Lipscomb’s department of history, politics and philosophy welcomed alumnus David French to its “Pizza and Politics” event. French is a graduate of Harvard Law, an author and an Iraq War veteran. French was also a potential independent candidate in the 2016 presidential election.
French identifies as politically conservative. The thesis of his Monday night message was of acceptance.
French spoke mostly about the freedom of religious expression, and how tolerance for Christianity in the modern world is fading. He used the example of Jack Phillips, a Christian cake-maker in Colorado who declined the opportunity to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, as an example of this.
According to French, Phillips respectfully declined to bake a wedding cake for a two men, and liberal America was outraged and demanded legal action. This conflicted with his right to conduct his private business and practice his religious expression, French believes.
On the other end of the political spectrum, French also brought up Collin Kaepernick, who exercised his freedom of symbolic speech at a 2016 NFL game by kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality.
“Where was the tolerance?” French asked. “Where was the acceptance of something you might otherwise like, because the idea and the value of shared liberty transcended the political issue at the moment? It was nowhere to be found.”
French addressed the country’s current tense political climate.
“We are in the grips of something called negative polarization,” he said.
He explained this as being aligned with a party out of fear and hatred of the other. French addressed this polarization and gave advice on how he thinks this nation can heal, even while disagreeing.
“I would submit that if we’re going to get through this thing as a country, we’re going to have to apply the golden rule of civil liberties,” he said.
“The Golden Rule of Civil Liberties is fighting for the rights of others that you would like to exercise yourself. And that’s going to involve a little bit of risk.”