The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - A former Kentucky minister who signed a document supporting removal of the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance has resigned her new post as top religion adviser to the national Democratic Party.

The Catholic League had blasted the Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson for signing a friend of the court brief earlier this year urging the U.S. Supreme Court to remove the words from the patriotic oath.

Peterson's involvement in the controversial Supreme Court case was not well known when she joined the Democratic National Committee staff as senior adviser for religious outreach on July 22. But officials with the Catholic League repeatedly seized on the brief this week, saying it shows Peterson and the DNC are out-of-touch with America's religious majority.

"The whirlwind was more than I could just about stand. It was amazing," Peterson said Thursday.

Peterson, 56, is a Lexington Theological Seminary graduate and former pastor of Newtown Christian Church in Scott County. She is an ordained Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister.

Her appointment had represented an effort by Democrats to bridge the so-called "God gap," or polls indicating that people who attend church more frequently tend to vote Republican.

The friend of the court brief, filed by 32 religious leaders and the Unitarian Universalist Association, argued that the pledge is an unconstitutional "religious creed" that only promotes "the God of the Christians."

The Catholic League portrayed Peterson as a "left-wing activist" who favored taxes and winked at gay marriage and abortion.

The Catholic League faxed anti)Peterson news releases to newsrooms around America on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Blaming "recent negative publicity," Peterson resigned Wednesday, saying, "I feel it is no longer possible for me to do my job effectively."

"I do not want my support of this case to serve as a distraction or ammunition for Republicans and their allies," Peterson said.