"Have you heard of the Benedict Option?"
#Have you heard of the Benedict Option? If not, you will soon.—Damon Linker. I am not a member of the Benedict Option magisterium, so what I think has no authority, but as someone who’s interested in some form of the Benedict Option I have to say that I don’t agree with any of this. I don’t think it’s “a deeply pessimistic cultural project,” I don’t see it as having anything to do with the Christian right, and same-sex marriage is at most a triggering issue, not fundamental. To me, it’s an opportunity to get more people on board with a project that I’ve been devoted to for thirtysomething years: shifting Christian energy and resources away from electoral politics and towards the strengthening of institutions and communities.It’s the name of a deeply pessimistic cultural project that’s capturing the imaginations of social conservatives as they come to terms with the realization that the hopes and assumptions that animated the religious right over the past 35-odd years have been dashed by the sweeping triumph of the movement for same-sex marriage.