Kuyper, that is.
Rod Dreher leaves another hint that he has no real feel for the fundamentalist or confessional Protestant world:
That said, I think lots of Christian parents are going to have to make some hard calls now and in the years to come about moving for the sake of educating their children, and raising them in a peer environment where they are more likely to absorb the faith, or at the very least not have their faith leached out of them. Radical times call for radical measures.
Granted, the world of Dutch-American Calvinism is small and so faulting Rod for not knowing the Christian day school phenomenon is misguided. At the same time, when Abraham Kuyper is largely a household name to cultural conservatives in the U.S., you would think that Rod might know something about the tradition of family-run schools and its history that goes back to the 1850s!!!
At the same time, Rod’s proposals for the Benedict Option sound, as I’ve indicated before, like a person who has been part of mainstream churches and identified with the establishment for all of his spiritual life. For those of us who grew up on the other side of the spiritual tracks, whether fundamentalist or ethnic Protestant, we’ve known for a long time that worldliness is a danger and its a besetting sin of establishments, political and ecclesiastical.
Old Life 
Well said. Dreher’s main complaint seems to be that he is no longer seen as part of the cultural establishment. He and his ilk keep threatening to pull up their tent stakes and head for the hills. For some reason, they can’t seem to make good on that promise. That’s because the “Benedict Option” seems to be more about commiserating with likeminded people than building some alternative.
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It seems that too many Christians don’t know how to respond to the changing of the cultural and societal guard because many of them are so schocked that they are going through more than just 5 stages of grief. Not knowing how to respond when one is not on top indicates that one did not know how to respond when one was on top. So too many of us act as if Christianity’s loss of power in society is like a mass extinction event for civilization. And all that does is show our own narcissism.
The positive aspects of 2kT can help here. We can work side by side with nonChristians as individuals. We might find that we can learn from them. And if we can, why can’t our kids do the same?
Yes, worldliness is a besetting sin of the establishment, which is exactly why the Church should never lose its prophetic voice in speaking to either part of the establishment. But rote responses like smal is beautiful are not a viable option either. The small is beautiful response is for the anti-social–that is it is for the Sheldon Coopers of religion.
If only we knew how to share power with others as equals, we would not be panicking right now because we would not believe that we are losing a life threatening culture war.
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Curt Day says: If only we knew how to share power with others as equals, we would not be panicking right now because we would not believe that we are losing a life threatening culture war.
share power with others as equals -in what ways? some know who has the power and know the power struggle, others do not
-We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 1 John 5:19
-And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20
-“YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. Heb 2:7-8
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Ali,
Does your note imply that we must rule over those are not Christians?
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Curt Day says: Ali,Does your note imply that we must rule over those are not Christians?
No. Just speaking to the fact of the incredible privilege and benefit of knowing truth, God’s plan, the story ending;
and that truth impacts the working out of that statement you made and I was wanting to hear your thoughts on how it might.
John 15:15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.
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Ali,
Was the answer to my question yes or no?
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Curt Day says: Ali, Was the answer to my question yes or no?
What part of my no above did you not understand Curt, or was that just deflection so as not to respond with your thoughts through the lens of a biblical worldview.
Speaking of which, I see this am another website comment of yours: Curt Day says “A more important point is that the new gender classification has the medical field on its side.”, so I would suggest you take time to read your bible more thoroughly and be more open to the Spirit’s illumination (if you are a true believer) and ask Him about this new gender continuum/classification. You could also ask why He has hidden this from us since the beginning still ’til now, such that it was His creature –man – who had to reveal it to us.
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