Peter Sagal: I’m a genuine admirer of David French. He’s one of the very, very few conservative Evangelical Christians (in fact, I can’t think of another) who stayed true to his principles in the Trump era, and he and his family paid a steep price. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/09/o...

I’m a genuine admirer of David French. He’s one of the very, very few conservative Evangelical Christians (in fact, I can’t think of another) who stayed true to his principles in the Trump era, and he and his family paid a steep price. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/09/o...

Opinion | The Day My Old Church Canceled Me Was a Very Sad Daywww.nytimes.com There is a difference between peace and capitulation.

But I’ve been wondering if he would take a certain step, and in this essay I see the first sign of it. It’s here:

I’ve been waiting for him to address an issue that many other writers, on the left or historians, have explored: that Trump didn’t change the nature of White Evangelicalism, he revealed it.

Here, he writes about how his fellow church members reacted to his adoption of a child from Ethiopia with unhinged racism. And that was when Trump was still a game show host, the most irrelevant occupation known to man.

It’s easy to others to say, Dude, they were what they are now all that time. But you should also note his experience of fellowship and support from those same people before he adopted his child. That was real. It was just predicated on him staying within a boundary he had no idea existed… yet.

I agree that his willingness to stand against Trump is admirable but he seems to have been remarkably incurious about the church he was eagerly joining. It split in 1973 and is headquartered in the South, it’s pretty obvious who makes up this church.

The question about all these “conservative Protestant” factions is “did they split over Blacks or queers” and you just have to look at the split date to figure it out.

He was incurious—and he acknowledges that. He’s already criticized himself for most of the stuff people on the left criticize him for having done. He’s still wrong about some stuff, but he’s persuadable, and he’s not trying to inflict pain on those who disagree with him.

I grew up in an evangelical church before it went off the rails. Family members still attend. Congregationally, these churchgoers are kind, helpful and generous to one another & their community. It's inspiring. They're also all Trumpers. I'll never understand how they meld the Gospels with Trump.

The closest I could come was when a friend was briefly caught up in a Christian cult-like organization. Its leader claimed the Bible's "Do unto others...", "Love your neighbor...", 10 commandments, etc applied ONLY AMONGST believers. Non-believers were entitled to no expectation of moral behavior.

I call it moral myopia. You can only see what is extremely close to you. Everything else is fuzzy and unreal.

youtu.be/wHdjjXQHxzs?...

How (And Why) The Right Stole Christianity – SOME MORE NEWSyoutu.be Hi. Today we're looking at how the Religious Right became the Religious Right, and wonder if there's a space in leftism for Christianity. Go to https://groun...

Ok but French certainly knew his church was ferociously anti-gay, for starters. This was extremely well known in the neighborhood. And they taught creationism in the preschool, which my mother learned the hard way. This is what he specifically chose.

The inextricable linkage of religious and political beliefs is hardly a new phenomenon, but it has taken on a rancid partisanship in recent years not seen since churches split over slavery in the 1850’s.

Very thought-provoking thread. My question: what crystallized the boundary? Perhaps the election of a black president? No one talks about “Obama Derangement Syndrome” any more, but it needs to be honestly addressed.

A boundary which, I suspect, he would have argued vociferously did not exist.

He knew the boundary was there.

I wonder if he would’ve discovered it in the same era if he chose a wife of a different race. If his wife was African American, would he get the same support for deploying? We need all the allies we can, but I find it hard to trust people who are blind until it affects them personally.

Especially when the same people are still writing concern trolling stories about college campuses

The thing he still has in common with his former church -- the belief in eternal torment for those uncleansed of sin -- is the throughline. That belief, even more than racism or patriarchy, places a pretty low ceiling on how decent or compassionate one can be.

That tension always existed within the evangelical community. Trump tipped the balance and gave implicit permission for a lot of people to express themselves in ways that were... not unheard of, but socially distasteful.

his white saviorism is racist AF Signed, A transracial adoptee raised by white jesus people in white jesuslandia (except for five years spent in their Nigerian mission field trying to say, well, you know...)

hey, making fun of game show hosts is Not Your Job™

Ok I see what you did there

Yes but sane/moderate(?) conservatives still keep writing: 1) The GOP is crazy and dangerous. 2)My church is crazy and dangerous and then 3)The liberals are still "worse." They just can't take that last, most important step. So what's the point of the first 2 steps?

See also Tim Alberta's story of his father's congregation.

I have. Powerful and important stuff.

My parents' Presbyterian church split about 20 years ago over the issue of accepting LGBTQ members. A group of intolerant bigots left and built their own church (led by a young, wealthy lawyer). It was heartbreaking, but they carried on.

I grew up one state over from where he is. This kind of racism, sexism, etc. It's always been like this. He's just become aware of it. Federalism, states rights, conservatism, moral criticism of Clinton. These were always positions of convenience that were easily shed when they became inconvenient.

Trump's greatest sin (or, depending on your perspective, greatest selling point) is he made a lot of people less ashamed about telling everybody what they REALLY think.

Straight white people really do love to find ways to pretend that their bigoted friends really aren't like, "those bad ones" they pretend are any different

In hopes of much profit. (Profit/profet)? HIV let loose homophobic churches in Siegeszug. Smart asses ready to surf it.

Irresistible Siegeszuege.

This is painting an entire movement with an entirely too broad stroke here. "It has always been like this" is very reductive. "It has always had elements like this" is closer to the truth. Over time those elements have become the majority/leadership, as others have left, like David here.

no, it’s at the core.

Probably a no true Scotsman fallacy. If you were shown even one White Evangelical who wasn't a Trumpist, you would likely say they weren't really Evangelical then, right?

David French is still evangelical even tho he’s not into Trump. He’s still a piece of shit for the homophobia and racism tho bro, i grew up in this shit. the cruelty is at the heart of it.

Counterpoint, David French joins a long list of conservatives who are blind to bigotry and hate until they are personally affected by it.

You do not, in fact, have to hand it to him.

How many times did he abide, or even chuckle along with, a racist joke before he adopted a black daughter? You don’t make it that far coming from his background without having seen it happen plenty already.

I don’t know, how many?

Plenty

And you know this how?

He’s a white conservative religious elite who went to Lipscomb and Harvard, served in a racist military engagement, and worked for the National Review lmao come on man.

I mean he personally told me that he "couldn't possibly be racist" because he, "worked with a lot of Black people" but I guess when you, Peter Sagal, aren't a target of either anti-Black racism or homophobia, it doesn't matter

he worked as senior counsel for the ACLJ, so at least once a day

This right here

He couldn't have been as blind as these other people or he wouldn't have reacted this way but yes he is blind.

Agreed: David French is the David Duke of David Brookses. Would you trust this man with your gay daughter? www.nationalreview.com/corner/moder...

Modern Feminism: Appalling Stupidity Backed by Hysterical Rage | National Reviewwww.nationalreview.com Modern feminism is getting embarrassing. There’s a reason why so few women identify as feminists: It’s less a true “women’s movement” than the public face of hysterical leftist intolerance — combin…

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