Rebirth Dearth
To Escape Civilizational Failure Mode, We’re Going to Have to Convert the Neo-Pagans
This week, Featured Author Spencer Klavan takes a closer look at the apparent revival of spirituality in American culture. In particular, Klavan argues that, to protect the most vulnerable among us, Christians must confront a new, distinctively modern form of paganism.
To Escape Civilizational Failure Mode, We’re Going to Have to Convert the Neo-Pagans
Spencer Klavan
There is a distinction, not often observed, between “wild” animals—which have never been domesticated—and “feral” ones, which were once domesticated but have reverted to their untamed state. This is what makes neo-paganism different from ancient paganism: it can never be wild. It can only be feral. That’s why it so often evinces a nihilistic, anti-natal, destructive spirit, lashing out against the vestiges of Christian culture that surround it. If modern Christians hope to channel this resurgence of spiritual fervor in a more monotheistic and humane direction, they are going to have to emulate the spirit of their ancient forebears—but with a modern twist. In short, they’re going to have to convert the neo-pagans.
This Week in Sex-Realist Feminism: The Mass Trauma of Porn, Rethinking Gender Medicine, and the Four-Hour Workday
This week: Freya India on the mass trauma caused by porn, Ob/Gyn Karla Solheim on why she started to rethink gender medicine, and Elena Bridgers on work that accommodates caregiving. Plus: an adult world without adults, cyber brothels, too old to become a parent—and more!
From the Archives:
We brought together four very different thinkers—Holly Lawford-Smith, Robert P. George, Helen Dale, and Leah Libresco Sargeant—to comment on the Louise Perry’s essay, "We Are Repaganizing."
Are We Repaganizing? A Symposium
Holly Lawford-Smith, Robert P. George, Helen Dale, and Leah Libresco Sargeant
The claim that “we are repaganizing” expresses the worry that feminists will choose abortion rights over the generalized commitment to protection of the vulnerable, and that will mean a return to paganism.
Holly Lawford-Smith
With respect to Spencer Klavan's essay regarding 'neo-pagans', readers would likely be interested in Steven D Smith's book "Pagans & Christians in the City - Culture Wars from the Tiber to the Potomac" (2018 Eerdmans).