What Is Wrong with David French?

Last updated on: June 7, 2021 at 12:27 pm by D. G. Hart

What Is Wrong with David French? 2021-06-07T12:27:14-04:00 D. G. Hart

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Remember the kid in high school who snitched on the other kids smoking in the bathroom? It was an awkward moment if you were friends with the snitch, and probably did not enhance warm relations (unless you were also a snitch). But was there ever any kid who praised the kid who snitched, who went out of his way to get on the side of the informant’s moral indignation, and who praised the principal for suspending the offending smokers?

Well, David French is not the snitch. He’s the student who praises the snitch and seeks the principal’s approval. Take a look for yourself:

Christians, let me ask you a question. When the #MeToo movement launched, and you learned that Harvey Weinstein was a predatory monster, what was your response? When you heard allegations rolling in against Kevin Spacey, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Bryan Singer, and so many others, did you think, “Stop obsessing over scandal. Most members of the media and most folks in Hollywood are good people”? Or did you think that multiple powerful American institutions were beset with deep cultural and spiritual problems?

I know that I wrote thousands of words condemning corruption and exploitation at the highest levels of the American cultural elite. I argued that the comprehensive corruption undermined the moral authority of the progressive elite. I critiqued modern sexual morality, with a specific focus on a consent-only sexual ethic that perversely facilitates the sexualization of everyday life. Conservatives cheered those words, and I stand by those words. #MeToo did reveal moral rot.

But let’s flip it all around. When you heard about corruption and sexual misconduct at America’s largest Christian university, what did you think? What did you think when you read about the sexual scandal at Hillsong or when you learned about Ravi Zacharias’ record of abuse and his ministry’s terrible mistreatment of whistleblowers? Did you pause to consider the larger implications of a decade of sexual predation at one of America’s largest Christian camps or the camp’s efforts to intimidate and coerce victims into silence?

What do you think now, when you read Moore’s words–and when you read that they’ve been corroborated by multiple SBC insiders?

You know this reflects an unhealthy eagerness to gain the principal’s approval because the analogy between Russell Moore and Harvey Weinstein completely breaks down. What Moore did would be the equivalent of someone inside Weinstein’s company, Miramax, resigning and then releasing letter’s written to other company officers upon his or her resignation. That did not happen.

The reason it did not happen — and here’s the other way French’s grandstanding of an analogy breaks down — is because we knew the names of people like Weinstein, Lauer, Rose, and Spacey. No one needed to go back into files to produce business correspondence because the press had already taken over. In Moore’s case, all we have is his own version of events that led to his resignation. He alleges cases of abuse in SBC congregations but provides no names. He talks about SBC executives who made disparaging comments about women and people of color but mentions no names.

Why doesn’t David French criticize Russell Moore for protecting the names of offenders in the SBC? Could it be that rebuking Moore would not make French look good?

Southern Baptist Convention

Previous Post

May 28, 2021

Do You need a Special Initiative to Do Public Theology (whatever it is)?

Next Post

June 15, 2021 A Good White Evangelical is a Dead One?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2016 Presidential Election 2020 Presidential Election Apocalypse Bible in American Life Biblical authority Books and culture Calvinism Church Life Civil Religion Culture Wars Doctrine evangelicalism Gullibility Heaven and Hell Intellectual life Jesus Ministry modernity moralism Nationalism New Testament Old Testament Otherworldiness Otherworldliness Paul Peter Piety Popular culture Protestantism Psalms Puritans Race Roman Catholicism sacred/secular distinction Sex Shameless Self Promotion Sports Ten Commandments U.S. politics Uncategorized vulgarity worship

Select a Month January 2022 October 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz