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.
Will Tennessee’s Legislature Make the Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Mistake Alabama Made?
May 31, 2019 by David Fowler
If Alabama’s new law abolishing the issuance of marriage licenses was intended to circumvent the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision regarding marriage, its Legislature utterly failed. Five years ago, some of Tennessee&rsqu...
Picking the Next House Speaker
May 24, 2019 by David Fowler
With the impending resignation of state Representative Glen Casada as Speaker, the question turns to “Who’s next?” As someone who has either served in the legislature or observed it from up close for 25 years, unless some particular...
Will the House Republican Caucus Avoid Riding the Moral High Horse on Monday?
May 17, 2019 by David Fowler
As I continue to contemplate on the one hand the lascivious nature of the texts exchanged between the House Speaker and his Chief of Staff two years ago and accompanying issues of racism in the state House and, on the other hand, the moral outrage ex...
Casada, Cothren, Politicians, and Christians
May 10, 2019 by David Fowler
Earlier this year God broke and humbled me in a deeper and more profound way than ever before, yet it was deeply and profoundly life giving, too. As a result, the events of this week surrounding Tennessee’s House of Representatives, its Speaker...
Tennessee Lawsuit Relies on the U.S. Constitution’s New ‘Dignity Clause’
May 3, 2019 by David Fowler
Last week three individuals sued Governor Lee and his Commissioner of Health in federal court because Tennessee law does not allow individuals to change their sex on their birth certificate once they have figured out the “sex” with which ...
‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Bill Suffered from ‘Congenital’ Defects
Apr 26, 2019 by David Fowler
Monday night, the so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill was put on life support and transferred to a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee this summer. There’s much not to like about what happened on this bill, particularly some of t...
Oath-Keeping in the State Senate at Eastertime
Apr 19, 2019 by David Fowler
Most Christians will celebrate Easter this Sunday and on Monday, the Tennessee Senate will vote on a motion that would pull the so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill out of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee to the floor of the Senate for ...
Pointing Fingers and Placing Blame on the ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Bill
Apr 12, 2019 by David Fowler
I met with mixed emotions the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote late Tuesday to defer a vote on the pro-life “fetal heartbeat” bill until more testimony could be provided during a summer hearing, after which the bill could be taken ...
A Constitutionally Defensible Reason for Supporting the Pro-Life ‘Heartbeat’ Bill
Apr 5, 2019 by David Fowler
What is going on in the legislature between the pro-life “fetal heartbeat bill” camp and the pro-life “trigger bill” camp makes no sense to a whole lot of ardent pro-life citizens. The bills seem to be caught up in some kind o...
Just How Pro-Life Are Tennessee’s Republican Legislators?
Mar 29, 2019 by David Fowler
I’m not sure I know what happened Wednesday when pro-life Republican House members split their vote and killed the pro-life bill that would impose more stringent limitations on abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions on abortion ar...
Commentary