A Tactical Retreat - or Needless Surrender?

By Auguste Meyrat Even as it was advocating for a way of life that came straight from the Middle Ages, The Reactionary Mind: Why "Conservative" Isn't Enough by Michael Warren Davis was surprisingly refreshing and pertinent. Davis made a case against liberalism and modernity, revisiting and revising certain moments in Western history and proposing a plan for living a happier, more authentic life. While fellow travelers like Casey Chalk, Declan Leary, and myself all praised the book, we also thought it was relatively short and sometimes impractical. A sequel that addressed these issues was definitely needed. And sure enough, Davis has now come out with the sequel: After Christendom. Unlike its predecessor, it is much darker and reflective, considering what follows when Christian culture has disappeared. If Davis's harsh words are sometimes difficult to accept, they are important to heed. To frame his argument, Davis recalls the waning days of the Roman Empire: "Throughout the rest of this book, I'll be suggesting ways to prepare for the coming Dark Age." He proves this by remarking how the West, like the Late Roman Empire, systematically exploits and exterminates its vulnerable populations and seeks fulfillment in mindless consumption, sexual perversity, and pagan cults. Christians, therefore, need to stop trying to reform (and thus rely on) the current system. As Davis puts it, "For too long, we've outsourced [the Christian] witness - to the State, to the institutional Church, to our neighbors." Rather Christians need to follow the examples of their saintly predecessors, "Augustine and Cyprian" or "Peter and Paul." Davis repudiates initiatives for the moral reform of government. Such thinking is "all politics," not real Christianity. He also rejects the idea of fighting a culture war since this inevitably comes to supersede the Christian mission. In our effort to beat back the Left, "we have forgotten how to love, and so we've forgotten God; we've forgotten God, and so we've forgotten how to love." In order to convert non-Christians and win souls for Christ, Christians must be happily willing to face persecution and humiliation. Davis then delves into the spiritual life. Rather than vote, donate to causes, and become an activist, he recommends prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. He cites various mystics and saints - and of course Scripture - all of which explain the purposes for these activities: prayer "deepens our relationship with Christ" and "'baptizes' the imagination"; fasting makes us "antifragile" and able to "master our emotions"; and almsgiving serves as a "witness of charity" that brings outsiders into the fold. In Davis's view, we should expect ever more hostility, persecution, and ridicule in the near future, so spiritual discipline is all the more essential: "What we need now, I think, aren't polemicists or apologetics. We need fundamentalists." Yet he rejects the conservative Christian argument against the "Church of Nice." In his view, Christians should always strive to be nice. The real problem is fake kindness, which should be answered with actual kindness: "the opposite of fake tenderness is not real harshness, cruelty, and so on. It's real tenderness." This means to not judge or put oneself in the position of Christ chastening sinners, but instead to identify with the sinners seeking Christ's forgiveness. Davis devotes the following chapters to the loss of the supernatural in religion, the pernicious obsession over the news, and making a retreat from today's toxic culture. Whether or not one is a post-liberal Christian mystic, the modern world is largely a dull, vice-ridden place that strips reality of spirit, dehumanizes individuals, and dissolves communities. Finally, Davis ends by enjoining readers to consider Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy actually survived anti-Christian regimes and cultures. Reflecting a personal conversion of his own (Davis, formerly Catholic, has since entered the Orthodox ...