June 3, 2015

Benedict Option Round-Up

UPDATE: This is now a "Page" with it's own tab at the top, which I will update regularly.

Rod Dreher, at The American Conservative (among other places) is well-known, especially among conservative-leaning Christians (of whatever stripe) for his books Crunchy Cons, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, and How Dante Can Save Your Life. Dreher's next project, which will eventually be in book form, currently consists of a wide-ranging discussion on what he calls the "Benedict Option." In essence, such a project takes as its starting point Alasdair McIntyre's final words in his book "After Virtue," which consist of his prediction that:
What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark ages which are already upon us. And if the tradition of the virtues was able to survive the horrors of the last dark ages, we are not entirely without grounds for hope. This time however the barbarians are not waiting beyond the frontiers; they have already been governing us for quite some time. And it is our lack of consciousness of this that constitutes part of our predicament. We are waiting not for a Godot, but for another—doubtless very different—St. Benedict.
What Dreher is about, in fostering conversation and in writing his book, is attempting a vision, and perhaps "marching orders," so to speak, regarding how Christians ought to respond to McIntyre's statement in formation of local forms of community. In other words, what will Christians do to form them, in what would the consist, how can Christians survive, is it physical sequestration or ideo-political, or partaking of both...and so forth...

Because of the sheer volume of posts on the matter, I am attempting here to give a decent list of the various discussions on the issue, from Dreher himself and from others, who are engaged in the discussion. If I miss any, please leave comments - I've done my best from Google and other sources, ordered from the most recent posts to the earliest I can find.

June 3, 2015

‘Opzione Benedetto’ Turning Up All Over - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

Rod Dreher Explains the Benedict Option - Warren Cole Smith, World

June 2, 2015

The Glory of the Benedictines - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

June 1, 2015

Home, Retreat, and the Benedict Option - Jake Meador, Mere Orthodoxy

May 29, 2015

Putting Flesh on BenOp Bones - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

Talking Benedict Option - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 28, 2015

Is it Time for the Benedict Option? - Dwight Longenecker, NC Register

May 27, 2015

The Liberal Catholic Benedict Option - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 26, 2015

Hope, Optimism, and Magical Thinking - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

Is It Time to Hunker Down? - Dwight Longenecker, Patheos

May 24, 2015

The Benedict Option, Part One: Build a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul - Eve Tushnet, Patheos

The Benedict Option, Part Two: This Time Its Personal - Eve Tushnet, Patheos

Secure Your Own Mask First - James K.A. Smith, Cardus

May 21, 2015

Noah and the Benedict Option - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 20, 2015

Accidental Stylites and the Benedict Option - Leah Libresco, Patheos

Fundamentalism v. The Benedict Option - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 19, 2015

Serious...Questions About the Benedict Option - Noah Millman, American Conservative

The Benedict Option Reading List - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

The Benedict Option & Antipolitical Politics - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

The Benedict Option - Damon Linker, The Week

The Benedict Option & Antipolitical Politics - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 18, 2015

Benedictine Agrarians - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 15, 2015

Learning from, Some Thoroughly Material Benedictines - Russell Arben Fox, Front Porch Republic

L’Option Benoît - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 14, 2015

French Religious History and the New American Intégrisme - David Sessions, Patrol

Is this Man Dr. Evil? - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

Breathing with Benedict - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

Their Losing Religion = Our Losing Religious Freedom - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 13, 2015

Leviathan v. Benedict - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 12, 2015

Benedictines, Not Fundamentalists - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

May 11, 2015

Christopher Dawson and the Benedict Option - Brian Mattson, Journal

May 8, 2015

Arguing About the Benedict Option - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

X-Men Don’t Take the Benedict Option - Owen Strachan, The Stream

April 30, 2015

Building Shelters Along the Pilgrim Path - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

Rod Dreher and his Friendly Critics - Carl Eric Scott, NRO

April 29, 2015

Rod Dreher and the Problem with a Return to the Land - Bruce Frohnen, Nomocracy

February 1, 2015

Christian and Countercultural - Rod Dreher, First Things

All of the Above - David Dieteman, Crisis

November 13, 2014

Benedict Options - Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, Patheos

November 12, 2014

Are Appeals to Natural Law and Right Reason Still Effective? - Samuel Gregg, Crisis

November 10, 2014

Our Only Option - C.C. Pecknold, First Things

November 7, 2014

Lots of Options - Bianca Czaderna, First Things

October 22, 2014

A Benedictine on the Benedict Option - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

October 18, 2014

Roger Scruton on Modern Political Conservatism - Rod Dreher, Imaginative Conservative

October 6, 2014

The Dominican Option - C.C. Pecknold, First Things

"Options" for Cultural Engagement - Dale Coulter, First Things

October 2, 2014

Should Christians Check Out Of Mainstream Society? - Matt K. Lewis, Daily Caller

September 5, 2014

The Evangelical Roots of the Benedict Option - Jake Meador, Mere Orthodoxy

August 26, 2014

A ‘Babylonian Exile' To Save Their Faith - David Gibson, HuffPo

August 20, 2014

To Be a Christian in Modern America - Matthew Sitman, The Dish

August 14, 2014

The Jeremiah Option vs. the Benedict Option - Joe Carter, Acton

March 26, 2014

The Benedict Option: What Does It Really Mean? - R. Jared Staudt, Crisis

March 15, 2014

The Benedict Option - The Peregrinator

February 19, 2014

The Benedict Option Doesn't Exist - Dylan Pahman, Ethika Politica

February 17, 2014

The Benedict Option and the Lay Vocation - David Goerke, Crisis

February 6, 2014

A Catholic Showdown Worth Watching - Patrick Deneen, American Conservative

February 4, 2014

The Francis Option - Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, The American Scene

December 12, 2013

Benedict Option - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

September 29, 2013

Rod Dreher and the Benedict Option - Peter Robinson, Ricochet

September 27, 2013

Benedict Option Bleg - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

June 4, 2012

A Secularist Sees the Benedict Option - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

April 30, 2012

A Counterculture of Catholic Monks - James Carroll, Boston Globe

October 5, 2011

Front Porch Republic and the Communion of Saints - Daniels & Pecknold, Front Porch

October 1, 2014

Ghosts of Colson & Neuhaus - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

September 27, 2011

Doom of Rome: More on the Benedict Option - Hector, Crossroads

September 22, 2011

A Response to Turmarion - Hector, Crossroads

August 21, 2011

A Double Shadow V: Finale - Turmarion, Chequer-Board

June 14, 2011

So, what IS the Benedict Option? - Red Cardigan, And Sometimes Tea

June 13, 2011

News from the Benedict Option Front - Red Cardigan, And Sometimes Tea

May 18, 2009

Becoming Barbarians - Rod Dreher, American Conservative

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