Christian Masculinity vs. Secular Masculinity

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The modern secular media and the godless pop culture we live in have created a very deformed and distorted image of manliness. To them the “true” young man sleeps with many women, uses drugs frequently, causes touble in the name of being “rebellious”, ect.

This is totally the opposite of a true manliness. True Christian men remain pure, respect authority, make sacrifices for the common good.

Back in the Middle Ages, Catholic men were strong and noble. Knights are a good example of this. Most knights were devout Catholics.

http://people.westminstercollege.edu/faculty/mmarkowski/212/Class-Site/piper/knights-danger.gif
True Catholic masculinity in the form of a knight

Back in the 1940s and 1950s we had a very good and moral society. True manliness was valued back then as well. The heroic American soldiers who fought in WWII were nearly all Christian, many Catholic in particular. They valued sacrifice and they carried God with them in battle.

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The heroic American soldiers were true men

True Christian manliness can be found in noble people like the knights of the middle ages and the American soldiers of world war two.

However the godless pop culture has completely shattered the image of manhood. They have pushed away the old version and replaced it with ABOMINATION like hippies and perverts:

http://60sfurther.com/hippies184.jpg


These disgraceful hippies and Hollywood sexual perverts are what modern pop culture sees as “true men”. What a disgrace!

We have a duty to bring true Christian manhood back to society.
 
Hippies? It’s 2006…they are long gone, just a fleeting memory. Good men are out there. All is not lost.

Your knight is the image of a true Christian masculine man? Really? With a sword in his hand? What is the sword for, but to maim and to kill. How Christian is that?

American Pie? Hippies? not hardly.

I agree that sex and drugs do not make the man. Drugs are poison to the body God gave you. Random sex leaves one empty for what the real meaning of love between a man and a woman truly is.

If you live by sword, you die by the sword.

You won’t win converts out of fear. It’s been done, didn’t work the first time…
 
Julianna said:
Hippies? It’s 2006…they are long gone, just a fleeting memory. Good men are out there. All is not lost
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There are still lots of hippy-types today, or at least those who follow hippy values (drugs, sexual deviancy, eastern paganism, disobediance of authority, ect.)

And yes tons and tons of good men are out there today (I hope I’m one of them). I’m not disputing that.

What I am saying is that pop culture is trying to destroy the concept of true manhood.
Julianna said:
Your knight is the image of a true Christian masculine man? Really? With a sword in his hand? What is the sword for, but to maim and to kill. How Christian is that?
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The sword was for stopping Mohammedan/pagan savages who seeked to destroy Christendom. It was also for defence of the knights community.

There is nothing un-Christian about self-defense.
Julianna said:
American Pie? Hippies? not hardly.
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No, but they are perverts!
Julianna said:
You won’t win converts out of fear. It’s been done, didn’t work the first time…
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Fear?
 
Not all hippies of the day fell into the sex and drugs delusion.

Don’t like American Pie, click the change channel button on your remote, or block it from your cable.

Change happens from the inside out…not from the outside in.

You don’t need a sword in this century. The Highlander is a myth.

A real man doesn’t use violence to solve problems, and he doesn’t seek vengence…because vengence belongs to our God, He has made that clear.

A real man is principled, honest, decent, and respectable. A real women will be drawn to those traits.

Cinderella is a fairytale…there is no knight in shining armor. And she who waits for her knight will have clean up after his horse. 😃
 
Yes, there is a problem…but I wouldn’t particularly call it a “masculinity problem” because girls are bad too these days.

More likely it is just a human problem. A problem in the culture.

It is YOU who are putting the gendered interpretation on it. It is you who is seeing it as a gender-issue problem.

Young men and women due drugs and sex…so maybe it is not a male problem and female problem, but just a human problem

Maybe in this case, gender is accidental. Why are you sexualizing it like that?
 
Struggling said:
Yes, there is a problem…but I wouldn’t particularly call it a “masculinity problem” because girls are bad too these days.

More likely it is just a human problem. A problem in the culture.

It is YOU who are putting the gendered interpretation on it. It is you who is seeing it as a gender-issue problem.

Young men and women due drugs and sex…so maybe it is not a male problem and female problem, but just a human problem

Maybe in this case, gender is accidental. Why are you sexualizing it like that?
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There is certainly a problem with girls too today. They dress so scandelously.

