Meet me at the monastery

Article

Rod Dreher On The Future Of Christianity In A Post-Christian Nation

Summary

Rod Dreher is a senior editor at the American Conservative and author of the new book, “The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation.” Dreher joins Federalist Radio to explain the ancient ways of the Benedict Option, the roots of religious decline in America, and how Christians can save their culture and communities.

Quote

"We are called to live in the world, but if we are to live in the world faithfully, we have to withdraw from the world to some extent for formation so we can be salt and light to the world."

Understanding

Dreher wants Christianity to be at the center of our lives, culture and politics. His sense is that traditional values need to be protected and restored. He points to St. Benedict's withdrawal from the sordid life of the Roman Empire as a model for figuring out a new way to be in community.

I am not afraid of what Dreher fears, nor do I share his goal of restoring Christendom. I would like to talk with him about his practice. I think I could learn something that might draw mine from being less self-serving and more networked into serving society.

A man's inner world

Article

Why They Need the Cucks

Summary

Jessa Crispin explains the alt right's use of the archaic word cuckold is based on men with embattled masculinity needing to assert power by diminishing others.

Quote

"Here, then, is the task of the twenty-first-century American man: making hierarchies that don’t put him at the bottom. The bottom is where the cucks are—because “cuck,” in its current incarnation, is an insult aimed not at men who are betrayed by women...but at men who don’t have anyone to control."

Understanding

Masculinity has traditionally been defined by how men appear and what we achieve.  My manliness score is based on the size of my body, how much money I earn and how many women I screw. As a slight-framed, government salaried, 40-years monogamous male; I'm pretty low in that pecking order. As a loser in that lottery, it's easier for me to see the limitations of traditional masculinity.

No wonder men who buy into that model find themselves lacking and look to exploit weakness in others. What a sorry use of their pain.

Do I want more power, prosperity and prowess? Not for the price I would have to pay. I will not trample others to climb to the top. I will not sacrifice the joys of togetherness for the stuff of selfishness. I will not betray love for gratification.

Rather than admiring alpha males and their wannabes, perhaps it would be better to feel compassion for them. Perhaps we should not define our manliness based on how our score ranks in a hierarchy, We could define our manliness based on the power of our helpfulness, the abundance we share and the joy we create.

Restore what?

Article

Other People's Babies and American Values

Summary

Jonathan Tobin in The National Review urges conservatives to distance themselves from the ideology of Iowa congressman Steve King who tweeted in support of the far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders -

Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. 

We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.

Quote

"That is why it is incumbent upon conservatives to reject any connection between their beliefs or their political party with the ideas that animated Steve King’s tweet. A failure to do so will not merely hurt conservatives politically; it will hasten the decline of the values they cherish."

Understanding

Diversity is a defining characteristic of America. Our multicultural nature creates tragedies and tensions as it enriches and energizes us. People of all colors and faiths are held together in an American identity through our tradition as a nation of immigrants and our "pursuit of liberty and justice for all." Those qualities and ideals are what civilize us. Our civilization is restored by our openness not by the fears of privileged, white men.

A greater love

Article

Evangelicals need to stop being wimps

Summary

America would become truly great again if evangelical Christians were to find their voice and courage.

Quote

"Righteous anger has a place within the Christian life.  Tap into it.  In the words of Ephesians 4:26, 'Be angry and do not sin.'”

Understanding

Is accepting people as they are a greater expression of love than desiring something more for them? I believe we are all basically the same and essentially good. That stance may be less compassionate than believing, and acting, on the principle that we can be more than who we are.

The challenge for evangelicals is the narrowness of their judgment and the language of their argument. This author asserts that his interpretation of Christianity is the only true way and he cruelly labels people he finds objectionable.

I want to hold fast to righteous principles, not shy away from speaking my truth  while loving the other without condemnation.

If enough was enough

Article

Putting Work in its Place

Summary

Our conception of the role of work distorts our political and family life.

Quote

"Members of the economy are increasingly unable to understand themselves as providing for a family and as cultivating a particular skill that contributes to the common good. They instead understand themselves as embroiled in a competitive race to an ever-receding pinnacle of success and, at the same time, as stuck in the vicious cycle of consumption and emptiness."

Understanding

How much is enough? Nelson Rockefeller famously answered, "Just a little bit more."

Politicians on both the Left and the Right aspire to eliminate barriers to individual success such as poverty, prejudice foreign workers, bad trade deals or regulation then let the free market make winners out of some of its participants. The elites are anointed and the also-rans become frustrated voters or opt out of the electorate.

What if we valued the quality of how each of us contributes rather than how some of us get ahead?  What if the restless striving that characterizes our American character was oriented toward doing our share rather than hoarding more shares? What if what we have is all that we want?

It seems naive to think our culture could recalibrate its values so radically. If we don't we will stay how we are only more so. We can begin with ourselves and the values we model for our children.

Faith abides

Article

"Americans have lost faith in institutions. That's not because of Trump or 'fake news.'

Summary

Bill Bishop writing in The Washington Post claims everything about modern life works against community and trust. Society has frayed because we have elevated the value of individual autonomy. The causes predate Pres. Trump and there is nothing we can do about it.

Quote

"We have become, in Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman’s description, “artists of our own lives,” ignoring authorities and booting traditions while turning power over to the self."

Understanding

It is easy to use the past to identify what is lacking in the present and what is threatening to our future. It is harder to identify how the elements of our current predicament might bloom into a better tomorrow.

During my active parenting years I grieved that children didn't enjoy spontaneous, unstructured, communal play. I recalled fondly how on weekends or after school a dozen or so of my childhood buddies would gather for games of tag, baseball or football. My kids were more isolated and into TV, computer games and organized sports.

Now I work with a lot of people aged 19-35. I see how they use hand-held devices to connect and build community through liking, commenting, sharing and participating. I see how they value kindness and inclusion. Their interactions remind me of the Saturday afternoons of my youth except that they enjoy multiple, positive social interactions every day. Their smart phones replaced the bat and ball that were the devices that brought my community together.

OK we have lost what was familiar. That always happens. So does the arrival of something better that we can't fully imagine just now.

Governing the ego

Article

Where are the Republican Party's Leaders?

Summary

Ian Tuttle writing in "The National Review" says Pres. Trump's bashing of traditional conservative principles as he ascended to power has left the GOP gun-shy.

Quote

"But, of course, this leadership crisis is at root a crisis of faith. The Republican party doesn’t know what it believes right now."

Understanding

While confidence is a necessary attribute of leadership, hubris is its cancerous over-production. It takes a nimble trick of the ego to realize the attributes that get us into a leadership position are not sufficient for us to lead effectively.

We need the relationships we trampled on our way to the top. We need expert advice. We have to compromise to move forward. We receive the ideas of others and accept their help. Humility comes to us more naturally when we hold dear principles bigger than our selves.