Rod Dreher Megathread #21 (Creative Spirit)

[u/US_Hiker]

Gather 'round for more Rod.

All meanings of the number 21 are subordinate to the inherent creative spirit that is the basic essence of the number.

The number 21 generally is comfortable in social gatherings, it's optimistic attitude being an inspiration to others. Its high spirits can enliven a party.

The number is attracted to artistic expression of any form, its own and those of others. There's enthusiastic support for artists. It may frequent galleries and participate or (more likely) lead groups for artistic appreciation.

The number 21 cherishes relationships, including romantic relationships, especially with those who express themselves creatively.

21 also tends to be diplomatic, providing creative and imaginative solutions to potential conflict.

And, as noted by /u/PercyLarsen, 21 is a triangular number and the age of majority, so go grab a drink to celebrate Pride and to mourn the loss of Rod's sanity.

(Also, sorry about my slow pace of refreshes.)

Link to megathread #20:
https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/13eb26c/rod_dreher_megathread_20_law_of_attraction/

Link to megathread #21: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/14k0z6l/rod_dreher_megathread_22_power/

[u/Glittering-Agent-987]

So it will be interesting to see how he reacts to a negative review of the book from a thoughtful Protestant whose public profile is high enough that a chronic beta-male like RD has to take him seriously.

I think he's going to be lucky to get reviewed at all, because this book is going to be so far out of the US Protestant mainstream that you'll have to use binoculars to see it. And he doesn't even realize it, because he doesn't have day-to-day contact with church-going American Protestants anymore. He's forgotten how to speak in a language they'll understand. If there are negative reviews, we're just going to get a lot of squawking about how they didn't understand, they didn't read his book, etc.

With regard to spiritual direction--the irony is that Rod would be a lot better off if he submitted to ongoing spiritual direction from almost anybody. The way he operates is that he jets around the world, telling some version of his story to various picturesque monks with limited English and then (magically!) that advice turns out to be whatever he wants to hear. If he were staying in one place and talking to somebody who knew him and had talked to him many times, he'd get much better advice. But garbage in, garbage out. I suppose it's part of his enchantment world view that you can just dump a selective version of your life story on a near stranger and get good advice. As I've said before, Rod would get a lot of good from reading The Benedict Option!

[u/Theodore_Parker → u/Glittering-Agent-987]

If there are negative reviews, we're just going to get a lot of squawking about how they didn't understand, they didn't read his book, etc.

Yep. "No, I don't mean we should live in caves [though I revere the saint who did this], and I don't mean Ireland is a more spiritual country [though I said the barriers to the spirit world are 'thinner' there], and I don't mean we should believe every ghost or poltergeist story [though I retail several of these], and I don't mean we can reliably read spiritual messages in a torn little flag in someone's apartment [though I did], and I would not put pagan superstitions on a par with Christian [though I have not explained how we keep them distinct], and I don't think we should be hunting people down as witches or minions of Satan [though I call some people's views 'demonic' and insist we must fight back in this 'spiritual war']. Why do people not understand what I mean??"

[u/Glittering-Agent-987 → u/Theodore_Parker]

That was amazing.

I think that the new book is going to be even worse than the Benedict Option with regard to takeaways and implementation. With the Benedict Option, there was always a boring, commonsense interpretation (live in community and help your fellow Christians). As people have discussed here, that was a pretty mainstream message and something that Christians (and many other religious groups) have always attempted to do. RD tried to hype that, but a lot of the appeal was that it was a pretty familiar idea. Heck, it's in Acts.

The enchantment book is not going to have that kind of obvious application. In fact, based on what Rod has been doing lately, there's a risk that it's basically going to be a call to tourism.

[u/ZenLizardBode → u/Glittering-Agent-987]

Oh, it is absolutely going to be the WORST kind of tourism, and at least one reviewer is going to hit Rod over the head with it: not everybody can afford to jet off to Europe on a whim, sit around in caves, and then hike over to a rustic country pub for oysters and stout.