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A couple things. First, disputing the offensive premise *is* the liberal answer.
Second, Douthat says this debate is the result of developments over the last 20y, but the reality is it’s a rehash of an argument that’s been going on since well before 1999. (Probably since Spengler’s Decline of the West was published in 1918.)
Check out section 8.1 here if you’re interested @nickconfessore—it reviews liberal responses to a political theology movement of the 1990s whose arguments sound an awful lot like Douthat and Ahmari. (Spoiler: the liberals rejected the premise.) plato.stanford.edu/entries/religi… 
@nickconfessore sorry 8.2* (8.1 is the description of the New Traditionalists declinism itself)
