News & Views - Commentary | FACT In our commentary, read about the political and cultural issues affecting Tennesseans written from a conservative perspective. Columns are typically written by Dr. Kent DelHousaye, a trained political theologian and a longtime pastor and the current FACT president. David Fowler https://fluxconsole.com/files/image/96845.png https://fluxconsole.com/files/item/441/56004/apple-touch-icon.png 2026-07-22T05:40:40-05:00 https://www.factennessee.org/feed FeedWriter 2026-07-17T05:40:40-05:00 2026-07-17T05:40:40-05:00 ‘Follow the law. Protect the children. Hold the line’ – Inside Rutherford County's Fight Over 132 Library Books
In March, the Rutherford County Library System (RCLS) board voted to relocate all books containing inappropriate sexual material out of the children’s section and into the adult area. Then-executive director Luanne James called the board’s decision "viewpoint discrimination" and declined to carry it out. On March 30, following a packed and contentious meeting, the board voted 8-3 to fire her.

This week, the Rutherford County Library System Board is hosting public Zoom interviews with candidates to fill the role permanently. Learn more here.

The Timeline

This incident is the result of a culmination of policies that trickled down from the Oval Office to the state of Tennessee, into a regional library system, and finally into a single Rutherford County boardroom. What looks like a local personnel dispute is actually the last link in a much longer chain – one that started over a year ago.
  • January 20, 2025: President Trump signed Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” on his first day back in office, directing federal agencies to root out gender-ideology programming.
  • September 8, 2025: Citing that executive order, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett sent the first of three letters to the Stones River Regional Library System, which includes Rutherford County, directing libraries to ensure their materials comply with all federal, state, and local law.
  • October 27, 2025: Hargett followed up with a second letter, giving each of the region's 26 libraries 60 days to complete an “age-appropriateness review” of everything in their children's sections.
  • October 31, 2025: A third letter addressed Rutherford County's library leadership specifically. RCLS Board Chair Cody York responded by retaining the American Center for Law and Justice to represent the board.
  • November 5-6, 2025: Rutherford County announced an emergency closure of several library branches so staff could carry out the review Hargett's office had requested.
  • January-February 2026: After the state granted a short extension, the board reviewed the results of the internal audit and prepared its recommendations, identifying 132 children's titles containing LGBT content for relocation.
  • March 16, 2026: The board formally voted to move those 132 books out of the children's section and into the adult area. York said at the meeting that it is “dangerous and inaccurate” to tell children, particularly those going through puberty, that boys can be girls and girls can be boys.
  • March 18, 2026: Luanne James notified the board in writing that she would not comply with the directive, calling the relocation order a form of “viewpoint discrimination.”
  • March 30, 2026: The board voted 8-3 to fire her.
This story has been dramatically framed by the media as a "censorship" fight and a First Amendment crisis. That characterization is inaccurate and highly misleading. Not a single book has been banned, censored, or removed from the library. Let that sink in. All 132 books are still available in the library – just moved a few aisles over.

The purpose of the board’s decision was to ensure that when parents let their children roam around the children’s section of their local library, they won’t inadvertently pick up books with graphic sexual content or radical views on gender. This goes beyond being for or against LGBT ideology. It’s simply about believing that children should be shielded from mature concepts and adult sexuality  – whether it’s homosexual or heterosexual. It’s that simple. That so many individuals on the left have such strong objections to shielding children from pornographic material is deeply concerning and symptomatic of a larger problem.

Luanne James was a public employee instructed to complete a very simple task, which she refused to do. As a result, she was fired. This is not a “censorship” battle or a First Amendment violation. It’s a library system – funded by taxpayers – doing its job and following the law. As Rutherford County school board member Caleb Tidwell put it at the meeting, “Follow the law. Protect the children. Hold the line.”

These laws were never about banning ideas. Adults are free to read whatever they choose and have wide access to a plethora of questionable books – neither the federal, state, nor local governments are attempting to interfere with that freedom. But children are not adults, and the children’s section of public libraries should not be treated as a free-for-all.
FACT remains committed to protecting children and defending parents' right to raise their kids according to their values. Please consider supporting our work.
 
