Wherein I make a good faith effort to explain the hostility to David French.
No individual exemplifies the gulf between élite conservative opinion and the grass roots than David French. The grass roots despise him, while the cognoscenti literally cannot comprehend the revulsion. I doubt that I will make headway because they are used to telling, not listening, but here goes.
David French is infuriating because his premises are excellent, his ability to identify the problem is good, his analysis is poor, and his conclusions are atrocious. Reading a David French essay is like watching the subject of a horror movie make cascadingly poor choices. I usually succumb to shouting at my screen, ”Gaah! No! You idiot!” What I mean is, “No David, not that way, that’s the doorway to death. Turn around, walk out of the house of demons into the light of life.” Inevitably, David continues blindly on the path he started on, unwilling or unable to turn around and go back the way he came. The Christian term for what David needs to do is repent. To those unversed in Christian doctrine, repentance may seem mystical or superstitious. It simply means to recognize that you are on the wrong path and you need to turn around. To quote CS Lewis:
We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world it’s pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistake. We’re on the wrong road. And if that is so we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.
When Seth Dillon keeps tweeting “repent” to you; when Albert Mohler writes an entire essay about how you are on the wrong road, it might be time to reevaluate. Maybe they are seeing something you aren’t. Unfortunately, David takes Godly exhortation as an excuse to feel sorry for himself, interprets good men’s pleading as an attack, and plows on toward perdition.
In his latest missive, David attempts to explain to Christian conservatives why they and everyone whom they trust is wrong, why the ironically named “Respect for Marriage Act” is ackchually something they should support. He starts off by making a distinction between Christian “Covenant” Marriage, and Civil Marriage. So far so good. He is completely correct. Again, his premises are excellent.
He goes on to say he affirms the idea of Covenant Marriage as described in the Nashville Statement, which he labels “controversial”. This is the first step in the wrong direction. There is no controversy over the Nashville Statement. There are people who reject it, as there are people who reject Christianity. There are people who deny the tenets affirmed in the statement as there are people who deny the reality of biological sex. No true Christian denies the truths stated. This may strike some as the “No True Scotsman” fallacy. However, a person is born a Scotsman and his genetics are not determinative of his behavior. In contrast, the word Christian means “little Christ”, it means a follower of Jesus. If Jesus is on the right path, and you are on the wrong one, you aren’t following Him. The Nashville Statement is in harmony with Biblical teaching, if you disagree with it, you are on the wrong path and need to repent.
This may seem harsh or “judgmental”. The Bible does caution against judging the motives and salvation of other men, but it is quite clear that Christians are to exercise good judgment. Judgment is not wrong per se but rather prejudgment. Prejudice is a sin, wisdom is not. In any case, it is impossible to live life without judgment. Is there enough room before that oncoming car for me to safely turn left? What should I major in? Whom should I marry? It is certainly odd that a LAWYER would be hesitant to judge. The entire legal profession is built around judgment. Speaking the truth in love with gentleness and kindness is one thing. Pretending there is some wiggle room on the issue of what Covenantal Marriage looks like is quite another. Tolerance for clear cut heresy is a sin.
That does not mean Christians should tolerate violence against LGBT people. We can and should love them. But loving someone means being honest with them. My father was a lifelong smoker. Smoking is harmful. I accepted my father for who he was and loved him more than life, but I never stopped encouraging him to stop smoking, BECAUSE I loved him. Lung cancer is more awful than you can imagine. Dad died a horrible death too soon. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss him, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t fervently wish he had never smoked. You might think I would support anti-smoking legislation, but you would be wrong. Respect for his freedom means that although I constantly pressured him to stop smoking, I vigorously defended his right to choose poorly. David understands that we mustn’t try to impose our values on others, but is wrong in thinking that means we should ever accept their wrongness. Purely from a public health perspective, those of us who have friends and family who are engaged in a homosexual lifestyle should encourage them to stop, even as we fight to defend their right to continue. The life expectancy penalty for engaging in that lifestyle is double that of smoking. While attempting to outlaw sexual immorality is tyranny, affirmation is collusion with death.
This brings us to the next point. Roughly it is the distinction between morality, ethics, and law. For my purposes, I will define morality as right living, aka righteousness. Living in such a manner as to be pleasing to God. Ethics is living in such a way as to minimize interpersonal conflict. Jesus taught that morality boils down to “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27). Ethics is approximately the second half of that, and thus is a subset of morality. Law is essentially a codification of ethics. David has a law degree from Harvard, so I’ll excuse his grotesque misunderstanding of law, but there are basically two theories of law in the world. Justinian or Napoleonic Code states that the law is the dictate of the emperor. The legality and thus the ethics of any action is determined by the ruler. Whether murder or slavery or homosexuality is good or bad depends on what the warlord or president or majority decides. Might makes right; survival of the fittest. This is the philosophy of the world, and it is evil.
