Life is Patriarchal — Get Over It

[Michie]

One of the targets for the woke crowd is patriarchy. That is to say, “Dad = bad.” When this is translated into petty arguments and politicized protests, the anti-patriarchy movement comes across as a gigantic hissy fit by a spoiled adolescent who is mad at Dad.

To be fair, the critics of patriarchy have a point. There are some bad dads. Really bad. Deadbeat dads who father children then disappear give all fathers a bad name. Adulterous husbands who cheat on their wives and abandon their families cast a shadow over the role of father. Priests and pastors who play a fatherly role in religion, and who betray their calling through abuse, embezzlement and scandal all besmirch the name of the Father.

The Religious Roots of Patriarchy

Western society has inherited patriarchy as part of the legacy of Judaism and Christianity. The Jews look back to the foundation of their faith in Father Abraham, and Jesus taught his followers to call God, “Abba-Father” — a term of intimacy like “Papa.” Patriarchy was woven into Western society as Catholic priests were called “Father.” The head of a monastery is called an “Abbot” — the name being derived from “Abba,” and the word “Pope” is descended from the Greek word “pappas” — Father.

Continued below.
Life is Patriarchal — Get Over It | The Stream

 

[BrAndreyu]

My dad is a drug-addicted deadbeat who abandoned his family for another woman after dragging us from a nice life in upstate NY to Hernando county, FL. He's currently on his third marriage and made my mom get an annulment like twenty-something years after they got a divorce, which just ripped open the wounds of the divorce again and he also lied to the church tribunal in order to get it. Since this happened, I stopped talking to him. Every time I talk to him, he asks me to get him either LSD or Psilocibin mushrooms (and traffick them 200 miles to his house). I'm convinced that he has undiagnosed mental health problems that he refuses to seek treatment for, so I avoid talking to or seeing him for my own well-being.

But that doesn't mean that I don't think that "patriarchy" is a good thing. Just that my dad is awful and has made me resolved to never be anything like him.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Piggybacking on Fr. Longenecker's thoughts, I gotta plug my boy Tim Gordon's forthcoming book The Case for Patriarchy, releasing in September.

(If you're interested, be sure to buy directly from Sophia so they don't have to share revenue with a third party - support smaller Catholic publishers!)

The Case for Patriarchy

Here is a book that boldly pushes back on the narrative that the patriarchy is dangerous to women and to society. Indeed, it is a book that unapologetically seeks a restoration of Western society based on patriarchal order, where justice and the common good can triumph.​

 

[BrAndreyu]

Here is a book that boldly pushes back on the narrative that the patriarchy is dangerous to women and to society. Indeed, it is a book that unapologetically seeks a restoration of Western society based on patriarchal order, where justice and the common good can triumph.

The way I look at it: everything that exists, exists because a man wanted it to exist. Every brick you see was likely placed by a man, at the behest of another man who wanted it there. Women want something built, who do they go to? A man and then that man hires crews of men to build that house, office, church, or thing.

Men are being crapped on because of the CRT/Socialist Justice narrative about what makes an oppressor: White, straight, CHRISTIAN, male... all of these things are taught to be "oppressors" by CRT/Socialist Justice movement and it's just not true at all.

 

[Gnarwhal]

The way I look at it: everything that exists, exists because a man wanted it to exist. Every brick you see was likely placed by a man, at the behest of another man who wanted it there. Women want something built, who do they go to? A man and then that man hires crews of men to build that house, office, church, or thing.

Men are being crapped on because of the CRT/Socialist Justice narrative about what makes an oppressor: White, straight, CHRISTIAN, male... all of these things are taught to be "oppressors" by CRT/Socialist Justice movement and it's just not true at all.

Knowing Tim's previous work and given that he's titling it "The Case for Patriarchy" and not "The History of Patriarchy" or something like that, I think he's not only going to illustrate why it's good for our culture now, but also how we can properly restore it: practical steps to implement (or re-implement, as it were) a patriarchal system in our culture once again.

 

[BrAndreyu]

I think he's not only going to illustrate why it's good for our culture now, but also how we can properly restore it

I'd actually spend money to read that and I don't normally buy books new. I think the most recent one I bought was the infamous "12 Rules for Life" (Jordan Peterson) and it was a tremendous let down for me because I had heard that it was "racist" and "misogynist" and was expecting something really politically incorrect and controversial, and what I got was not that at all and was more vague and went off into strange tangents about suffering moreso than anything else.

A book called "The Case for Patriarchy" sounds like something that leftists would be stealing copies of to burn, so naturally I'm going to have to spend money on a hardcover edition if one exists whenever I next get some disposable income.

