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 “religious liberty” be re-examined, even if it means I am expelled from the club.

Last Friday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito decried the media creating the perception that the Court is a “dangerous cabal.” Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Stephen Breyer also recently spoke in defense of the Court ‘s legitimacy. But I had to laugh at Alito’s comment because of what he said about the Court a few years ago. The Justices are nervous about the Court’s legitimacy and whether its upcoming decisions on abortion, guns, and religious liberty could lead to “court packing.” Here is what the Justices need to do.

At a recent conference, Christians expressed concern that civil government was increasingly infringing on the right to religious liberty. But it became clear that the right will continue to shrink if they don’t change the way they speak about and defend the right.

This is my last commentary on COVID-related issues, at least for a while, and parents who are frustrated with public K-12 schools and mask mandates do not really know how bad things are regarding parental rights. For the following reasons you have no such rights or, at least in the very near future, you will have none. So read this carefully and be appropriately terrified.

When in a state of crisis, one must be able to retreat to and reflect on fundamental principles to develop workable solutions. I believe Governor Lee’s Executive Order 83 and his more recent one about mask mandates in schools have given us an excellent opportunity to recall and apply our fundamental governing principles. People on every side know something is wrong, but without fundamental principles to guide us, anger and frustration, resulting in the disintegration of personal and familial relationships and civil social intercourse, are becoming the norm. Here is my open letter to and request of the Governor and General Assembly.

With a flap last week over vaccine mandates being imposed on employees of certain state and local government agencies here in Tennessee and perhaps a nationwide mandate on all persons, I couldn’t help but think of what President Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel said, “Never let a crisis go to waste.” I agree. What if Christian political leaders and pastors used this potential crisis to teach people about real religious liberty and the First Amendment’s free exercise clause? I thought I would start the ball rolling.

Tuesday, the Tennessee Senate passed and sent to the governor a bill that, in sum, prohibits a governor from trying, by executive order or regulation, to force private organizations to make adoption placements in violation of their religious beliefs about the family structure a child needs. As a “woke” Christian, I realized one of the arguments against it came from the pit of hell, and a good friend’s bit of advice from years ago proved helpful on Wednesday.