In contradistinction, Common Law, particularly as promulgated by people who hold a Reformed Theological world view (like the American Founders) rejects authority other than God. Law is not created, it is discovered. The founders often discussed the government as an experiment. We are all legal scientists trying to discover ethical law in the same way physicists are trying to discover physical law. Legislators write statues, which are the hypotheses, the executive branch runs the procedure, and the judicial writes the conclusions which are case law.
When a conservative says that the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights are not granted by the government, but by God, this is what they mean. The Bill of Rights is a correct understanding of reality. It is nice that the federal government acknowledges those rights, but it is not necessary any more than it was necessary for Newton to formulate the law of universal gravitation for it to be true. This is intolerable to the would-be dictators on the left. They are desperate to rebel against God, to force reality to conform with their wishes. American legal education went astray when it asserted that the law is defined by case law, rather than understanding that it is merely an approximation of true law. When the dictates of man and God conflict, it is man’s that must yield. Roe was bad precedent because it was immoral, i.e. it was incorrect—not in conformity to fact. Likewise, Obergefell is destined for the ash heap of history because it is fundamentally at odds with reality. Nothing can be done about that. It will ultimately fall because it cannot be made to conform with truth. It did not matter that the Ptolemaic “concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe” was held sincerely, or that it was held by an overwhelming majority, it was not reflective of the truth, and had to fall. He who would be most progressive is he who is most anxious to reverse this wrong decision. Repentance is the order of the day.
When David points out that civil marriage diverged from covenantal marriage when no-fault divorce was allowed, his error is in plain view. Civil marriage is our best attempt to codify the truth of covenantal marriage. When it diverged, it ceased to be good law. Even from a secular standpoint, this is obvious. As David states, marriage with no-fault divorce isn’t even a real contract. David has properly identified the problem. Civil marriage with no-fault divorce is incompatible with covenantal marriage, that is to say, it is incompatible with reality.
Covenantal marriage cannot conform to the broken, hubristic civil marriage, because the truth cannot conform to a lie. Yet that is absolutely the goal of leftist ideologues. Covenantal marriage must be destroyed because it reveals the scam that passes for current civil marriage. Despite his protestations, David cannot have it the way he wants. These two conceptions of marriage cannot co-exist. The state does not recognize the validity or even the existence of covenantal marriage as distinct from civil marriage. The statute makes gesticulations toward allowing an exception from statute for conscience, while claiming civil marriage as the standard, but this is untenable. Inevitably, the two will come into conflict, and the powers of this earth will attack the truth of God. Having given up the bedrock of eternal, objective truth as the basis for defining marriage, David wants the sandcastle of recent Supreme Court decisions to be his bulwark.
Rather, the error of man must be corrected by hewing once again to God’s decree. This is not a call for theocracy. As the evangelical saying goes, all truth is God’s truth. There are methods for discovering truth other than Bible study. Any rational, objective analysis of the societal impact of no-fault divorce must conclude that it has been a catastrophe, with women and children being the most harmed. It is bad law because it is not real. A true progressive must see that and repent, go back and undo that wrong turn. However, David, blinded by his own brilliance and that of his liberal friends cannot see. Pride prevents repentance because it takes humility to acknowledge error, which is particularly hard when those pointing it out are your intellectual and stylistic inferiors. I have no doubt that the rubes and hicks that David attends church with are less sophisticated and erudite than his Harvard classmates, but truth does not depend on the messenger, and “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise” (1 Corinthians 1:27).
Finally, David descends into madness. Unable to repent without humiliation, he forges onward. No-fault divorce must never be questioned. It has been decided by judges and codified by legislatures. Their will be done. It has been allowed for half a century. Stare decisis! Any policy enacted by Democrats must be eternally preserved, while those pushed by Republicans shall be overturned the next time they lose the plebiscite. The rachet effect must continue forever. David says, “If I exchange vows with my wife, I’m married in the eyes of God even if the state never receives my marriage license.” However, he also says, “Can you imagine waking up one morning and hearing the state no longer recognizes your marriage and that suddenly everything from medical decisions to child custody to basic inheritance and ownership rules were up for grabs?” Which is it David? Is civil marriage essential or irrelevant? Imagine the pain that gay couples would feel if we stopped pretending they were married! Why, they might have to write a will to ensure their property conveyed according to their wishes. They might have to sign a Medical Power of Attorney to allow their loved ones to make medical decisions on their behalf. The fight over “gay marriage” is not about the legal edge cases which are easily dealt with by actual, legally enforceable contracts or other instruments specificaly designed to address the problem, it is an attempt to force Christians to lie. To deny marriage as defined by God, discoverable through legal scientific inquiry, and embrace the fiction that physical desire, the lust of the flesh, is supreme.
