Tommy Mann

  If you watched the debates or have listened to the news recently, you probably heard questions posed to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris about whether or not they would pack the court if they were elected. I have gotten the feeling that many people do not really understand what that phrase means, so I wanted to discuss it.    First, let me remind you that I try very hard to refrain from weighing in on political matters. As a pastor, there is a fine line between speaking about issues of morality and endorsing parties or candidates. With the exception of the time when I ran for office myself, I have never publicly endorsed a candidate, and I am not doing that now. Please do not hear this as pro-Trump, pro-RNC, or even anti-Biden/Harris or DNC. This is simply an attempt to explain what packing the court is, and why this should be a major issue.    Because the media has been accusing Trump of trying to “pack the court” by nominating Amy Coney Barrett, many may be left ...

When the Democrat National Convention kicked off this week they approved the party platform for the next four years. As usual, the right to abortion on demand was included in the platform, but this year there were two first-time changes. The first was the addition of gay marriage. This has never been a part of any party’s platform in the United States, and quite frankly, would not be a part of this year's if our president and vice president didn’t both suddenly switch their positions just three months ago, citing the sitcom Will and Grace as being foundational to the switch. The other shocking change was not what was included, but rather in what was left out of the platform. The words God and Jerusalem were both omitted, causing quite a stir among both parties. In the past both parties have included in their platform that they believe that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, which might not sound like a big deal, but it is the Muslims’ position to not reco...

This week both President Obama and Vice President Biden have come out in defense of gay marriage, which we all knew was going to happen before their first term ended. This blog is not about whether or not homosexuals should be allowed to get married, because I have written about that here and here . Instead, I want to focus on who got the credit for the “shift” in their stance. Joe Biden credits the 1998-2006 sitcom Will and Grace for doing “ more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody’s ever done so far. [i] ” If you aren’t familiar with that show, it featured a straight woman who lived with her gay male best friend; there was another homosexual man on the cast as well. And in case you aren’t familiar with the word sitcom, it means situation comedy, not to be confused with documentary. It’s not as if Mr. Biden is crediting some documentary about a gay couple, or some reality show about two men trying to raise a family. He cited a com...