Photo: Official City of Knoxville Mayor photo

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Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam has a group of political confidants with which he meets every Friday morning. This isn't particularly strange in that many politicians have advisors and trusted friends from whom they seek counsel on a variety of issues. What is worrisome is that his group of advisors appear to be religious in nature.

In a video interview with David Fowler of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, an organization whose mission is "to promote and defend a culture that values the traditional family, for the sake of the common good", Haslam is asked whose opinion he will most cherish after making a tough political decision. His answer names no one person but a group with whom he meets weekly; a group that knows "almost everything" about him.

Jeff Woods of Nashville Scene emailed the Haslam campaign for more information on his weekly Friday meetups only to receive the brief answer, "Bible study." No subsequent requests for clarification were answered by the campaign.

If Haslam becomes the next governor of Tennessee and he is faced with legislation that will limit or restrict the liberties of secular Tennesseans, to whom will Haslam feel he most accountable, the citizens of Tennessee or his group of religious advisors?