David French, an opinion writer at The New York Times, is self-admittedly worried amid prospects of revival in America.
After the murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist’s life of Christian devotion dominated the national conversation, prompting a wave of Americans returning to church and reading their Bibles.
Some have even spoken of a sorely needed national revival spawned by the death of Kirk, whose conservative politics were self-confessedly driven by his Christian worldview.
As many Christians celebrated the developments of recent weeks, French, the token “conservative” Christian at The New York Times, penned an opinion piece entitled, “Something Is Stirring in Christian America, and It’s Making Me Nervous.”
“As a Christian who has long lamented the decline of church attendance in the United States, I should be very happy about all these developments,” French wrote.
But rather than simply rejoicing at what could be the start of true revival, French complained that some Christians have noticed that there exists a certain “sin of empathy,” by which emotion becomes untethered from truth, allowing the most heinous evils to be affirmed in the name of love and kindness.
French also argued that there are Christians “warning fellow believers against identifying too much with, say, illegal immigrants, gay people or women who seek abortions.”
He also bemoaned comments from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller at the Charlie Kirk memorial service vowing to root out leftist terrorism for the security and peace of the nation.
French, however, did not celebrate several leading federal officials openly proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ at the same service, which was broadcast to countless millions of people around the world.
Will there be a genuine revival in America?
In any case, even apart from the hand-wringing in the body of the article, the title alone was sufficient to raise eyebrows among many conservative Christians.
“David French is nervous. Good,” Center for Baptist Leadership Executive Director William Wolfe wrote on X, mocking the woke opinion writer’s consternation.
David French is nervous. Good. pic.twitter.com/UxfsldFYcM
— William Wolfe 🇺🇸 (@William_E_Wolfe) October 16, 2025
Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham shared another screenshot of French’s headline, above which was written the caption, “When demons might say the same thing, maybe the problem is you…”
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) October 16, 2025
Wolfe and Basham raise an incisive point.
We do not yet know whether this revival is genuine. When the current rise in Christian sentiment is accompanied by a renewed desire to repent of national sins, such as abortion and sexual perversion, we may have a better idea.
But every Christian who loves his or her nation should, at the bare minimum, want this moment to be genuine.
The fact that French is instead reacting in fear and trembling — the same reaction that Satan indeed has toward powerful moves of God — should raise some serious questions.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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