When Will Things Return to Normal? (with David French)
“Founding friend” David French returns to address with Curtis the visceral question in many hearts and minds, “When will things return to normal?” They explore all the questions behind the question, such as “What exactly is ‘normal?” Does it differ for different people? What picture of the past undergirds my longing?” They compare this political and social moment with past eras in American history and church history. Most importantly, they ask, “Is this the right question that God would have us ask – or is there a better question to pose in this particular moment?”
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The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism by Matthew Continetti
“Three Generations Under One Roof” by David French in NYT
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I love David French’s commentary. It’s really refreshing to hear thoughtful opinions and commentary from the right. I’ve been listening since nearly the beginning of the podcast. Normally I am not a person who writes comments but hearing David speak with such unexamined nostalgia about the Regan years I had to say something about that. I am 59 years old so I was actually just a couple years too young to vote in the 1980 election but Reagan was a polarizing figure in the black community at the time. I still remember the discussions about Reagan’s decision to kick off his election campaign in Philadelphia, MS. I think of Reagan and I think of the normalization of the whole “I wish we could go back to the 1950s” esthetic that is the hallmark of modern conservatism. Don’t get me wrong, liberals are kind of terrible also but they are terrible for trying to do too much while conservatives are terrible for trying to not do anything. Finally, my biggest problem with conservatism in my lifetime is that as a group, conservatives are still debating amongst themselves whether I (as a black person) am an actual person. Obviously that does not speak to every conservative and I understand if that seems like hyperbole, but if you sit with that a second I think you’ll see that it’s really not. It is possible for me to identify with individual conservative ideas, but I can never identify with a movement that believes the words black-lives-matter are controversial.
I appreciated this episode for many reason. But one thing I am wondering about is I keep hearing Christians currently speaking (in the year 2023) of a socialist/Marxist agenda happening here in the United States. Do you believe that this is something happening? I’ve heard people comparing what’s happening now to the kind of things that happened in other countries before they headed in the socialist then Communist direction. At this point it’s hard to know who to believe and what are genuine concerns. And what if anything could be done about it.