tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post8798869114414502903..comments2024-03-12T04:14:16.271-05:00Comments on The Rad Trad: A Benedict Option for Laymen?The Rad Tradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00899289024837953345noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-4784269968405846622017-05-10T19:25:47.627-05:002017-05-10T19:25:47.627-05:00Sorry, forget to give you the link to the article ...Sorry, forget to give you the link to the article I quoted: http://michaelnovak.net/why-they-hate-pro-lifers-so/Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15469491551982624098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-79430088935530385602017-05-10T19:24:52.060-05:002017-05-10T19:24:52.060-05:00It's true that some people may abuse it, but t...It's true that some people may abuse it, but that's true for anything. I recently read an article by Michael Novak which stated pro-choice women facing an unwanted pregnancy use God's forgiveness as a rationale for abortion: "Third, “these women feel that God will ultimately forgive the woman, because He is a forgiving God, because the woman did not intend to get pregnant, and because a woman in such crisis has no real choice." <br />Because she chooses to abuse God's forgiveness does that mean it should have never been offered?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15469491551982624098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-78350379730078189282017-05-10T17:07:36.629-05:002017-05-10T17:07:36.629-05:00Agreed. Catholic parents need to encourage the rel...Agreed. Catholic parents need to encourage the religious life, even if they are only well-suited to train for marriage.J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04821093432726247774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-17638137149684352482017-05-10T17:05:16.318-05:002017-05-10T17:05:16.318-05:00From page 125 of Dreher's book: "We are t...From page 125 of Dreher's book: "We are the abbot and abbess of our domestic monastery.... A monastery is a place of hierarchical order, but all members are valued and united in a bond of love." I don't think that Dreher wants us to run our homes strictly according to the Rule, but that's surely one way his Benedict Option will be misused. He is demanding far more subtlety of thought than most married couples are capable of achieving when he tries to appropriate the Rule for family life, and I'm not sure he's clear enough about that in his popular writing. (His calls for classical homeschooling will surely go ignored by most parents who have no classical training, as well.)J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04821093432726247774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-33979791500890298962017-05-09T13:33:18.805-05:002017-05-09T13:33:18.805-05:00J., I suppose that's one way to look at it. A...J., I suppose that's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is giving them a different foundation on which to base their life: one that aligns them more closely to God and the Church. Besides, I hardly think Dreher means everyone to dress up in robes and chant and pray all day.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15469491551982624098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-82178740038415316002017-05-09T11:46:57.432-05:002017-05-09T11:46:57.432-05:00The best way for families to "live the Benedi...The best way for families to "live the Benedict option" is by keeping the door to the monastic life open. From my limited, recently converted trad perspective, parents encourage either the priesthood or marriage. The monastic life is sort of shunted away or one simply doesn't hear of it. Of course we want (and need) more traditional priests but we also need many, many religious. There are plenty of traditional monastic communities, especially if you're willing to learn French. There are also wide open opportunities for trads to found charitable or itinerant orders. Most of the traditional monasteries are contemplative. Marissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11734624055833603768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-8629024218002309512017-05-09T09:48:50.106-05:002017-05-09T09:48:50.106-05:00I don't think that imposing a quasi-monastic l...I don't think that imposing a quasi-monastic lifestyle on one's children will make them care, even if it helps the parents. Children already live under natural forms of obedience, chastity, and poverty. While parents ought to encourage the assumption of the spiritual counsels later in life, they cannot pretend that they are abbot and abbess, and their kiddos wee monks and nuns.J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04821093432726247774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-37279140590109735082017-05-09T09:03:57.956-05:002017-05-09T09:03:57.956-05:00And you don't believe that assuming a lifestyl...And you don't believe that assuming a lifestyle that draws you closer to God will bring you to care?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15469491551982624098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-55738106678032171292017-05-09T08:16:06.740-05:002017-05-09T08:16:06.740-05:00Dreher's continued use of the Roman Catholic s...Dreher's continued use of the Roman Catholic spiritual tradition is an annoyance, but it might be the only way he could market his "option" to his former co-religionists. If he focused on the example of some obscure (to Americans) Orthodox monastic movement, very few of us would keep listening.J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04821093432726247774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-36598338131890939702017-05-09T08:12:59.964-05:002017-05-09T08:12:59.964-05:00Clearly even Dreher doesn't know exactly what ...Clearly even Dreher doesn't know exactly what he is getting at. I've seen attempts at making family life more monastic, and it usually ends in the children developing mental obsessions or just pushing away from religion. Let the monks be monks and the families be families.<br /><br />I do appreciate Dreher's repeated note about the need to restore a "narrative" to the culture, but that's as much a problem of bad preaching as it is the assault of secular anti-culture. When all of our sermons are about vaguely loving our neighbors (as in Novus Ordo land) or about the technical distinctions of moral theology (as in Traddy land), laity are still left without the larger context which is supposed to inspire us to <i>care</i>.J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04821093432726247774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-64241274474313268172017-05-09T07:55:41.126-05:002017-05-09T07:55:41.126-05:00I admit that the technical distinctions of such th...I admit that the technical distinctions of such things often escape me. I forget that "apostasy" is usually applied to those who have rejected Christian religion entirely. The post has been corrected.J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04821093432726247774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-18974071273591117722017-05-08T20:37:45.955-05:002017-05-08T20:37:45.955-05:00I believe that Mr. Dreher would more correctly be ...I believe that Mr. Dreher would more correctly be called a schismatic, than an apostate.Novianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09950202747011894890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-62214978678795166182017-05-08T20:23:34.790-05:002017-05-08T20:23:34.790-05:00Here is a good critique of the "Benedict Opti...Here is a good critique of the "Benedict Option": https://opuspublicum.com/2017/04/04/201744my-last-word-on-this-benedict-option-business/Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08395971347119256329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-21600692686170382592017-05-08T19:21:35.051-05:002017-05-08T19:21:35.051-05:00I don't believe Dreher said or even implied th...I don't believe Dreher said or even implied this: "But it is dangerous to cultivate a lifestyle of seclusion, where the laity arrive at the church once a week for Sacraments, but otherwise refuse to engage with the life of the Church."<br />What he actually said, "Strengthening families and communities, and thickening our ties to each other and to OUR CHURCHES [emphasis added]. . . <br />You also might want to check out this website: http://www.everyhomeamonastery.com/category/lessons-from-a-monastery/. This family, to the extent they are able, style their lives after monastic life and are very involved with their church. This is what I believe Dreher is getting at.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15469491551982624098noreply@blogger.com