Rod Dreher, an Eastern Orthodox Christian and the author of “Crunchy Cons,” is cautious about who he offers to pray with, anticipating reactions like Silverman’s. But he’ll still privately pray for friends he cares about. For Dreher and many other Christians, prayer is part of loving someone, and he’d be treating his atheist friends badly if he neglected to pray for them the same way he does for his Christian ones.
In Dreher’s experience, many Christians hold back from showing their faith in public out of fear of being rejected as much as fear of causing offense. In his interviews for his forthcoming book on the Benedict option, Dreher spoke to Christians trying to follow the example of St. Benedict, creating thicker ties between believers to give them the strength to engage the rest of the world. Many of the professionals Dreher spoke to were reluctant to out themselves as religious, but not all signs of religiosity spark discomfort.
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