In our blog, read about the political and cultural issues affecting Tennesseans written from a conservative perspective. Commentaries are typically written by David Fowler, an attorney who served in the Tennessee state Senate for 12 years before joining FACT as President.
Evangelical ‘Religious Liberty’ is Messed-Up
Dec 15, 2022 by David Fowler
It seems to me the chief ground offered by Christian policy organizations for opposing the Respect for Marriage Act, namely, religious liberty, is demonstrative of a fundamental problem among the “Christian right.” I think it is time that...
Liberals Sound the Alarm. Will Conservatives Hit the Snooze Button? Again?
Dec 8, 2022 by David Fowler
A Fox News story on Monday noted that the more progressives think through the Respect for Marriage Act the more their “joy diminishes.” Their reason for discontent is one to which conservative policy makers and legal advocates, Christians...
A Christmas Perspective on “Gender-Affirming Health Care”
Dec 2, 2022 by David Fowler
Matt Wash exposed the fact that at least one major hospital in Tennessee is providing “gender affirming care” to minors, i.e., mutilating healthy parts of a child’s body, to change their appearance and ostensibly to address incongru...
Thanksgiving from One ‘As Mad as a Wet Hen’—Me.
Nov 25, 2022 by David Fowler
Tuesday morning, I had a great sense of thanksgiving flood over me in the absolute strangest context. I was as mad as the proverbial wet hen with some people—good people—who have been grinding me down over the import to the work of God in...
An Open Letter to Clergy and Church Leadership
Nov 17, 2022 by David Fowler
I had just begun to read my Bible Wednesday morning when my spirit began “crying out to God” as Christians put it. Yet I could not gather in my mind or form in my mouth words to express the multitude of disconsolations weighing on me beca...
Monday’s Eulogy Provides Tuesday’s Election Lesson
Nov 11, 2022 by David Fowler
On Monday, I gave the eulogy for the interment of my 91-year-old father’s mortal remains. Little did I realize that preparations for his eulogy would provide a fresh insight into Tuesday’s election and its outcomes. And, no, thoughts of t...
Good or Bad—A Tennessee County Promotes “Judeo-Christian Values”?
Nov 4, 2022 by David Fowler
The Sumner County (Tennessee) Commission recently voted 20 to 4 in favor of adding a preamble to its Standing Rules and Procedures stating an intent that the operation of its government be “reflective of the Judeo-Christian values inherent...
Why Has Active Christian Political Engagement Produced So Little Good?
Oct 27, 2022 by David Fowler
On July 3, 1995, as a first-term state Senator, I gave a speech to the Downtown Chattanooga Rotary Club, one for which I would now be excoriated. The speech became a front-page, above-the-fold headline story. But there is one major thing I did not th...
Final Thoughts on Amendment 1 and the Right to Work
Oct 20, 2022 by David Fowler
Thinking through and watching the debate over Amendment 1 to Tennessee’s Constitution, the so-called “Right to Work” amendment, has been a painful experience for me for two reasons. Today I share why in order that those who want to ...
Amendment 4—What is the Relationship Between Ministers and the State Legislature
Oct 13, 2022 by David Fowler
Amendment 4 on the ballot this November would remove from Tennessee’s Constitution the prohibition on any “minister of the Gospel or priest of any denomination . . . serving in either House of the Legislature.” It may seem like voti...
Commentary