David French of National Review Online approaches today’s political challenges with more optimism than many of his right-of-center peers.
One of the strange realities of the current fight over the direction of the conservative movement — double down on classical liberalism or reject many of its tenets in favor of a version of Christian statism? — is that it is taking place in the presence of an unjustified sense of despair and defeat. There is a wholly incorrect sense that the previous approach to the hot-button cultural issues of our day, centered around appeals to constitutional rights conducted (mostly) with civility and dignity, has failed. The argument is, in short: We lose, so we must change.
This is false. And one need only look at the news of the last month to see that it’s false. …
… It is very true that we continue to face cultural challenges, often in the form of public shaming and corporate activism, but it’s important to remember that those who shame and boycott are exercising their own constitutionally protected rights. The answer to their bad speech isn’t the exact kind of government censorship and control that civil libertarians spent three decades successfully fighting. Instead, it’s personal courage. It’s better speech. It’s choosing to withstand the mob. …
… Yes, the Left wins many fights. No question. It has enormous cultural power. But the idea that the Right is weak — and that classical liberalism is a dead end, a source of that weakness — is pure fiction. How do we know? Because in the last 40 years, cultural conservatives have worked within classical liberalism to save lives, change the law, empower a new generation of young Christians, and create enduring institutions designed to protect liberty.
