On Being A Man

 There are many things going on that need attention.  The war in Israel is both tragic and disturbing.  Tragic because the Jews have suffered so much already.  Disturbing because the Biden administration has allowed thousands of men of military age to cross our Southern border.  Who knows if these men will pull the same stunt on Americans as is happening to Israel.  Meanwhile, the Democrats and not a few RINOs are determined to disarm us, just when we need to be the nation with a gun behind every blade of grass.

Into this chaotic mix comes an article at The Federalist that points out the grave danger to civilization itself by Owen Strachan entitled The War On Men Is A War On Civilization. It is killing men, literally, and harming women and children. It is also deconstructing the nuclear family that God created and intended for us to raise children.

Why Are Men Struggling So Much?

What exactly are we staring at as we study this pile of data? Quite simply, we are looking at a crisis. A generation of men is ghosting its loved ones, its work environments, and this very world itself. But men are not the only ones who suffer in this maelstrom; women are directly affected by it as well.

There are many reasons for the depressing trend mapped above. The American workforce has suffered horribly from globalist economic policies. The modern feminist movement has attacked manhood relentlessly. Cultural Marxism renders male leadership patriarchal, oppressive, and unjust. Our safety-obsessed society has trained men to fear the world, not enter it wholeheartedly.

The list of ill influences is a long one. But I will isolate just one more major reason for the decline— and resulting disappearance — of men. It is this: the idea that manhood is “toxic.” Here, for example, is what the American Psychological Association called “harmful” in a 2019 report: “antifemininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure risk and violence.” In sum, “traditional masculinity — marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression — is, on the whole, harmful.” Clearly, with many partners, the APA has declared war on manhood.

Have you ever observed young boys at ages that they have not yet been acculturated by the adult world. Watch them play. Boys are naturally more attracted to things, girls are more into relationships. Watch little boys communicate. They don't need to see one another. Girls almost can't help it. The point is not to make one seem better than the other but to point out that from birth, boys are different from girls, and we need both.

There is no such thing as "toxic" masculinity. Rather there are different ways of expressing masculinity. Civilization doesn't need "the lord of the flies" type of masculinity very often. This is the sort that men won't talk about after coming home from war. But all men need to be prepared to manifest even this when needed. As far as the old complaint that men don't let women lead, I say hogwash. Men and women lead in different spheres of influence. The problem arises when either sex steps into the role of the other. I remember a line from the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding:" "The man may be the head of the household, but the woman can turn his neck."

Being a man means doing the hard things. It means being armed and prepared at all times, of course. But it also means leading the family to church every week. It means providing a home for the wife and kids, food on the table, and the other necessities of life, which also means going to work every day to pay for it. It also means leading the family in prayer and teaching your children basic religion. For only by submitting to God's plan can we hope to be truly male.  Think how much guts Christ displayed when he meekly submitted to the Romans and went to the cross.

I confess that I have not yet read Strachan's book The War On Men, but I look forward to doing so. Like a lot of men, I have felt the feminazi cultural Marxism, and searched for answers. The Andrew Tate's of the world have an appeal to young men because they advocate for masculine things. But they are not Christian in orientation. To be truly masculine and complete, one must be more than just fit and macho. One must be servant first to God, then to his family, his state, and his nation in that order.