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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   35820 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 16, 2025

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Like so —

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up… may the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Finally: all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing

Christians should have the easiest time doing this, because that’s the whole message of Christ. The gospel traces the start of a Brotherhood while the Epistles outline its governance. If no one can do it, it means they have to learn and revere Christ who did it, and then encourage each other in Christ, and then select the most Christlike to head the group, and so on. And that’s precisely what we see in the first Christian church. They are learning, encouraging, criticizing, expanding. You get the sense that the brotherhood was based exclusively in positive reinforcement and perhaps some “training”, and only reserving punishment for the very damaging things. If this is so, then status is mostly positive sum.

In the first Pagan letter about the “contagion” of Christianity, we see that some modest oaths were involved —

They were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to do some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food — but ordinary and innocent food.

There would obviously be sin present at the table but sin already exists wherever friend groups and social networks congregate. Every college has a dozen fraternities nominally dedicated to some trite values but really dedicated to Bacchus, and people enjoy this greatly even though there’s drama and occasional fighting. If Christians can’t do a greater job of uniting men together when all the men revere Christ, then religion itself is a failed project. But this isn’t so. I think it would be quite feasible especially with good selection filters and rules in place.

I agree that, because nothing like this exists, it’s good to do the next best thing. But just from historical study + psychology, nothing going to be effective like this.

are you going to

I am going go continue reading and longing. Maybe one day a compelling substack post.

I hope you become a priest. Would be a good calling for you, from your writing on here!!!

But yeah I mean, sigh. That’s the rub. We can long for a better church all day but for our individual souls we need community. I agree with most of your critiques and wish we were more like the original church, that’s Orthodoxy’s whole thing. Even if we aren’t always perfect at it.

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