. . .from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author and activist in the 'new monasticism' movement: Christian Community w/Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove from The Work Of The People on Vimeo .
From Rod Dreher: A Secularist Sees The Benedict Option : I haven’t mentioned it in a while, but a few years ago, in my book “Crunchy Cons,” I suggested that traditionalists should consider what I called “the Benedict Option” — living in variations of monastic communities for the sake of preserving certain countercultural values in an increasingly dark age. The name comes from the Benedictine monks of Western Europe, whose monasteries were oases of faith, order, and light during the Dark Ages, and eventually helped midwife the rebirth of civilization. Cultural historian Morris Berman thinks this might be necessary. From a review of his new book “Why America Failed” ; the reviewer is George Scialabba: As a former medievalist, Berman finds contemporary parallels to the fall of Rome compelling. By the end of the empire, he points out, economic inequality was drastic and increasing, the legitimacy and efficacy of the state was waning, popular culture was debased, civic virtue among eli...
Richard Fletcher [ The Barbarian Conversion ] notes that ancient Christendom was not monolithic: In terms of custom and practice there were many churches in sixth- and seventh-century Europe, not One Church. Christendom was many-mansioned. Fletcher talks about the motif of exile in the monastic expansion. Christians, following the writing of Augustine, saw themselves as exiles and pilgrims and then the monastics took this exile literally. They often left their homeland and people to found monastic missions amongst others. Fletcher says: Pilgrimage, in the sense of ascetic renunciation of homeland and kinsfolk, is of special importance in our understanding of the phenomenon of conversion in the early Middle Ages. Pilgrimage merged insensibly into mission. The monasteries that were founded by the exiled holy men had something of the character of mission stations. It was not that they were established primarily among pagans; indeed, they could not have been, dependent as they were on we...
I'm happy for anything that upsets Planned Parenthood. Woo-hoo!
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