Thank you for bringing up this topic. Vitally important. The point to note is that the “Benedict Option” needs to be distinguished. There are monks, who really do intend to leave the world. Then there are every-day Christians who want to live close to the monks, and rejuvenate society from the ground up. These are NOT leaving the world, considered as the ordinary run of family, commerce, politics etc. They want to live worldly lives, and think this is the right setting in which to do so. They are explicitly interested in “the shared project of creating a good society,” to use your phrase. (Well, so are the monks, but not in way you mean.)
So Dreher’s use of the phrase “Benedict Option” for laymen is very misleading, and threatens to hamstring the conversation from the outset. I don’t have a catchier phrase in mind, but I propose that the conversation be reframed like this: If we are to rediscover the common project of a good society, can we do so only from the ground up, or also partly from the top down?
David Zersen
3 years ago
It’s interesting to find this topic explored in UnHeard. As a young man, I subjected my family on frequent vacation trips to sites founded in the U.S. by intentional communities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of these places were established by immigrants for economic or spiritual reasons, but as leadership and societal dynamics changed, they did not last long. Old Economy and Amana existed for 75 and 100 years respectively. Some of those founded in the 20th century still exist. As the article points out, the “Benedict Option” may again be providing an opportunity for those who want to exit exisiting structures and build new heavens on earth, whether economic or spiritual. I find it curious that financially challenged citizens in urban or rural settings don’t make more use of communal opportunities to strengthen their prospects. Likewise, for those who seek more intentionality in their discipleship than traditional denominations offer, small groups may provide a path. The movements that are currently being established may have interesting influences on society even if they do not survive as a named entity. In any case, thanks for noting a development that has always had many precursors around the world.
Thank you for bringing up this topic. Vitally important. The point to note is that the “Benedict Option” needs to be distinguished. There are monks, who really do intend to leave the world. Then there are every-day Christians who want to live close to the monks, and rejuvenate society from the ground up. These are NOT leaving the world, considered as the ordinary run of family, commerce, politics etc. They want to live worldly lives, and think this is the right setting in which to do so. They are explicitly interested in “the shared project of creating a good society,” to use your phrase. (Well, so are the monks, but not in way you mean.)
So Dreher’s use of the phrase “Benedict Option” for laymen is very misleading, and threatens to hamstring the conversation from the outset. I don’t have a catchier phrase in mind, but I propose that the conversation be reframed like this: If we are to rediscover the common project of a good society, can we do so only from the ground up, or also partly from the top down?
It’s interesting to find this topic explored in UnHeard. As a young man, I subjected my family on frequent vacation trips to sites founded in the U.S. by intentional communities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of these places were established by immigrants for economic or spiritual reasons, but as leadership and societal dynamics changed, they did not last long. Old Economy and Amana existed for 75 and 100 years respectively. Some of those founded in the 20th century still exist. As the article points out, the “Benedict Option” may again be providing an opportunity for those who want to exit exisiting structures and build new heavens on earth, whether economic or spiritual. I find it curious that financially challenged citizens in urban or rural settings don’t make more use of communal opportunities to strengthen their prospects. Likewise, for those who seek more intentionality in their discipleship than traditional denominations offer, small groups may provide a path. The movements that are currently being established may have interesting influences on society even if they do not survive as a named entity. In any case, thanks for noting a development that has always had many precursors around the world.