On Our Modern Decline in Masculinity Part 2

If there is to be any talk of building up, then no matter how high or low the building becomes, the work must be from the ground up.

— Works of Love, Søren Kierkegaard

Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in conversation with the past, while remembering where we are and when we are and that it is we who have to decide. Traditionalism supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time, so all that is needed to solve any problem is to arrive at the supposedly unanimous testimony of this homogenized tradition.

— Jaroslav Pelikan

Now it is unsuprising that the upsurge of the feminist tact and the overall feminist uproar - the minority power-hungry women - has sent the worldwide masculine-centric culture into profound re-questioning and confusion[1]. They have demanded that women recieve a more substantial and influential role, not only in social and economic sects, which is certainly reasonable and needfully called for, but most controversially, also in Christian Orthodox ritual practice. What does this mean for us, and could the compromising of our Orthodox practices be detrimental and inauthentic to our tradition? In other words, what is so wrong with the idea of introducing the Female Priest, a priest equivalent to the Male Priest? And how does this relate to the worldwide repressing, the snuffing out of the masculine essence in our modern man? Moreover, how should we orient ourselves in the midst of this turbulence?

First, let us recognise that we are in need of some kind of modernisation, some kind of newness and freshness that brings vitality to our Orthodox tradition. For if we are to be ignorant towards any new creative engagement with the tradition of our forefathers, Chrisitian Orthodoxy is at risk of becoming traditionalistic, as Pelikan informs us. It is more meaningful for us to concieve of our tradition as this carrying of the spirit of our forefathers - the disciples, the church fathers - and not just the performing of our rituals. Holy, holy, holy are these mysteries, without a doubt, mysteries which are santified by Christ Himself! - and yet, the mysteries are not the be-all-and-end-all. The Orthodox tradition is the entire life and culture permeated by these mysteries!

But where do we draw the line in our reinvigorating of the spirit in which we perform our rituals? If it is not in the spirit of the Church, the Church as Christ's beautiful Bride, it is not spiritually beneficial, and hence not edifying for the congregation. This is exactly what Kierkegaard implies by "building up", that without a solid foundation - a firm footing in the spirit of the church - whatever we build atop it is liable for collapse. So we must be extroadinarily careful and deep in prayer when contemplating potential changes or alterations to our Orthodox tradition. For how easy it is to mistake, after one convinces one's own soul, a benificiary intention with a prideful one! That although we may build a most extravagant piece of architecture never before seen, and even containing some semblances of our old tradition to give the impression of our "sanctifying tradition", the foundation is build upon sand.

The Female Priest

To look now at the proposal of the feminist Orthodox (an antithetical coupling! how ironic!).

They hinge and obsess and so have intoxicated our congregation with the idea that the women in our Church do not serve any or enough important roles, and that because of this they are hindered in their spiritual life. A most bold thing they say is that "there is no difference if a male or female serves the Eucharist, and surely women will be more motivated spiritually if they had the chance to become priests!"

Oh, what a collapse of meaning there would be to see a woman serving God's Body and Blood! For it was from the Woman, the Virgin Mary, who bore Christ! Women hold the prowess of life itself! The Chalice is signified by Her (Mary) for it represents Her. But if it is woman who holds the chalice, knowing that the Theotokos gave God flesh - there is no significance to the Distribution! Hence the male priest acts as a preventitive to this collapse of meaning!

What is more, is that the male priest as representing Christ, as Father, holds together the binary distinctions that are fundamental to society in terms of gender roles. As Father Hans Jacobse teaches us, society is intrinsically patriachal since God is Father. But this is not meant in an oppressive way at all, and we can edify ourselves by witnessing to how Christ treats his Bride, the Church!

Missing Masculinity

Now, such calls into question the role of men, for absolutely we have lost the meaning and the significance - the gift - of the masculine in man! Modern day feminism has sought to destroy and reject all masculine instinct and deem it illusion! To deny and hence distort all differences between man and woman!

