Orthobros and RadTrads: Too Many Monks, Not Enough Knights
in which your humble servant stirs up some online controversy
I dropped a short video on my YouTube channel this week that has generated a little controversy—so why should I leave my Substack friends out of the fun? Let me know what you think in the comments.
I share your love for Berdyaev and his fellows particularly Pavel Florensky whose murder at the hands of the NKVD is one of the great lessons young people should learn. No matter how much he tried to imply his piety into the materialism of Russian Communism they still hated him for his spiritual life. In other words you can never ingratiate yourself enough to the materialist overlords that they will have a change of heart and not despise you.
I have spent my adult in the visual arts. My wife and I are out amongst other artists and the public much of the time and I write about it. My opinions about the nature of the world are well known and many "artists" shy away and some are outright hostile when I am present. I don't care what the materialists think of me it is not important. What is important is that my demeanor supports the world that is not seen rather than the world that appears "real". This is a constant struggle against conventionality. Of course it wear one down at times yet my armor may be tarnished and dented the soul it protects is not wounded by the arrows cast from the enemy that invades our world. At times I am weary from the fight but I must recall what Berdyaev says so eloquently: freedom is not a gift, "Freedom is our duty."
Some years ago, there was discussion in the men's movement about the need for initiation. Older men observed that when young men aren't initiated by authentic elders in an in-tact wisdom culture, they'll try to fulfill the urge through self-initiating, for example through 17 year olds 'initiating' 14 year olds in high school locker rooms, or 21 year olds 'initiating 18 year olds' in frat basements.
I think there might be a parallel here in what you're discussing. I think there's a good case for many young men undergoing a finite season of radical renunciation, and training in 'monk school' (archetypically speaking). Ideally that would be guided by elders, and there would be a time limit (maybe 1 or 2 years?), then they're thrust back into the world to learn, live and love. I believe there was (maybe still is) a tradition of this sort in Thailand - that many boys would spend some time behind monastery walls, knowing they'd live their vocation in the world soon enough.
Without elders, perhaps we're witnessing the 'self-guided' attempt at this season of renunciation, but without guides, and without a razor clear understanding of the end purpose, and what it is training/readying them for....