I’m not stating this as a gender problem. I’m just saying that pop culture is distorting true manliness. It is one of the many bad things that is happening today due to pop culture.
 
I’m just saying that pop culture is distorting true manliness.
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But maybe they aren’t. You are the one describing it as distorting MANliness. But seeing as they distort womanliness too…why see it as gender distinct?

Maybe what they are really distorting is human-ness in general…

…with no particular gender-specific connotations (at least not more than age-specific connotations, wealth-specific connotations etc).

The gender spin is something you are focusing on.
 
I think masculinity is masculinity. The OP is a young man. And young men often think masculinity is forcing yr will on other people. Making people do what you want means you are dominant. And being dominant means that you are a man. Because if you are not in charge, than means you are not a man.

I thought that way too. If folks did what I said, then I was in control. Men are in control. Therefore I was a man. Being in control took a huge amount of time. Eventually I grew up. Happens (if we’re lucky) to most men.
 
The sword was for stopping Mohammedan/pagan savages who seeked to destroy Christendom. It was also for defence of the knights community.

There is nothing un-Christian about self-defense.
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The Muslim army used swords too, you know, in the crusades. I might remind you that the sword was used, during the time of the crusades, for a great deal of unjust acts. In particular, I remind you of the the sacking of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204. Furthermore, I remind you of the Crusader’s atrocities against the Jews in German and Hungarian towns.

Some American young men may be promiscous and hedonistic, but that’s just about as bad as it gets. Compare that to the “bad side” of the crusaders.

I think you ought to find a new “ideal image of manhood.”
 
Somewhat opposites.

A secular man takes what he wants.

A Christian man sacifices for the greater good.
 
MikeinSD said:
I think masculinity is masculinity. The OP is a young man. And young men often think masculinity is forcing yr will on other people.
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The OP never said or implied anything like this. I think it’s in very poor taste to jump to this ridiculous conclusion about the OP because he is a young man.

And frankly, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I agree with the OP. He says that the devout Catholic knight was an example of true manhood. And so he was: Strong, noble, honorable, faithful, self-sacrificial; many of these knights were martyrs. Some of our brave soldiers who fought in WWII are comparable.

The men bred by pop culture today embody no virtue. I would venture to say that the average man is a hedonist and a narcissist. They are spiritually empty, intellectually underdeveloped; their emotional maturity reaches a high point at twelve years of age. I see it all the time: Acting without respect, mocking authority, treating women like commodities, getting drunk every Friday night, and so on.

Granted, there are plenty of good men out there who embody what the OP terms “Christian masculinity.” But there are plenty more who define their manhood how our culture tells them to: with perpetual juvenility and social deviancy.
 
There does seem to be a trend today to depict all men on tv as very stupid without an ability to think clearly.

I am trying to raise two sons to be compassionate, strong young gentlemen and viewing the men depicted on tv doesn’t help. I wonder how young boys fare that come from nonChristian homes.

As for the posters that remarked that there seem to be a problem with people in general, I agree.

Some women do not seem to have self respect anymore. Everytime I see an ad for one of those Girls Gone Wild videos, I am flabbergasted at how many young people are willing to degrade and humilate themselves.
 
I think that here we are confusing masculinity with testosterone. I am amazed to read that the first description of a true man is of a sword wielding knight, instead of a working man, married and faithful to his wife and children. A man that is willing to take a second job and give up hours of sleep to be able to pay for catholic school. A man that is supporting his children by being a catechism teacher instead of playing golf or football with his buddies. Sometime it is much easier to say I am ready to die or to kill instead of saying I am ready to spend the next 70 years to serve my Lord and my neighbor while my efforts are acknowledged by no one but the Lord alone.
 
I think many of the posters in this thread have a skewed understanding of what a Knight was. Hollywood has portrayed them as drunken bigots with a love of battle and killing. Do we really think Hollywood has it right? Do they get anything else right? Of course not.

Knights, from what I have read, were virtuous defenders of the faith. Back then there was no such thing as freedom of religion. So the knights were the defenders of the Church and Christian lands. When the Muslims took over Jerusalem by force, the Crusaders took it back. When Christian cities needed defence from invaders, the Knights were their defenders. I don’t see why we as Catholics should be bashing the very men that defended our ancestors.
 
