User:Jaydavidmartin/David Frenchism

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David A. French

David French-ism or David Frenchism is a term coined by Iranian-American conservative political commentator, editor, and author Sohrab Ahmari, in reference to American attorney and conservative political commentator David French. Originally intended as a disparaging label for a conservative mindset that values politeness and decency over unsparingly engaging in political battles, it has been adopted by supporters of French to positively describe a belief in civility and liberalism.

Definition[edit]

Critics use the term to describe a political persuasion within conservatism that they allege has lead to political and cultural losses for conservatives.[1] In particular, David French-ism is a way of approaching politics that values decency and civility—values they believe liberals do not uphold in political debate.[2] Mathew Boose describes David French-ism as a sensibility that "frets that reaching for the levers of power may backfire. You can’t just ban things that are immoral and bad for society. What if our opponents try to do the same thing?"[3]

Supporters also use to term to describe a civil approach to politics, however they view this as a decidely positive quality.[4][5] In addition, the debate emanating from Against David French-ism has lead supporters to link support for classical liberalism with the term. French himself describes French-ism as containing "two main components: zealous defense of the classical-liberal order (with a special emphasis on civil liberties) and zealous advocacy of fundamentally Christian and Burkean conservative principles".[6][7]

Background[edit]

The dispute first began on May 26, 2019, when Sohrab Ahmari expressed on Twitter his frustration with a Facebook advertisement for a children’s drag queen reading hour at a library in Sacramento, California, which he described as "transvestic fetishism", and argued that there is no "polite, David French-ian third way around the cultural civil war".[8] This prompted a response from French in a May 28 essay published in the National Review entitled "Decency Is No Barrier to Justice or the Common Good".[8] The dispute escalated significantly after Ahmari published the essay "Against David French-ism" in the conservative religious journal First Things on May 29, 2019.[9] The direct targeting of French and the impromptu creation of the "David French-ism" political philosophy led the essay to gain a significant profile, prompting a response from French[10][11] and the publication of numerous commentaries.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] On September 5, 2019, French and Ahmari engaged in an in-person political debate moderated by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.,[25] again prompting a flurry of commentaries.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]

Reception[edit]

The essay in which the term was coined sparked considerable debate in intellectual conservative circles.[35]

The term itself has faced criticism among both supporters and critics of Ahmari's original essay for falsely or unfairly characterizing French. Jonah Goldberg writes in The National Review, "French’s allies — including me — saw Ahmari’s attack in the pages of the journal First Things as a kind of character assassination. His description of French as a conservative quisling more eager to get along with the Left than to fight it bore little resemblance to the man."[36] Rod Dreher writes in The American Conservative, "I wish Ahmari had not unjustly accused French of 'keeping his hands clean, his soul untainted.' David French has fought hard in courtrooms, as a lawyer, for religious liberty, as an ADF lawyer. If that’s not getting your hands dirty, what is?"[37]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Serwer, Adam (14 June 2019). "The Illiberal Right Throws a Tantrum". The Atlantic. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  2. ^ Domenech, Ben (30 May 2019). "The Cultural White Walkers Have Descended". The Federalist. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  3. ^ Boose, Matthew (4 June 2019). "Sohrab Ahmari Is Right: Politics Is War". American Greatness. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  4. ^ Jacobs, Alan (3 June 2019). "What a Clash Between Conservatives Reveals". The Atlantic. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  5. ^ French, David (28 May 2019). "Decency Is No Barrier to Justice or the Common Good". The National Review. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  6. ^ French, David (6 June 2019). "In Defense of 'Frenchism'". The National Review. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  7. ^ French, David (30 May 2019). "What Sohrab Ahmari Gets Wrong". The National Review. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b French, David (28 May 2019). "Decency Is No Barrier to Justice or the Common Good". The National Review. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ahmari was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ French, David (30 May 2019). "What Sohrab Ahmari Gets Wrong". The National Review. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference French1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference New Yorker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vox was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Goldberg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Atlantic1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Atlantic2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dougherty was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cooke was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dreher was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reno was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference Federalist was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Am-Greatness was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kircher was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ "Sohrab Ahmari debates David French 9.5.2019". The American Mind. 5 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ Conroy, J. Oliver (7 September 2019). "What the 'Ahmari-French Debate' Was Really About". New York Magazine.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ Walther, Matthew (6 September 2019). "Why illiberal conservatives lose arguments". The Week.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ Nwanevu, Osita (9 September 2019). "The Right Wing's Cultural Civil War Is a Drag". The New Republic.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ Ayers, Emma (9 September 2019). "The Ahmari-French Debate Was About Theology, Not Politics". The American Conservative.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. ^ Egger, Andrew (6 September 2019). "David French DESTROYS Sohrab Ahmari (and the idea of 'illiberal conservatism')". The Bulwark.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ^ Reno, R.R. (19 September 2019). "What's at Stake in the French-Ahmari Debate?". First Things.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ^ Suderman, Peter (6 September 2019). "Sohrab Ahmari Is a Joke". Reason.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ^ Pesavento, Christina (12 September 2019). "The Limits of Liberty". R Street Institute.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. ^ Livni, Ephrat (17 June 2019). "Conservative Christians in the US are battling about whether to fight nice". Quartz.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  35. ^ Douthat, Ross (4 June 2019). "What Are Conservatives Actually Debating?". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  36. ^ Goldberg, Jonah (12 June 2019). "The Conservative Divide". The National Review. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  37. ^ Dreher, Rod (30 May 2019). "Sohrab Ahmari Vs. David French". The American Conservative. Retrieved 30 June 2019.

Further Reading[edit]

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