David, my brother, in love I beseech you, I beg of you, humble yourself and repent. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
xomlkb
dqnf9a
Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write on my blog something like that. Can I implement a portion of your post to my site?
I feel that is among the such a lot significant info for me. And i am satisfied studying your article. But should commentary on some common issues, The website style is perfect, the articles is in reality excellent : D. Just right process, cheers
I have been exploring for a bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this web site. Reading this information So i am happy to convey that I’ve an incredibly good uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I most certainly will make sure to do not forget this web site and give it a look on a constant basis.
I do agree with all of the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They are really convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are very short for beginners. Could you please extend them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.
Thanks for your entire effort on this web page. Gloria really likes doing investigation and it’s simple to grasp why. We notice all regarding the powerful medium you deliver vital items on your blog and in addition cause participation from other individuals on that subject matter while our daughter is in fact understanding a great deal. Enjoy the rest of the new year. You are always doing a glorious job.
Thanks for discussing your ideas with this blog. In addition, a fairy tale regarding the lenders intentions while talking about home foreclosure is that the bank will not take my repayments. There is a certain quantity of time that this bank can take payments in some places. If you are very deep within the hole, they may commonly desire that you pay that payment fully. However, that doesn’t mean that they will have any sort of repayments at all. If you and the lender can manage to work anything out, your foreclosure method may cease. However, if you ever continue to miss out on payments within the new plan, the home foreclosure process can just pick up from where it left off.
These days of austerity along with relative stress about having debt, most people balk against the idea of making use of a credit card to make purchase of merchandise and also pay for any occasion, preferring, instead just to rely on this tried and trusted method of making repayment – cash. However, if you possess cash available to make the purchase fully, then, paradoxically, that is the best time just to be able to use the credit cards for several good reasons.
This really answered my drawback, thanks!
Good day! I simply want to give a huge thumbs up for the nice information you could have right here on this post. I will be coming again to your blog for more soon.
Terrific work! This is the type of info that should be shared around the net. Shame on Google for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my site . Thanks =)
Great blog you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really like to be a part of community where I can get responses from other experienced individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Kudos!
Hi! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading your blog posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same subjects? Thanks a ton!
you’ve a terrific weblog right here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my blog?
Good post made here. One thing I’d like to say is the fact most professional job areas consider the Bachelor Degree as the entry level requirement for an online college degree. Although Associate Certification are a great way to start out, completing your current Bachelors reveals many opportunities to various employment opportunities, there are numerous on-line Bachelor Diploma Programs available by institutions like The University of Phoenix, Intercontinental University Online and Kaplan. Another concern is that many brick and mortar institutions give Online variants of their college diplomas but normally for a extensively higher charge than the firms that specialize in online degree programs.
You made some clear points there. I did a search on the issue and found most people will go along with with your site.
7trpfy
hello there and thank you for your info ?I have definitely picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical points using this site, as I experienced to reload the website lots of times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times will sometimes affect your placement in google and could damage your high-quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I抦 adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for much more of your respective interesting content. Make sure you update this again very soon..
Wow, awesome weblog format! How lengthy have you ever been blogging for?
you make running a blog glance easy. The full look of your web site is wonderful, let alone the content material!
You can see similar here dobry sklep
Thanks a lot for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you are talking about! Bookmarked. Please also visit my site =). We could have a link exchange contract between us!
This info is worth everyone’s attention. Where can I
find out more?
You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write.
The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t
afraid to mention how they believe. At all times follow your heart.
Wow, wonderful weblog layout! How long have you ever been blogging for?
you make blogging glance easy. The overall glance of your site is magnificent, as well as the content material!
You can see similar here dobry sklep
Hi this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
Wow, superb weblog structure! How long have you been blogging for?
you made running a blog look easy. The full glance of
your site is great, let alone the content material! You can see similar here najlepszy sklep
Wow, superb blog layout! How lengthy have you ever been running a blog for?
you make blogging glance easy. The total glance of your site is great, let alone the content!
You can see similar here sklep internetowy
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very
good success. If you know of any please share. Thank you!
You can read similar art here: E-commerce
Hey! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but
I’m not seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share.
Thank you! You can read similar blog here: E-commerce
It’s very interesting! If you need help, look here: ARA Agency
I like this – Gulvafslibning | Kurt Gulvmand , enjoyed this one appreciate it for putting up keep update – Gulvafslibning | Kurt Gulvmand.
