“To rediscover Christian asceticism is urgent for believers who want to train their hearts, and the hearts of their children, to resist the hedonism and consumerism at the core of contemporary culture. And it is necessary to teach us in… — Rod Dreher Copy Share Image
“Art really does instruct us in how to think, feel, and behave. To be an artist is to have great power. To be the… — Rod Dreher Copy Share Image
“With a few exceptions, conservative Christian political activists are as ineffective as White Russian exiles, drinking tea from samovars in their Paris drawing rooms,… — Rod Dreher Copy Share Image
“The overweight person diets not to punish him- or herself for being heavy but to become healthier. The athlete works out not because he… — Rod Dreher Copy Share Image
“A Christian who practices asceticism trains himself to say no to his desires and yes to God.” — Rod Dreher Copy Share Image
“For the traditional Christian, establishing internal order is not mere discipline, nor is it simply an act of will. Rather, it is what theologian… — Rod Dreher Copy Share Image
If you believe that man is inherently flawed-what religious people call 'original sin'-it follows that man, if left to his own devices, will tend towards ego-driven disharmony. Traditionalist conservatives know that absent the restraining hand of religion, tradition, or the state, there is nothing to prevent human beings from acting in ways contrary to their own best interests, or those… — Rod Dreher Copy Share
“In his book After Virtue, philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre likened the present cultural moment to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. He argued that the West has abandoned reason and the tradition of the virtues in giving itself over to the relativism that is now flooding our world today. We are governed not by faith, or by reason,… — Rod Dreher Copy Share
“It is not feasible for most of us to abandon the Internet entirely. But at the very least we can impose on ourselves a discipline similar to the Benedictine monks, who, observing the Rule, strictly limit themselves to particular tasks during certain hours. We can also do more things with our hands. Put that way, it sounds almost childish, but… — Rod Dreher Copy Share
“Father Martin said that those who think stability is meant to hold you back, and to stifle personal and spiritual growth, are missing the hidden value in the commitment to stability. It anchors you and gives you the freedom that comes from not being subject to the wind, the waves, and the currents of daily life. It creates the ordered… — Rod Dreher Copy Share
As it turns out, the ecological catastrophe Kirk feared that would be the consequence of our impiety appears not to be one of radically diminished resources, but of potentially catastrophic climate change. It comes from an arrogant refusal by a modern consumerist society to accept limits on its desires. Kirk's idea of the "eternal society" evaporates before the insatiable demands… — Rod Dreher Copy Share
