Episode 319 – Dreher, Benedict Option

April 14, 2018 1

Mandeville, LA – Exclusive Transcript – The whole act of claiming to be a Christian is that. It is the humble sacrifice of admitting, created by God, we are nothing other than what is made of us, using our freewill and His grace. That’s it. If you can’t have a devotion to what that order was, what it entails, then you can’t have a Christian society. You’re a liar. You’re a fraud. You’re a fake. You want a paganized version. You want to go to the Burger King. Check out today’s transcript for the rest….

Begin Mike Church Show Transcript

Mike: Reviewing Rod Dreher’s book The Benedict Option.

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Dreher’s concerns about persecution may be somewhat exaggerated, but they aren’t delusional. Now that same-sex marriage has been declared a constitutional right, the full weight of anti-discrimination law . . .

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Mike: By the way, if that is true, if that is how it’s going to be stated, that sodomites marrying is a constitutional right – then I will accept the Constitution as written in whole cloth, including the 14^th Amendment. I would even accept, if it were duly ratified, prohibition. I will not accept this as being a part of the Constitution. If it is a part of the Constitution, then you and I know what we must do, and that is, barring an attempt to repeal it or have a future court say that the first court erred, then you have to claim your own new mainstream. There’s not a state in the union – there’s 11 or 12. Let me rephrase it. There’s a majority of states in the current union that either passed laws or had referendums and ballot initiatives that said marriage is between one man and one woman.

If the Supreme Court of the United States and the Injustice Department says the Constitution says otherwise, then we cannot – folks, you cannot lend your support to that. You must then become a separatist. We must say: Look, I am now going to turn to my state and demand that my state defend the magisterium. [mocking] “But Mitter Church, they’re all secular.” That’s right. Since my state is not going to do that, where does that leave me? Where does it leave you? It leaves us where St. Francis of Assisi was. It leaves us where St. Benedict was. It leaves us where St. Bernard was. Find, establish, found our own mainstream. We know what the laws ought to be. We already have most of them in our states anyways. It’s just a matter of obedience and then of allegiance. Unfortunately, folks, most Christians are not going to think about that like this. They’re going to tell you no. They’re going to tell Mark Kreslins no. They’re going to tell me no. Concluding with Linker, though:

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. . . the full weight of anti-discrimination law is poised to bear down on those whose faith precludes them from accepting the licitness of such arrangements. That has inspired many religious conservatives (and a few liberals, like myself) to demand new laws to strengthen the First Amendment’s religious liberty protections, specifically to clarify that the “free exercise” clause is not limited to what takes place within the walls of a church.

Dreher doubts that such efforts will succeed. Gay rights activists, the Democratic Party, the media, universities, big business — all of them are arrayed on the other side.

But what if the efforts did work? What if Dreher and other conservative Christians could know that they would not be forced to bake cakes or provide other services for same-sex weddings, that religious colleges would not be forced to permit same-sex cohabitation, and that employees would not be fired or otherwise penalized for holding traditional views about sexuality? Would that render the Benedict Option unnecessary?

I doubt Dreher would think so — because Christians would still find themselves living in a country in which a range of authorities within civil society constantly convey the message that same-sex marriage is good and opposing it is bigotry, in which pornography is ubiquitous . . . [Mike: Not just that. What about the deep state? What about the unjust wars? What about the killing? What about the abortions?]

But why is that such a problem? . . . in the decisive respect, they already practice something like the Benedict Option . . .

Perhaps that consideration partially explains why Dreher sometimes seems to hype the persecution that conservative Christians already confront or will soon face . . .

That’s not a message that every conservative Christian will want to hear — and it’s certainly not one with which many non-Christians, liberal Christians, or Moralistic Therapeutic Deists will sympathize. But it’s nonetheless worthy of sympathy.

Christianity in all of its manifold forms and expressions isn’t about to disappear, but comprehensive Christianity — a holistic vision of God and humanity, sexuality and sin, marriage and procreation — has been dethroned. [Mike: This is a lib proclaiming victory, by the by.] Those of us who see a necessary moral advance in this revolution should be capable of acknowledging that it also entails a significant loss.

And for some of our fellow citizens, the loss is intensely personal.

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Mike: This is basically a lib, Damon Linker, saying: I see the point that what has ended is something that’s cherished. Folks, he doesn’t see the point because he doesn’t see the Truth. If it was true when Christ said it on the Sermon on the Mount, if it was true when he said it to the harlot at the well, if it was true when he said it to the apostles, if it was true when he said it to the beggar that he healed, if it was true, true, true, it doesn’t have an expiration date. It’s true today. You, I, we don’t have a choice. The whole act of claiming to be a Christian is that. It is the humble sacrifice of admitting, created by God, we are nothing other than what is made of us, using our freewill and His grace. That’s it. If you can’t have a devotion to what that order was, what it entails, then you can’t have a Christian society. You’re a liar. You’re a fraud. You’re a fake. You want a paganized version. You want to go to the Burger King. You want to have it your way. That’s not the way it works. [song/audio of vintage Burger King commercial] That’s the way to do things, our way. No, it’s not the way to do things. You don’t get it your way. That’s the point. The whole point of the humility and the humbleness of the exercise is that you don’t get it your way, and you’re not going to get it your way, and you shouldn’t be asking for it. You don’t say: Lord, Lord, I believe most things, but maybe you were having a bad day that day, Lord. Maybe you didn’t quite mean it to come out that way.

David sent me this video. One of the speakers at the Chesterton conference actually was a proponent of Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia and had to be corrected in a debate by Michael Matt of The Remnant newspaper. Folks, that’s one of the questions that has arisen under this papacy that has caused so many people confusion. Look, I am one of those affected by it. I know what the teaching says I must do. I’m doing it, attempting to do it. Those that say – again, you miss the point. The point of the Christian exercise is the point of sacrifice, of suffering. Sure, there are things to be gained by grace, but it’s not all a one-way street. You don’t do it so that you gain things, unless you’re trying to gain them in Heaven or for use in Heaven, after this world here.

During Lent we’re supposed to look for excuses to mortify ourselves. We’re supposed to look for these instances. We’re supposed to seek them. When you find one, you’re not supposed to avoid it. You can act like that all the time. Wait a minute, I’m supposed to do that? Yeah, you’re supposed to do that. Well, I just found out about that today. Okay, you start doing it now. You don’t go: Wait a minute, I’ve been getting away with not doing it. Why do I have to start doing it now? Because it’s the right thing to do. Where have we lost the concept of it’s the right thing to do? How do we know what’s the right thing to do? We know what’s the right thing to do when we find ultimate purpose that is in pursuit of ultimate truth. Truth doesn’t have an expiration date. What is truth? Conformity of the mind to reality.

End Mike Church Show Transcript