 ]]> https://www.factennessee.org/news-views/commentary/2026/follow-the-law-protect-the-children-hold-the-line-inside-rutherford-countys-fight-over-132-library-books FACT info@factn.org 2026-07-09T05:40:40-05:00 2026-07-09T05:40:40-05:00 SCOTUS Rules 6-3 to Protect Female Athletes! issued last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that states have the constitutional authority to reserve girls' and women's sports teams for biological females only. The ruling, covering both West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, upholds West Virginia's Save Women's Sports Act and Idaho's Fairness in Women's Sports Act – common-sense laws that were previously blocked by lower courts.

Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh correctly observed that "sports are generally zero-sum." Every roster spot, scholarship, and medal given to a male athlete competing in a female category is one taken from a girl or woman who earned her place through years of hard work and sacrifice. Kavanaugh further wrote:

“The two States here—along with 25 other States, the IOC, the USOPC, and the NCAA—have concluded at this time that women and girls should be allowed to compete for those life-changing opportunities on an equal playing field, without fear of physical injury from biological males or being forced to compete against biological males. Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America.”

Tennessee is one of those 25 states Kavanaugh mentioned. In May 2021, Governor Bill Lee signed legislation requiring that a student-athlete's eligibility for K-12 school sports be determined by the sex listed on their original birth certificate. The law, SB 228,  made Tennessee one of the earliest states in the country to draw a clear, common-sense line: girls' teams are for girls.

This Supreme Court ruling establishes the following standards for all state laws regarding men in women’s sports:
  • States are allowed to limit female athletic competition to biological females under both Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause.
  • Courts are not required to referee, case by case, which male athletes have supposedly blunted their biological advantages.
  • Safety and competitive fairness are legitimate government interests substantial enough to justify sex-based eligibility rules.
“It’s a huge affirmation. We wrote the bill, and we passed it… and today the Supreme Court upheld that Title IX is based off biological sex,” Rep. Scott Cepicky, who sponsored SB 228, stated following the ruling. “Women will be participating against women, and men will be participating against men.”

For five years, Tennessee has stood by a simple truth: males and females are different, and fairness in sports depends on protecting that distinction. We're grateful for this decision, and we're grateful for our lawmakers who had the courage to spearhead this issue five years ago before it became popular nationally. Tennessee is proud to lead the way in protecting female athletes!
FACT remains committed to defending the God-given differences between men and women and the integrity of women's sports in Tennessee. If this news encourages you, please consider supporting our work so we can continue to pursue these important victories.
 
 
 
 
 ]]> https://www.factennessee.org/news-views/commentary/2026/scotus-rules-6-3-to-protect-female-athletes FACT info@factn.org 2026-06-30T05:40:40-05:00 2026-06-30T05:40:40-05:00 Tennessee’s Pivotal Role in America’s Democracy kicked off a year-long, 95-county tour of Tennessee marking America's 250th anniversary under a fitting banner: "Tennessee: The Original Frontier."

f11dcf32-56c2-4849-b6b1-4b21ab57cdf3"Throughout our nation's 250 years, historians have called Tennessee ‘The Original Frontier.’ And Tennessee frontiersmen to this day never stop exploring the possibilities of a better future for our people. Never coast, never settle. We press through from one frontier to the next,” Gov. Lee stated.

That theme is more than a catchy slogan – it highlights an important detail about Tennessee’s place in American history. Tennessee’s story didn't begin with the first 13 states in 1776. It began four years earlier.

In 1772, settlers along the Watauga River, outside the reach of any colonial government, did something history would later recognize as remarkable. They wrote their own compact, elected their own magistrates, and governed themselves by majority rule. The Watauga Association is widely regarded as the first majority-rule system of American democratic government, established at Sycamore Shoals years before Philadelphia ever convened.

