Great read, thank you.I'm looking forward to reading more about the alluded to adventures!
I was curious if you think Trueman views expressive individualism as a problem or if his concern is (as I see it) more about performative individualism. The former can be expressing what is authentic about us. The latter is more about acting out that which is alien to who/what we are.
I think he's a bit nostalgic for the times when people's "authentic selves" were defined for them by a group. He understands that there's no winding the clock back but I get the impression that he believes that was healthier in some ways.
"And yet, it was the East that succumbed to communism." I feel you've missed the point of Ignat Solzhenitsyn's contribution. His father Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Harvard Address was a riveting, stirring "warning to the West". "This is what went so horribly wrong for us", he was saying. "You are on the same path, Western nations - pull back before it's too late and you have to suffer like we are suffering!" He describes the conditions in prescient detail that led and still lead to totalitarianism. Prophetic then, and even more relevant now in America, standing at a crossroads as we do. I find it incredibly moving that his legacy lives on in his sons as well, above all, in his writings. What coup for the conference to land his son as a "speaker."
Yes, I do see it as a warning, but (you may disagree) it seemed to me that he saw it as an apples to oranges kind of diagnosis--that the West had its own particular set of vices that was going to doom it in its own particular way.
"there are Catholic and Reformed Protestant versions of this problem playing themselves out as well."
One more comment - not a quibble exactly, but I felt that this qualifier somehow understates the matter. It's my impression that among young male Very Online converts, there is a tendency towards hard-core scapegoating that spans all the various creeds. Perhaps it is more visible among the Orthodox because these guys make up such a disproportionate number of the visible members of that church, whereas the others are still outnumbered by moderates. But I don't think that Orthodoxy as such is to blame - it just happens to be the church disproportionately appealing to young men.
I do think when it comes to antisemitism in particular, there isn't much of a natural immune system resisting this within Orthodoxy. Young men who binge Fuentes et alia can import this and I'm sorry to say they might find themselves rather at home. Within other traditions they will remain more fringe.
Hmm, that isn't my experience being Orthodox and knowing a broad swathe of these younger male converts. His impression is broadly correct from what I've seen on the ground. Orthodox Christianity in the US is indeed getting a disproportionate amount of these disaffected male converts (hence you'll indeed see those "naifs" beginning their journeys disproportionately represented) and I see the reality of their change over time as they struggle to enter into the life of the Church. Within Orthodox Christianity, spiritual motherhood/fatherhood, sponsorship of new converts, and confession play an especially important role in discipling new converts and forming their hearts.
Frankly, I think that amongst non Orthodox there's a danger of getting a false impression of what Orthodox Christian life actually looks like based upon their interaction with and observation of "rigorist (or "orthobro)") people online. One has to "touch grass" and to be immersed within parish life and know these men longitudinally over time to know in a substantive way what's going on.
Re-subscribing just to get more ARC posts - wonderful! But most importantly, I think that Pierre and Bethel should co-host a podcast together...
Great read, thank you.I'm looking forward to reading more about the alluded to adventures!
I was curious if you think Trueman views expressive individualism as a problem or if his concern is (as I see it) more about performative individualism. The former can be expressing what is authentic about us. The latter is more about acting out that which is alien to who/what we are.
I think he's a bit nostalgic for the times when people's "authentic selves" were defined for them by a group. He understands that there's no winding the clock back but I get the impression that he believes that was healthier in some ways.
That would be fun. 😁 I'm afraid both of us are too lazy though.
"And yet, it was the East that succumbed to communism." I feel you've missed the point of Ignat Solzhenitsyn's contribution. His father Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Harvard Address was a riveting, stirring "warning to the West". "This is what went so horribly wrong for us", he was saying. "You are on the same path, Western nations - pull back before it's too late and you have to suffer like we are suffering!" He describes the conditions in prescient detail that led and still lead to totalitarianism. Prophetic then, and even more relevant now in America, standing at a crossroads as we do. I find it incredibly moving that his legacy lives on in his sons as well, above all, in his writings. What coup for the conference to land his son as a "speaker."
I commend a careful reading of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's speech, subtitled, "A World Split Apart", to all. If can be found at https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/a-world-split-apart
Yes, I do see it as a warning, but (you may disagree) it seemed to me that he saw it as an apples to oranges kind of diagnosis--that the West had its own particular set of vices that was going to doom it in its own particular way.
"there are Catholic and Reformed Protestant versions of this problem playing themselves out as well."
One more comment - not a quibble exactly, but I felt that this qualifier somehow understates the matter. It's my impression that among young male Very Online converts, there is a tendency towards hard-core scapegoating that spans all the various creeds. Perhaps it is more visible among the Orthodox because these guys make up such a disproportionate number of the visible members of that church, whereas the others are still outnumbered by moderates. But I don't think that Orthodoxy as such is to blame - it just happens to be the church disproportionately appealing to young men.
I do think when it comes to antisemitism in particular, there isn't much of a natural immune system resisting this within Orthodoxy. Young men who binge Fuentes et alia can import this and I'm sorry to say they might find themselves rather at home. Within other traditions they will remain more fringe.
Hmm, that isn't my experience being Orthodox and knowing a broad swathe of these younger male converts. His impression is broadly correct from what I've seen on the ground. Orthodox Christianity in the US is indeed getting a disproportionate amount of these disaffected male converts (hence you'll indeed see those "naifs" beginning their journeys disproportionately represented) and I see the reality of their change over time as they struggle to enter into the life of the Church. Within Orthodox Christianity, spiritual motherhood/fatherhood, sponsorship of new converts, and confession play an especially important role in discipling new converts and forming their hearts.
Frankly, I think that amongst non Orthodox there's a danger of getting a false impression of what Orthodox Christian life actually looks like based upon their interaction with and observation of "rigorist (or "orthobro)") people online. One has to "touch grass" and to be immersed within parish life and know these men longitudinally over time to know in a substantive way what's going on.
That's encouraging to hear. At the same time though what are your thoughts on how antisemitism can manifest in Orthodox spaces?