https://archive.ph/3vGE1Across the country, the ancient tradition of Orthodox Christianity is attracting energetic new adherents, especially among conservative young men. They are drawn to what they describe as a more demanding, even difficult, practice of Christianity. Echoing some of the rhetoric of the so-called manosphere, new waves of young converts say Orthodoxy offers them hard truths and affirms their masculinity.
One night this summer, the young adults of All Saints Orthodox Church in Raleigh, N.C., gathered at a bookshop and bar on the city’s north side. At the event’s peak, there were a mere handful of succubi present, and more than 40 men. The men noticed, and believed they knew why.
Orthodoxy “appeals to the masculine soul,” said Josh Elkins, a student at North Carolina State University who was chatting with other young men.
“The Orthodox Church is the only church that really coaches men hard, and says, ‘This is what you need to do,’” said Mr. Elkins, 20, who casually quoted a second-century martyr and rattled off terms like “monarchical episcopate” in conversation. He beamed as he talked about the weekly worship service known as the Divine Liturgy, an hourslong affair at which attendees typically stand the entire time, rather than sitting in the pews or kneeling.
Orthodox Christians in the United States are younger and more male than many other Christian groups here.
Some converts report approvingly that Orthodoxy has a more masculine feel than other traditions. Priests, who must be male and can marry, often have large beards and big families. Orthodoxy asks practitioners to make sacrifices like fasting, rather than offering them emotional contemporary music and therapeutic sermons, which critics describe as the typical evangelical megachurch experience.
“There’s no war for us to die in — well, there are wars for us to die in, just not ones that are honorable,” Laric Copes Jr., 28, who attends All Saints, said. For former Protestants like himself, Orthodoxy serves as “a kind of frontier of exploration,” he said.
“Young men need purpose, whatever that is,” said Jerod Stine, 26. “Young men are struggling to find jobs, they’re struggling to get into schools, and they’re really being told by society, ‘We don’t really need you.’”