 

[Gnarwhal]

I'd actually spend money to read that and I don't normally buy books new. I think the most recent one I bought was the infamous "12 Rules for Life" (Jordan Peterson) and it was a tremendous let down for me because I had heard that it was "racist" and "misogynist" and was expecting something really politically incorrect and controversial, and what I got was not that at all and was more vague and went off into strange tangents about suffering moreso than anything else.

A book called "The Case for Patriarchy" sounds like something that leftists would be stealing copies of to burn, so naturally I'm going to have to spend money on a hardcover edition if one exists whenever I next get some disposable income.

I already pre-ordered it, expecting it sometime in September.

Tim (sometimes with his brother Dave) is the most based and red pilled Catholic I've ever seen. His podcast Rules For Retrogrades (available on all platforms) always discusses stuff that wokeists would hate. He's written several books, one of which was named after the podcast and is a conservative counterpunch to Saul Alinsky's Rules For Radicals. It's literally a playbook for responding to the destitute liberal culture and it's cronies.

He also wrote another great book called Catholic Republic which makes a strong case for how and why the founding fathers of America were actually heavily influenced by Catholic thought but had to dress it up in something else cause the prevailing attitude towards Catholicism at the time was too unfavorable. He points to how the founding principles come directly from Catholic thought produced by Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Robert Bellarmine, Francisco Suarez and the other Salamancan guys, etc.

He's one of my favorite guys cause he occupies a unique, seeming identity-free space in the Catholic sphere of influence. Everyone so often leads with "I'm X" or "I'm Y" or "I believe in more ABC" or "I tend to lean more towards ZZZ" but he does is best to rebuff those cultural identarian trends.

Highly recommend all his work.

 

[BrAndreyu]

Tim (sometimes with his brother Dave) is the most based and red pilled Catholic I've ever seen. His podcast Rules For Retrogrades (available on all platforms) always discusses stuff that wokeists would hate.

Isn't that the guy who did that recent podcast with five other people about the motu proprio and he was having a hard time keeping them all on topic and not talking over each other? I watched that but it confused me, so I'm going to have to watch it again. I've never listened to Rules for Retrogrades though.

He also wrote another great book called Catholic Republic which makes a strong case for how and why the founding fathers of America were actually heavily influenced by Catholic thought but had to dress it up in something else cause the prevailing attitude towards Catholicism at the time was too unfavorable.

Interesting. I'm pretty confident that Maryland was started as a Catholic colony, but I could be wrong. I know certainly that Spanish Florida was (I used to go to St. Augustine every two years or so and always stopped at the Lady of La Lecha shrine). I never heard that the founding fathers were influenced by Catholic thought though, that's a new one for me so I'll have to look into that book as well when I get some disposable income.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Isn't that the guy who did that recent podcast with five other people about the motu proprio and he was having a hard time keeping them all on topic and not talking over each other? I watched that but it confused me, so I'm going to have to watch it again. I've never listened to Rules for Retrogrades though.

Yes! I shared his panel episode, and you're right I don't think it went how he intended. He did a follow up episode with his friend "Boss" (EMHC Grover on Twitter) and he noted that he kept trying to herd the guests back to the conversation about Boss' tweet that said the moto proprio is like "common sense gun legislation". He thought it would be a agreeable point on their discussion but it wasn't.

You're right it was one of his more confusing episodes, all of his other ones when it's either just him or one guest are very very good. He's one of the most learned podcasters out there IMO, he's a Latin Mass guy but he has issues with some aspects trad culture so he doesn't identify as anything except Catholic.

A lawyer by training, and he's published several books like I've mentioned above. He was also fired from his job with the theology department at Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield because of a tweet he wrote against BLM. Now he's running an online academy among all the other things he's doing.

I like him a lot, very knowledgable, very well spoken, and he always seems to have an excellent and unique tack on Church and political events.

 

[BrAndreyu]

You're right it was one of his more confusing episodes, all of his other ones when it's either just him or one guest are very very good. He's one of the most learned podcasters out there IMO, he's a Latin Mass guy but he has issues with some aspects trad culture so he doesn't identify as anything except Catholic.

Like I said, I have to go back to it and watch/listen to it again to try and make sense of what they were talking about. I got his main thesis statement that "do we have to obey wicked leaders" but I sort of got lost after that when the guys were talking over each other. I don't think it was "boss", but there was a chunkier bald dude who was sitting at a desk who seemed to really know what he was talking about. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know anywhere near as much about the church as any of the people on that episode, so that's probably why I found it kind of confusing because I don't know all the canon law and doctrinal points that they're referencing.