"As the site where the Overmountain Men gathered and the Watauga Association launched a groundbreaking experiment in independent self-government, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park serves as a powerful link to the early roots of American democracy," park manager Marcianne O'Day shared. "Each of the park events connects visitors to the pivotal moments that unfolded here, highlighting Tennessee's unique and lasting contribution to the formation of American democracy."

“[Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River] was one of the most significant early settlement areas on the western frontier,” Dr. Carroll Van West wrote. “Here in 1772, residents established the Watauga Association, recognized as the first majority-rule system of American democratic government.”

No nation before ours had built its government from the ground up – its laws, its limits on power, its source of authority – on the premise that our rights come from God rather than from a king or parliament. The Declaration of Independence said exactly that, declaring that all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In his Farewell Address, George Washington warned the new nation that “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports… And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.”

At a deadlocked Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin reminded the delegates, "I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men."

These convictions shaped the idea, woven into Tennessee's own constitution, that our God-given rights are something no government grants and no government can take away. Chief among these rights is freedom of religion – the ability to worship God according to the dictates of one's own conscience, free from government interference.

Defending that principle is one of the reasons FACT exists. As it happens, 2026 also marks FACT's 20th anniversary. We were founded in 2006 by a small group of Tennesseans who, like the Wataugans before them, looked at what was in front of them and decided that protecting what mattered – in our case, faith, family, and freedom – wasn't going to happen on its own.

That is the inheritance Tennessee is celebrating this year: not just a flag and a fireworks show, but a more than 250-year-old conviction that our rights come from God, and that self-government under Him is worth defending in every generation.

Twenty years is a small fraction of 250, but the same conviction runs underneath both anniversaries: liberty isn't self-sustaining. It must be taken up anew by every generation.
 

We encourage you to find a TN250 event near you and celebrate Tennessee’s roots and America’s 250th anniversary with your family. FACT remains committed to that same spirit of self-government in our own work for the next 20 years. Click here to support that mission.
 ]]> https://www.factennessee.org/news-views/commentary/2026/tennessees-pivotal-role-in-americas-democracy FACT info@factn.org 2026-06-22T05:40:40-05:00 2026-06-22T05:40:40-05:00 FACT Named to SPLC's "Hate Map" – But What Does That Really Mean? "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness." – Isaiah 5:20
This month, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released its annual "Hate Map,” routinely used as a political weapon to target organizations and individuals the Left disagrees with. SPLC’s self-described mission is to act as "a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people."

In order to qualify for SPLC’s “Hate Map,” organizations must be found guilty of practicing one or more of the following beliefs: “Radical Traditional Catholicism, Christian Supremacy, Christian Identity, Anti-LGBTQ, Anti-Muslim, Anti-Immigrant,” and several other categories, including “General Hate.”
 
Unsurprisingly, FACT once again made the cut for our “Anti-LGBTQ” views – to say nothing of our Christian Identity.

Screenshot 2026-06-09 160330

We’re in good company. Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, Alliance Defending Freedom, and dozens of other family policy councils from around the country were also on the map for their “radical” Christian views.

It's tempting to dismiss the SPLC's “Hate Map” as little more than a political stunt, but the reality is that the organization's reckless labeling has had real and devastating consequences.

In 2012, Floyd Lee Corkins II opened fire at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Family Research Council after using the map to identify his target. A building manager was shot and severely wounded. The SPLC has continually denied any responsibility for the attack and kept FRC on the map ever since.

The incident at FRC is one of many that have helped reveal the true nature of the SPLC. The organization’s reputation has been unraveling for years, coming to a head over the past several months as new allegations surface.

SPLC Federally Indicted

In April 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice handed down an 11-count federal indictment against the SPLC for wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. A grand jury ruled that enough evidence exists to prosecute the organization for funneling more than $3 million in donor funds over the course of nearly 10 years to covert informants embedded in extremist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and the American Nazi Party.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche put it plainly: the SPLC was "doing the exact opposite of what it told its donors it was doing – not dismantling extremism, but funding it."

