What makes men be attracted by Orthodoxy?

Not David

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I keep reading articles about how Orthodoxy is probably the only Christian group (besides Mormonism) in which men outnumber women. I see that in my Orthodox Church back in the US most of the girls joined along with their family/husband/boyfriend while a lot of men joined because they personally looked into it.

What's your answer to this?

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yeshuaslavejeff

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I keep reading articles about how Orthodoxy is probably the only Christian group (besides Mormonism) in which men outgrow women. I see that in my Orthodox Church back in the US most of the girls joined along with their family/husband/boyfriend while a lot of men joined because they personally looked into it.

What's your answer to this?

Thanks for participating!
For clarification , what does that mean "men outgrow women" ?
 
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All4Christ

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I keep reading articles about how Orthodoxy is probably the only Christian group (besides Mormonism) in which men outgrow women. I see that in my Orthodox Church back in the US most of the girls joined along with their family/husband/boyfriend while a lot of men joined because they personally looked into it.

What's your answer to this?

Thanks for participating!
Really? I haven’t seen that myself. It seems to be an even mix in our area.
 
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I couldn't possibly make this a men vs women thing. That just doesn't feel right or make any sense to me.

What makes me Orthodox is factual history and my refusal to turn a blind eye to it.
 
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Not David

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I couldn't possibly make this a men vs women thing. That just doesn't feel right or make any sense to me.

What makes me Orthodox is factual history and my refusal to turn a blind eye to it.
I don't believe it is about men vs women mentality. I am interested since men are not interested in church stuff as much as women in current society with Orthodoxy being an exception.

Something similar seems to be that most of the men who convert to Catholicism are trads.
 
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mothcorrupteth

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I keep reading articles about how Orthodoxy is probably the only Christian group (besides Mormonism) in which men outgrow women. I see that in my Orthodox Church back in the US most of the girls joined along with their family/husband/boyfriend while a lot of men joined because they personally looked into it.

What's your answer to this?

Thanks for participating!
I don't know for sure whether it's reliable, but it's a regularly cited phenomenon in the meme circles I go to. If it's true, I would imagine that it's because statistically men are more interested in asserting their independence, including their theological independence. Women tend to be more social and collectivist, and so they tend to have more enduring loyalty to their current affiliations. Leastways, that's the sense I got from my time as a Calvinist. If it was a family changing their theological orientation (within Calvinism), it was typically the husband leading the charge with the wife in tow. And I've seen a lot more Ortho marriages where a guy was converting to marry the girl than vice-versa.
 
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I don't believe it is about men vs women mentality. I am interested since men are not interested in church stuff as much as women in current society with Orthodoxy being an exception.

Something similar seems to be that most of the men who convert to Catholicism are trads.
The law and knowledge of God is written on our hearts, and when one honestly pursues truth in Christianity they're led to early, ancient, traditional Christianity. Modern Christianity does not contain the full truth and the heart naturally rejects it.
 
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archer75

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DIn the Soviet Union, it was largely seen as a religion of "grandmothers". Obviously men were involved...but the picture was of grandmothers teaching children outside of official channels. So...may vary from place to place and time to time.
 
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Not David

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DIn the Soviet Union, it was largely seen as a religion of "grandmothers". Obviously men were involved...but the picture was of grandmothers teaching children outside of official channels. So...may vary from place to place and time to time.
Yeah, I am talking about Orthodoxy in American culture. I don't know much about Orthodoxy in other places.
 
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Yeah, I am talking about Orthodoxy in American culture. I don't know much about Orthodoxy in other places.
One might see more male converts in American and western culture in general because Orthodoxy is antithetical to the feminist movement.

Let me be clear that I'm not speaking about the true definition of feminism or downplaying female struggles.

Personally, I haven't noticed more men than women. It's pretty even.
 
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mothcorrupteth

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I'm also told that the more liberal Orthodox are scared of us Calvinist converts. Because when we do a thing, we mean business. So we tend to be super serious about our Orthodoxy. Most of us were already on board with the trad program, because hardcore Calvinists are all about "biblical patriarchy" and "biblical masculinity" and Tolkien and all that. Many of us are converting to Orthodoxy because it's a more concrete expression of traditional social norms. Like John said above: "because Orthodoxy is antithetical to the feminist movement." So naturally, the social-justicey kind of Orthodox are bothered by the fact that we make them look and feel half-hearted.

Me, I'm just tired of the Calvinist bug for every layman to be obsessed with theology. I don't agree with the libs, but I'm not going to be a jerk about it. God will work on them in His own time.
 
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archer75

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I'm also told that the more liberal Orthodox are scared of us Calvinist converts. Because when we do a thing, we mean business. So we tend to be super serious about our Orthodoxy. Most of us were already on board with the trad program, because hardcore Calvinists are all about "biblical patriarchy" and "biblical masculinity" and Tolkien and all that. Many of us are converting to Orthodoxy because it's a more concrete expression of traditional social norms. Like John said above: "because Orthodoxy is antithetical to the feminist movement." So naturally, the social-justicey kind of Orthodox are bothered by the fact that we make them look and feel half-hearted.

Me, I'm just tired of the Calvinist bug for every layman to be obsessed with theology. I don't agree with the libs, but I'm not going to be a jerk about it. God will work on them in His own time.
Tolkien is big among Calvinists?
 
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dzheremi

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With the foreknowledge that my perspective could differ from you guys', I'd say:

The historical rootedness of everything. The physicality of the worship. The sense of strength in spiritual combat (particularly if one is monastically inclined, which as you might guess Egyptian Christians very much are), in facing forces head on that are much greater than you as an individual, equipped with the holy cross and the prayers of all the saints and the entire Church since the beginning. The examples of saints like St. Moses the Ethiopian, Abu Seifein (St. Philopateer Mercurius), St. George of Lydda, St. Theodore El Shatby (Amir Tadros), and all the Theban Legion -- all saints that wielded great power but used it in a responsible, appropriate way, many being willing to show forth the "weakness that is greater than power" (to quote the Coptic version of the hymn O Monogenes Yios, if I may) in willingly submitting to martyrdom for the sake of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. We recognize this as a sign of great power in itself, as they had their hearts and souls fixed on what is really important, instead of giving in to fear: "Fasting and prayers of the martyrs / Gave them the power to stand the pain / Knowing that even losing their lives / Is nothing compared to their heavenly gain." (-- Lenten communion melody)

There is a lot of heroism in it, you know? I tend to think of that as a stereotypically manly pursuit. And to this day we look up to monks and others who are true spiritual warriors. We have never lost that to the emotionalism that characterizes many forms of western Christianity (and has for centuries). I think coming out of Roman Catholicism especially, in my own case...I don't know a nice way to put it, so I'll just say that I just don't want to hear about feelings anymore without the proper understanding that our spiritual lives are not to be guided by them, but by God. And I only found that in Orthodoxy. So I don't know about everyone else, but that's what it did for me. It is the antidote to the shallowness of other traditions, if I can be blunt. I've written before that I didn't leave RCism feeling that I'd been duped (though I could have, I guess), but rather that I had gone as far as I could go, and was spiritually starving. I needed more. Probably a lot of people can relate to that, though that doesn't seem to me to be particularly male-specific. Maybe in the general sense of taking on responsibility/leadership has generally been seen as masculine, but I dunno. My parish was pretty even, just like everyone else has been saying about their own.
 
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Tolkien is big among Calvinists?
Gosh, yes. Tolkien's big among a lot of Prot homeschoolers, and nobody is as zealous for homeschooling as Calvinists.
 
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