I can admit that now that I've been to a Latin mass that it's been on my mind all week. Like I feel bad because I feel like as a Catholic, I should have known about that liturgical form and didn't, so now I feel inadequate in my Catholicism and kind of depressed because if I wanted to make that my regular mass, I'd have to be spending a lot of time and money on gasoline, as it's 37 miles north of my house and is not a particularly large building at all, but all four masses on Sundays seemed to be packed to the gills full of parishioners which I found interesting, about as interesting as the fact that it was overwhelmingly young people. I think that's why I feel bad-- a lot of those people are younger than me and this was the first time I went. Included in this is the fact that I was trying to follow along and couldn't, and the girl sitting next to me with the veil kept looking over at me every couple of minutes, so I spent a lot of the mass sweating bullets that I was ruining it for everyone.

I have issues with trad culture as well. I won't get into it here, but after having gone to a tradmass, I realize that it's not the mass itself, it's just this specific subset of people my age who go and think that they are somehow "better" than people who do not have that opportunity. I do feel cheated though-- I feel like this is something that should have been going on here in my town or closer, but this specific parish is literally the only one that does TLM within 100 miles. The closest other one is roughly two hours south of me in Naples and that's way too far to drive, so what are my options with trad masses?

1. Either go to this one as I can afford to go, because I am broke and do not even have a job to put gas into my own tank.
2. Go back to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church when they have English masses even if only 12 people go, and get over the "getting communion from a spoon" thing and my fears of illnesses borne that way.
3. Drive to North Fort Myers to attend the Byzantine Catholic Church (eventually I am going to do this, as I have never been to a Byzantine mass) as I can afford to go.

or 4. Continue to go to Novus Ordo since it's what I know and can participate in fully at the church here in town, despite the fact that the Latin mass I went to has been in my dreams and on my mind since leaving it last sunday. I'm still smelling the incense, still hearing the singing, still imagining the altar with the scene of a night sky painted behind it and the giant statue of the BVM with the blue candle.

 

[Gnarwhal]

I have issues with trad culture as well. I won't get into it here, but after having gone to a tradmass, I realize that it's not the mass itself, it's just this specific subset of people my age who go and think that they are somehow "better" than people who do not have that opportunity. I do feel cheated though-- I feel like this is something that should have been going on here in my town or closer, but this specific parish is literally the only one that does TLM within 100 miles. The closest other one is roughly two hours south of me in Naples and that's way too far to drive, so what are my options with trad masses?

That's the case with most people. Nobody dislikes the Tridentine Mass itself except for prelates like Cupich and Gregory, because they have a common agenda. Gregory by the way, just cancelled a Solemn Pontifical Mass that was supposed to be held at the Basilica in DC because, in his words, it "would seem...to be at odds with the restrictions".

Most lay Catholics who say they dislike the TLM are either not well informed about it, or they're misplacing their issues with the trad culture onto the Mass itself. I was just talking with a coworker today who expressed such an issue.

And it's not without validation, there are some really lame trads out there who get off on making other Catholics feel inferior because they go to a Novus Ordo Mass and believe Vatican II is legit. They don't see how they're shooting themselves in the foot, and they can't—couldn't—leave well enough alone. In some ways I feel partially inclined to blame them for Traditionis Custodes, but I know that's what Francis wants and there's been an agenda at work since 2007 to supplant Summorum Pontificum. They're just convenient scapegoats for Francis' move here.

I'm hoping to produce a documentary in the near future that lays out an argument for why traditional Catholicism is the best possible way to live, and hopefully along the way I can make the distinction for viewers between the Mass itself and some of the unfortunate miscreants who give it a bad rep.

 

[BrAndreyu]

there are some really lame trads out there who get off on making other Catholics feel inferior because they go to a Novus Ordo Mass and believe Vatican II is legit

I don't think I encountered anyone like that specifically when I went, but oddly enough I was not greeted by anyone aside from the usher who said "You know this is a Latin mass, right?" to which I responded "Yeah, that's why I came". The thing that had me sweating and uneasy was the girl that kept looking over at me every couple of minutes because it was obvious that I didn't know what I was doing or what was going on because I was trying to follow along in the big book but could not seem to do so based on how it was laid out.

What was amazing to me was the sheer number of people who were at the mass that I went to. The church is not big, it's the smallest Catholic church that I've ever been to, but was packed to the gills with people, mostly young people with families and younger married couples. I'd go again if I were able to get my hands on one of those red books that guides you along like the guy sitting next to me had.