In other words, they were “manufacturing extremism.”

The same day SPLC published this year's “Hate Map” and accompanying report, the organization’s interim president, Bryan Fair, appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions regarding the fraud indictment.

When Rep. Chip Roy and Rep. Lance Gooden pressed Fair about whether the SPLC had listed any Islamic-oriented groups on the hate map, Fair struggled to give a straight answer. When pressed about Antifa's glaring absence from the list, the same difficulty arose. The double standard was clear: the SPLC's map includes mainstream conservative organizations while leaving off groups with documented ties to vandalism, violence, and attacks on churches and pro-life centers. Watch the exchange here:
 
Screenshot 2026-06-17 121341

The SPLC's "Hate Map" was not designed to protect communities or eradicate hate. At its core, it is a blacklist. As Rep. Gooden highlighted, the FBI's since-retracted Richmond memorandum, which flagged traditionalist Catholics as potential domestic terrorism suspects, drew in part on SPLC materials. That is the real-world consequence of allowing an ideologically driven organization to masquerade as a research authority.

“Under your criteria, Turning Point USA, Family Research Council, and other conservative Christian groups are considered hate groups, but Antifa and Jane’s Revenge aren’t,” Gooden stated at the hearing. “I frankly think it’s disgusting.”

Dr. Alveda King, niece of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who has been personally targeted by the SPLC's hate list, also testified at the hearing: “I reject the notion that Americans who hold traditional Christian beliefs should be treated as threats, or terrorists, simply because they disagree with a prevailing political thought.”

Ryan Bangert of Alliance Defending Freedom told the committee that the SPLC has "drifted from its founding purpose" and now uses its hate map to target mainstream Christian organizations, then "mobilizes corporate America to crush their voices" by pressuring banks and tech platforms to cut them off. ADF, like FACT, holds pro-life convictions and opposes gender-affirming care for minors. For that, the SPLC calls us hate groups.

For 20 years, FACT has advocated for the traditional family, for life, and for religious liberty – convictions held by millions of Tennesseans and rooted in the Word of God. The SPLC’s labels will never change who we are or what we do.

We hold no ill will toward the SPLC or its adherents, but we hope they are held accountable in both the court of law and the court of public opinion for the lies, fraud, and harm their distributions have caused.
 
FACT remains committed to defending Tennessee families and the values that make our state strong. Click here to support our work.
 
 ]]> https://www.factennessee.org/news-views/commentary/2026/fact-named-to-splcs-hate-map-but-what-does-that-really-mean FACT info@factn.org 2026-06-18T05:40:40-05:00 2026-06-18T05:40:40-05:00 Introducing FACT's New President, Dr. Kent DelHousaye
Kent is a trained political theologian and a longtime pastor, having run large and influential churches in California, Arizona, and Idaho before joining IFPC. He is also a sought-after speaker, accomplished professor, and prolific author. 

Kent has a Doctorate in Cultural Apologetics from Biola University, a Masters in Biblical Communication from Phoenix Seminary, and a Bachelors in Print Journalism from Arizona State University as well as a Certification in Executive Coaching from Concordia University.

Kent and his wife Stephanie have been married for 30 years and have three children. Kent is a cultural warrior at heart, and he is deeply invested in conservative social issues; but when Kent is not engaged in the culture wars, he enjoys exploring the great outdoors and is a firearms enthusiast and avid fly fisherman.

A statement from William Morgan, Board Chair of Family Action Council of Tennessee:
 
For 20 years, FACT has been an influential and effective voice in Tennessee government advocating for faith, family, and freedom from a biblical perspective. Our Board couldn’t be more pleased to introduce Dr. Kent DelHousaye as our new president to lead our next chapter. We are thrilled to have someone with his unique combination of Church-networking experience, education, and expertise as we work to enthusiastically advance biblical principles in the public square of our state. 
]]> https://www.factennessee.org/news-views/commentary/2026/introducing-facts-new-president-dr-kent-delhousaye FACT info@factn.org