Yesterday I listened to the oral arguments in the U.S. Court or Appeals for the Sixth Circuit over the correctness of federal District Court Judge William Campbell’s decision to prevent enforcement of Governor Lee’s abortion legislation enacted last year prior to a trial on the constitutionality of the law. Here are my thoughts and my prediction.

I’ve had a few people ask me recently why our website does not list any COVID-related bills, including those about vaccines, under the “religious liberty” heading on our website’s legislative bill tracking page. There is a reason for that: my views about religious liberty have become less “American” and, I think, more God-centered.

On Wednesday I was accused by a legislator I like, and who is generally conservative, of being “ungodly” because I “bore false witness” against that legislator’s vote in favor of House Bill 1379. I did not bear false witness; however, what happened shows why the committee process in the state House must be changed.

A bill coming up next week in the Tennessee legislature should send a strong signal to Christians and conservative, small-government Republicans (e.g., those concerned with COVID mandates) that they have much to be concerned with when it comes to what a number of Republican legislators appear to believe. It is shockingly sad to me, and it points to the extreme failure of the sanctified humanism that masquerades under the name evangelicalism.

God could not have better timed the sequence of political and legal events over the last week leading up to Good Friday. A new state law and a new LGBTQ lawsuit against Union University in Jackson, Tennessee may be harbingers of a revival that some professing Christians will wish they hadn’t prayed for.

In politics, a war takes place every primary election cycle among Republican gubernatorial and legislative candidates over who is the real conservative. In the general election, a more subtle war occurs between those who claim to be Christians, or maybe a “better” Christian than the opponent, based on their policy differences. Upcoming legislation will separate the proverbial politically conservative and Christian “sheep” from their “goat” counterparts.

Tuesday morning, over coffee, I read a story about actor Ellen Page’s transition to Elliot Page. That same day I went down to the legislature to testify on a bill prohibiting a governor or local government from limiting attendance at a worship service. On Wednesday morning, I realized in a new way the close connection between transgenderism and what Christianity actually speaks to.

After the political dust settled on January 6th, a friend asked me, “David, is the Republic lost?” The House Civil Justice Subcommittee’s actions on Tuesday regarding Metro-Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle showed that the answer is yes. The subcommittee’s actions can be fixed, if you insist loudly enough. Here is what happened and what you can do.

One of the most important constitutional issues before the Tennessee General Assembly is House Resolution 23 by Representative Tim Rudd. It calls for the creation of a House and Senate Committee to determine whether Chancellor Ellen Lyle should be removed from office as a consequence of her decision to add “exceptions” to the enacted law governing absentee ballots for people who were afraid of being around other voters who might have COVID. You need to know what is at stake.

Because of my political history and legal background, I have been asked a number of questions about COVID-related legislation and, in particular, mask requirements. I am concerned that citizens may urge their legislators to take actions on masks that will establish a bad precedent when it may not even be necessary if legislators have the legal and constitutional information they need to evaluate properly the legislative remedies being urged on them. In my book, never establish a potentially bad precedent if there are other ways to address a problem.