 

[Gnarwhal]

I don't think I encountered anyone like that specifically when I went, but oddly enough I was not greeted by anyone aside from the usher who said "You know this is a Latin mass, right?" to which I responded "Yeah, that's why I came". The thing that had me sweating and uneasy was the girl that kept looking over at me every couple of minutes because it was obvious that I didn't know what I was doing or what was going on because I was trying to follow along in the big book but could not seem to do so based on how it was laid out.

I kind of fumble my way through it too. The first two times I went I didn't even know where to find the booklets that guide you through it. After that I just kind of loosely followed along but mostly just tried to focus on the priest, and when people started to sit or kneel I'd do the same.

What was amazing to me was the sheer number of people who were at the mass that I went to. The church is not big, it's the smallest Catholic church that I've ever been to, but was packed to the gills with people, mostly young people with families and younger married couples. I'd go again if I were able to get my hands on one of those red books that guides you along like the guy sitting next to me had.

That's often the case. The one I go to is only on 1st and 3rd Friday evenings at 7pm, and even then I'm really pleasantly surprised by the attendance. I think there's on average about 60 people there. It's a big church so it doesn't feel full, but I counted last time and when it occurred to me what other people are normally out doing on a Friday night I thought it was great to see.

In particular how many young people were there, like you said. Most of the attendees were in their 20s and 30s, there were some families with parents maybe in their 40s. And there were even some seniors there too.

What really struck me is that the altar boys looked somewhere between 17 and 23 if I had to guess (I'm really bad at guessing but there I go). And I just thought that that was such a testament to the profundity of the Latin Mass that even a young man like that who could easily be out getting ready to go party or screwing around with his friends, would rather be serving at Mass on a Friday evening.

 

[BrAndreyu]

After that I just kind of loosely followed along but mostly just tried to focus on the priest, and when people started to sit or kneel I'd do the same.

Most of the time I could not hear what the priest was saying I noticed, as it's a lot of quietly praying when he's up at the altar. I didn't have much of a problem following the other people though when it came to kneeling and standing, I just don't know any of the responses in Latin so I had to pretend to say them and that was usually when the girl sitting next to me would look over at me.

What really struck me is that the altar boys looked somewhere between 17 and 23 if I had to guess (I'm really bad at guessing but there I go). And I just that that was such a testament to the profundity of the Latin Mass that even a young man like that who could easily be out getting ready to go party or screwing around with his friends, would rather be serving at Mass on a Friday evening.

I think the youngest altar boy at the one I went to must have been 8 years old, the oldest having been about 14. There were older guys in the choirs that must have been around 16-17.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Most of the time I could not hear what the priest was saying I noticed, as it's a lot of quietly praying when he's up at the altar. I didn't have much of a problem following the other people though when it came to kneeling and standing, I just don't know any of the responses in Latin so I had to pretend to say them and that was usually when the girl sitting next to me would look over at me.

Oh yeah me neither, that's kind of the beauty of it though. And I don't know the responses either except for "Et cum spirito tuo" and "Deo gratias"

I think the youngest altar boy at the one I went to must have been 8 years old, the oldest having been about 14. There were older guys in the choirs that must have been around 16-17.

That's another thing I like about the TLM is it's only ever going to be altar boys because Latin Mass priests remember what the true purpose of an altar server is: to get an up close look at the priesthood so that the boy can begin discerning whether the priesthood is his vocation.

It's such a moot point for women, I cringe whenever I see girl altar servers. I don't know whether the presiding priest is simply rebelling against the upholding of a male-only priesthood, or if the parish is simply desperate for altar servers. I mean, I'm inclined to think the former because priests say Mass without altar servers at all in so many situations.

 

[BrAndreyu]

It's such a moot point for women, I cringe whenever I see girl altar servers. I don't know whether the presiding priest is simply rebelling against the upholding of a male-only priesthood, or if the parish is simply desperate for altar servers.

In the parish I normally go to, they have female altar servers because they don't have any boys to do it. Granted they don't do nearly as much as the altar boys at the FSSP parish did, they just carry the cross in and hand things to the priest. They're both teenage girls and as far as I know, are the only ones they have and most of the masses during the week the priest is assisted by one of the deacons. All of the extraordinary eucharistic ministers are old women, for some reason there are no men that do any of that and it makes no sense to me whatsoever except that the parish is mostly old people and the old men don't want to be involved aside from just going to mass once a week. The Ukr. Greek Catholic church has like NO young people whatsoever, so it's usually the priest being assisted by a deacon as well rather than altar boys.

I was never an altar boy as a kid and I always regret that because I think it would have probably put me on a better path in life.