The modern man therefore feels trapped and confused, and so sees fit to repress all masculinity, the urge to be regela (arabic word roughly translated as 'genuine, authentic gentleman'). And so we see the death of the Man as a response to the feminist, and subsequently the death of the Woman as a response to the death of the Man.

But what else is hacking at our modern man, keeping him down? Unsurprisingly, pornography is a major limiting factor preventing his resurrection of what he could become. And dare I say, more importantly, the absence of brotherhood among our modern men is also a reason for our decline in masculinity. Men desire examples to aspire towards, guidance and counsel all in love from these examples[2] . For what is stirring more than ever in our men, is this deep, deep craving for brotherly love and communion: a deep loneliness pervades our generation, and this lost connection, this absence of unity, chokes the need for our men to be masculine.

Look at the modern man trapped in his passions, confused beyond everyone's recognition. He stares at his reflection, wondering who he is and who he ought to be: "and is there anything at all", he always whispers quitely in his soul, "anything more substantial than base sensualism and our secular materialism? What does it mean that I am a man, and would it be different if I were born female?"

Oh, I firmly believe that all men and this modern man are identical!

And so what now? What is to be done?

The hidden voice that screams ubiquitously is this: women want strong men, and men want feminine women. Totalitarian egalitarianism - the ultimate goal of the feminists - is nothing but death to the soul. There is equality of value between men and women, but their roles are not interchangeable.

Women will reorient themselves once the men change.

Nostalgia for the Past?

That the integration of the female congregation in the church rituals and services is shockingly apparent and is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed. We are hereby witnessing an exponential increase in disinterested women in our Church - and God help us if we do nothing about it! The feminist ideology is fed and nurtured by the number of women leaving the church spiritually, for lost women - the modern woman - are easy prey to their ideologies.

For them, they see no real motivation for learning the intricacies of our Hymnology, the Divine Liturgy, the Mysteries, and overall a well rounded understanding of our Orthodox Christian tradition. For realistically there is almost no way to solidify this understanding since they can barely participate in the services. As such, the role of women in our church is incredibly passive, and although they have roles in Sunday School service, these things are covered in passing with ordinary spiritual and biblical teaching, and not given the weight it needs. I am by no means implying by this that the men are perfectly oriented and intellectually upheld! By God grace, men have been honoured and entrusted with tasks such as assisting in the altar, and handling the Blood of Christ (during Eucharist), and are still great in their disinterestedness! Nevertheless, this lack of interest we see is due to our modern crisis seen above!

But for the women: let us say then, that we are obligated to revive the order of the deaconesses! We should give them apparel just like the male deacons, for they are equivalent in that they are just as much angels of the Lord! Indeed, we have grown ignorant of the ancient tradition, but what a beautiful resurrection in the spirit of the Church to revive the service of the deaconess - and to sanctify it! The female diaconate to serve the females, the priest and deacons for the males![3].

But how beautiful this is! What an uplifting vision of what the Church could become! That both women and men be educated in the tradition and its Hymnology, participating together in unity in all the services!

And what an uplifting thought, that this together with the restoration of male and female roles, the Church may radiate with a spiritual freshness and newness, a familiar newness. It is like ripping off the veil from one's face to see them clearer - and look how all the features are clearly defined, when before they stood so bleary!

Footnotes

Main points in this video are brought into this article: (60) The Crisis in Masculinity | with Fr. Hans Jacobse - YouTube
Wan refer to Psalm 133:1 - "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for bretheren to dwell together in unity!"
Apart from ministering to other women and girls, the deaconnesses were reported to have assisted, under the supervision of the priest, in chrismation and baptism, and the administering of holy oil. We could also integrate them into singing praises as the 'right wing' of the congregation. But for this we need diligence in educating our women. More Information of Services found from Orthodox Wiki https://orthodoxwiki.org/Deaconess