to defend the county. Instead of retaining an outside law firm, the county turned to the Alliance Defense Fund, whose other causes include opposing abortion and same-sex marriage. The local partnership backing the appeal -- the only thing standing between taxpayers and potentially high legal costs -- has yet to provide detailed information about its members and donors.

Finally, instead of board unity, Plyler should be thinking about county unity. Supporters of the appeal vastly outnumbered opponents Monday night. But many of those opponents have spoken out against the appeal in letters to the Journal. Others have said that the county government is alienating them by endorsing Christianity.

Commissioner Walter Marshall, who emphasizes that he's a Christian, made national news last week when he likened supporters of the county's sectarian prayer to the segregationists of the Old South. That's a stretch. But it's worth noting that Marshall said he received a phone call yesterday morning from a white minister who told him "You better be doggone glad things have changed."

During the meeting, Commissioner Bailey, who is black, wondered why there were no blacks among the advocates for the appeal. Corts said yesterday that several black supporters were in the county building, outside the meeting room.

Deputies escorted Bailey and Marshall out of the county building after the meeting because several people said they wanted to speak with them, said Maj. Brad Stanley, a spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. Stanley said that no threats were made, and deputies just acted out of an abundance of caution.

There will be more questions about the prayer fight in the months, and perhaps years, to come. Plyler noted to the Journal that the county can drop the appeal at any time. The time for that may now have passed. The board's conservative Republicans, backed by hundreds of conservative Christians, have steered Plyler and the county down a risky and unpredictable road.