Why Christians Should Oppose Sohrab Ahmari

“In many ways, it was far better to see Christendom shrunk down to a few genuine believers than to see it ballooned and enforced into a parody of itself”

Introduction

“When Christianity came into the world the task was simply to proclaim Christianity. The same is the case wherever Christianity is introduced into a country the religion of which is not Christianity. In ‘Christendom’ the situation is a different one. What we have before us is not Christianity but a prodigious illusion, and the people are not pagans but live in the blissful conceit that they are Christians. So if in this situation Christianity is to be introduced, first of all the illusion must be disposed of.”

Soren Kierkegaard, Attack on Christendom

In his article “Against David French-ism” for the Christian outlet First Things, Sohrab Ahmari takes issue with liberal, Christian conservatism. In particular, he associated this position with the philosophy and “nice” disposition of National Review columnist and “Never Trumper” David French. Ahmari’s argument is that there is no “polite” way to fight a “cultural civil war” against the forces of liberalism and progressivism. In Ahmari’s agonistic understanding, various “cultural revolutionaries” have come to insist that the most important social good is “maximum autonomy” from moral and legal sanctions. This position, which Ahmari reacts against, holds that experiments in living are the highest good, and it disparages the effort to constrain this experimental disposition as prejudice. According to Ahmari, “Frenchism” is the liberal conservative philosophy which holds that this emphasis on maximum autonomy and individual experimentation should be countered—but only using gentle means. One should encourage personal spiritual devotion, promote a better work-life balance, which will enable individuals to invest time in religious practices, and so on. Ahmari regards this as entirely insufficient, given the stakes of the current cultural civil war. Instead, he intends to “fight the culture war with the aim of defeating the enemy and enjoying the spoils in the form of a public square re-ordered to the common good and ultimately the Highest Good.” This is where Ahmari reprimands French and others for failing to support Donald Trump. Perhaps solely through “instinct,” President Trump—devout paragon of moral behavior that he is—recognized the need to use the state to reinforce traditional authority and order. His election was a rejection of a depoliticized politics, and it was emblematic of an embrace of an all-encompassing culture war where “civility and decency are secondary values.” As Ahmari put it:

“In the United States, this great ‘no’ culminated in 2016’s election of Donald Trump. With a kind of animal instinct, Trump understood what was missing from mainstream (more or less French-ian) conservatism. His instinct has been to shift the cultural and political mix, ever so slightly, away from autonomy-above-all toward order, continuity, and social cohesion. He believes that the political community—and not just the church, family, and individual—has its own legitimate scope for action. He believes it can help protect the citizen from transnational forces beyond his control.”