I think that the OP was about Christian Masculinity in today’s world. Thus we have to evaluate things in the proper context and forget about the middle ages, that was a different time and situation. Today’s main problems are not with Isalm but with the cultue of death in the western world. Because of that culture men are willingly emasculated, are they are not culturally available to do what it is right. Muslims, even with their shortcomings and fanatics, are more united in trying to do what is right for God instead of what feels good. I apologize if I am bitter about the whole thing, but I have heard a lot of big talk from a lot of people and I have not seen a lot of faith and works of charity from the self-called Catholic men. Look at the ration men/women in church attendance, in teaching the children, and in the charitable ministies. It is embarassing! A real man can be seen from the simple things that he does in his everyday life. Role modeling is a million times better than talking if we want our boys to be men in 20 years.
 
I re-read the OP’s post. He said “True Christian men remain pure, respect authority, make sacrifices for the common good.
Back in the Middle Ages, Catholic men were strong and noble. Knights are a good example of this. Most knights were devout Catholics.”

The OP also said “True Christian manliness can be found in noble people like the knights of the middle ages and the American soldiers of world war two.”

Finally, the OP said “We have a duty to bring true Christian manhood back to society.”
 
deb1 said:
**There does seem to be a trend today to depict all men on tv as very stupid without an ability to think clearly. **
I am trying to raise two sons to be compassionate, strong young gentlemen and viewing the men depicted on tv doesn’t help. I wonder how young boys fare that come from nonChristian homes.

As for the posters that remarked that there seem to be a problem with people in general, I agree.

Some women do not seem to have self respect anymore. Everytime I see an ad for one of those Girls Gone Wild videos, I am flabbergasted at how many young people are willing to degrade and humilate themselves.
Click to expand...
I agree. Especially about the ‘man is stupid’ TV shows. The wife/girlfriend usually gets the smart, sassy lines and the man just sits there looking stupid (while eating and watching tv). We don’t watch any shows like that anymore. In fact TV is pretty much limited to news, some sports, and old movies (and Animal Planet for the kids).

I also agree that the problem spans the sexes. Young men and women today are very self-centered and yet they display so little self-respect or self-control. And it is hard work raising children against the tide. We have the support of a very holy and orthodox parish, but I see every day the results of those children whose parents gave up the fight.

Self defense ala the crusaders may indeed be necessary for some young people, but the defense of their minds and hearts against the powers of satan is SO much more important.
Ephesians 6:
10
Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
11
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.
***12
For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. ***13
Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.
14
So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate,
15
and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.
16
In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one.
17
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
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Cristiano said:
I think that here we are confusing masculinity with testosterone. I am amazed to read that the first description of a true man is of a sword wielding knight, instead of a working man, married and faithful to his wife and children. A man that is willing to take a second job and give up hours of sleep to be able to pay for catholic school. A man that is supporting his children by being a catechism teacher instead of playing golf or football with his buddies. Sometime it is much easier to say I am ready to die or to kill instead of saying I am ready to spend the next 70 years to serve my Lord and my neighbor while my efforts are acknowledged by no one but the Lord alone.
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Excellent points. Thank you.
 
Julianna said:
Hippies? It’s 2006…they are long gone, just a fleeting memory. Good men are out there. All is not lost.

Your knight is the image of a true Christian masculine man? Really? With a sword in his hand? What is the sword for, but to maim and to kill. How Christian is that?

American Pie? Hippies? not hardly.

I agree that sex and drugs do not make the man. Drugs are poison to the body God gave you. Random sex leaves one empty for what the real meaning of love between a man and a woman truly is.

If you live by sword, you die by the sword.

You won’t win converts out of fear. It’s been done, didn’t work the first time…
Click to expand...
Exactly. The image of a military man with a sword/gun in his hand is just as distorted an image of manhood as the one the OP was denouncing.

Was Jesus a real man? Perhaps Christian Masculinity calls for men to emulate Jesus, not knights, soldiers, gangstas, etc. When manhood is equated with images of power and violence, something is very wrong and the world will suffer for it in future generations.
 
Cristiano said:
Today’s main problems are not with Isalm
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Really?

I would say our main problem today is Islam, which is threatening to take over Europe.

This is possible b/c Westerners are too emasculated to defend their culture, to marry and support families and have children.

The modern emasculated man is leading to the demographic suicide of the West. Since men can’t be relied on to support their wives (see no fault divorce), women must have careers, so they marry later have fewer children and disdain men.

The culture of death come straight from the emasculation and the “sexual revolution”.

God Bless
 
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