Juccy Pod provides a compact and user-friendly vaping solution, featuring disposable pods filled with flavorful e-liquids. Ideal for vapers looking for hassle-free enjoyment and convenient nicotine delivery on the move.
It’s perfect time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you some interesting things or advice. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I want to read even more things about it!
I’ve learned some new things through the blog post. One other thing to I have noticed is that usually, FSBO sellers will certainly reject you. Remember, they would prefer to never use your providers. But if you maintain a gentle, professional partnership, offering help and staying in contact for four to five weeks, you will usually have the ability to win a business interview. From there, a house listing follows. Thanks
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to say that I get actually enjoyed account your weblog posts. Any way I will be subscribing in your feeds and even I fulfillment you access persistently quickly.
With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement? My blog has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my authorization. Do you know any solutions to help reduce content from being stolen? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
hello there and thank you in your information ?I have certainly picked up something new from proper here. I did then again experience several technical issues the use of this site, as I skilled to reload the site many occasions previous to I could get it to load correctly. I were brooding about in case your hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, however slow loading instances instances will sometimes impact your placement in google and could damage your quality score if advertising and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Anyway I am including this RSS to my email and can look out for much more of your respective intriguing content. Make sure you update this once more very soon..
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search
Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some
targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains.
If you know of any please share. Appreciate it! You can read similar article here: Sklep internetowy
I am not sure where you are getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for great information I was looking for this info for my mission.
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any suggestions?
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to
help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my
blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains.
If you know of any please share. Cheers! You can read similar blog here:
Ecommerce
Great post however I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Many thanks!
I truly appreciate this post. I抳e been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thank you again
I enjoyed reading your piece and it provided me with a lot of value.
Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with
SEO? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords
but I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share.
Cheers! You can read similar text here: Sklep internetowy
I like what you guys are up also. Such clever work and reporting! Carry on the superb works guys I抳e incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my site 🙂
I like the helpful information you provide in your articles. I抣l bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. I’m quite sure I抣l learn many new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!
Thanks for your information on this blog. One particular thing I would like to say is that purchasing electronic devices items over the Internet is not something new. In reality, in the past several years alone, the marketplace for online gadgets has grown significantly. Today, you will discover practically virtually any electronic unit and product on the Internet, including cameras plus camcorders to computer pieces and game playing consoles.
I do like the way you have framed this particular difficulty and it really does supply us a lot of fodder for consideration. On the other hand, from what I have observed, I basically trust as the actual feedback stack on that men and women keep on issue and in no way start on a soap box of some other news of the day. Still, thank you for this superb point and whilst I do not really concur with it in totality, I respect your viewpoint.
hi!,I like your writing so much! share we communicate more about your article on AOL? I need a specialist on this area to solve my problem. Maybe that’s you! Looking forward to see you.
I was just looking for this information for some time. After 6 hours of continuous Googleing, at last I got it in your site. I wonder what’s the lack of Google strategy that don’t rank this type of informative web sites in top of the list. Generally the top web sites are full of garbage.
Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m
not seeing very good results. If you know of any please share.
Thank you! You can read similar blog here: Backlink Portfolio
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to help
with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my website to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success.
If you know of any please share. Cheers! I saw similar art here: GSA Verified List
демонтаж москва
https://demontagmoskva.ru/
Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative. I抦 gonna watch out for brussels. I will be grateful if you continue this in future. A lot of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
best buy cialis
prednisone 4mg tab
Hi my friend! I wish to say that this post is amazing, great written and come with almost all vital infos. I抎 like to look extra posts like this .
wonderful points altogether, you just gained a new reader. What would you recommend in regards to your post that you made a few days ago? Any positive?
Hello there, I found your web site via Google while searching for a related topic, your website came up, it looks great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
lisinopril 5 mg price
hey there and thank you for your info ?I抳e certainly picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical points using this web site, as I experienced to reload the web site lots of times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and could damage your quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Well I抦 adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for much more of your respective interesting content. Make sure you update this again very soon..
prednisone without a rx
Wow, fantastic blog structure! How long have you been running a blog for?
you made running a blog glance easy. The total look of your website is wonderful, let
alone the content! You can see similar here sklep
pharmacy online uae
I wanted to create you the tiny note to be able to thank you so much again with the spectacular basics you have documented in this article. This is really open-handed of you giving publicly all that most of us would’ve offered for sale for an e-book to generate some bucks for themselves, and in particular now that you could possibly have tried it if you ever wanted. The tactics as well worked to become a fantastic way to comprehend other people online have similar keenness like my own to see much more in terms of this matter. I am certain there are thousands of more pleasurable sessions ahead for individuals who looked over your site.
predisone with no presciption
buy lisinopril 20 mg no prescription
valtrex over the counter uk