Even a few months ago, most theologically conservative Christians had never heard of the Benedict Option, a call by writer Rod Dreher for Christians to stage a “strategic retreat” from the culture. The idea has prompted much online discussion; given the widening chasm between traditional Christian ethics and American culture, many are now seriously considering it.
Mr. Dreher, in a series of blog posts over the past several weeks for the American Conservative, has described the Benedict Option as “my name for an inchoate phenomenon in which Christians adopt a more consciously countercultural stance toward our post-Christian mainstream culture.” Much as St. Benedict laid the groundwork for a later resurgence of Christian society in Europe by leaving Rome and founding the monastic movement in the early sixth century, Mr. Dreher argues, traditional Christians should partially withdraw from the culture, seeking to live moral lives together in like-minded communities.
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