Tommy Mann

We are in uncharted waters in this country. We have two groups whose rights have put them on a collision course with each other, and instead of protecting both groups, the solution seems to be to prosecute one and champion the other. The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion in this country, but it does so much more than that. Freedom of religion is more than just the freedom to go to church or own a Bible. Freedom of religion does us no good without her sister, the free exercise of religion. This means that, not only are we free to go to church and read the Bible, we are free to live out the principles that the church and the Bible teach. The teachings of Scripture are not to be confined to inside the four walls of the church or the home, but they are meant to be freely lived out in our places of work, schooling, and communities. These teachings make up a worldview that governs the daily actions of the Christian. They are not one part of the ...

Before you use the Bible to try to criticize Kim Davis, there are a few things you should know. The Bible doesn’t work like a game of Scrabble; you can’t take random letters and words and use them to suit your current needs. So here are some responses to some of the critics I have seen over the last few days. 1. Yes, Kim Davis has been married four times, divorced three times, and had children out of wedlock. By her own admission she has made many mistakes, but the aforementioned indiscretions were committed before she came to Christ four years ago. The Bible speaks strongly against divorce (although some divorces are justified) and premarital and extramarital relations. But it teaches that when a person turns to Jesus, he becomes a “new creation; the old things have passed away, and behold, all things are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17).” Using her mistakes from her life without Christ to call her a hypocrite is inconsistent. Furthermore, like I said in my post about Josh...

Some of our Christian brothers and sisters here in South Carolina are wondering what to do now in light of the Supreme Court ruling last Friday. Christian business owners are worried that they will be forced to do something contrary to their belief system, and many are nervous that new rules will be imposed against the church. While the First Amendment not only guarantees us the freedom of religion, it also says that Congress shall not prohibit the free exercise thereof. That means that we have the right to conduct our daily lives in accordance with God’s Word. But we have already seen a gay couple threaten to sue a church if they don’t open their doors for their gay wedding. We have seen bakers and photographers put out of business for refusing to violate their conscience (or refusing to allow Congress to prohibit the free exercise of their religion). Instead of finding a wedding chapel that will hold their ceremony, or instead of going to any of the hundreds of other baker...

One might also say, "If you ignore the New Testament's clear teaching that homosexuality is wrong, you're using it wrong." And in reference to the verse about love, true love warns a person of the error of their ways. What happened to loving a person enough to care about the consequences of their wrong choices? It does more harm to let disobedience go unchecked in the name of love.

The purpose of this post is not to defend Phil Robertson or his comments. In fact, I don’t think that is the main objective of any of the Duck Dynasty patriarch’s supporters. What is alarming to many of us is that Phil’s rights end when homosexuals’ rights advance. I realize that the 1 st Amendment doesn’t guarantee that Phil be on a reality show; however, I think we all realize what would happen if the roles were reversed. Who is the last person to lose a job, sponsorship, or their reputation for slandering or “judging” those of us who stand for the sanctity of marriage? Every person who calls us intolerant, hateful, bigots, religious nuts, homophobic, and any of the other divisive insults is doing the same thing Phil Robertson did. Some might argue what they are doing is worse. How is that worse? Robertson only answered a question (much like Mr. Cathy from Chick-fil-A did). Would we rather Robertson lie? That might be the norm for politicians, but dishonesty should...

During these Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) hearings before the Supreme Court I keep hearing how much Christians hate gay people. This was news to me since I am a Christian and I don’t hate gay people. I also go to church with over 1000 other Christians, and if any of them hate gay people, they sure haven’t told me. Before moving to South Carolina I worked at or attended several churches in Texas; prior to that I spent a decade going to church in Florida. Guess what? No one hated gay people. In fact, I don’t know any Christians who hate anybody. The very uniform of a believer is his love, and if a person does not show consistent love, then he is not actually a believer. Are there non-believers who hate gay people and claim to be Christian? Of course. But that doesn’t represent Jesus or His church. Equating  hateful sign-wavers with Christianity is like equating a kindergarten baseball team to the New York Yankees. They may claim to be playing the s...