Thursday, January 16th, 2025
Author: Susie Coen
Source: The Telegraph (U.K.)
Publication Date: 04 January 2025 | 5:15pm GMT
Link: Young, single men are leaving traditional churches. They found a more ‘masculine’ alternative
Stephan:
We have what I see as a serious negative cultural trend going on in the United States. Young single, mostly White, men don’t seem to understand what the role of manhood is about. They are frightened and resentful about gender equality. This is strongly reflected in what is happening to religious affiliation in America. On the one hand, hundreds of thousands are leaving any church affiliation. On the other hand, young, single, mostly White men, as I said, are moving from Protestant churches to affiliate, as this article describes, with highly orthodox Catholic sects thinking they are more masculine. It’s pathetic but true.
Young, single men are flocking to the Orthodox church after discovering the “masculine” Christian religion through online influencers.
Some converts said they felt disillusioned with the “feminisation” of the Protestant church and were attracted to the “authenticity” of Orthodoxy, which they claim pushes them physically and mentally.
Priests are now planning to open new parishes to accommodate the “tsunami” of young men who have converted since the pandemic.
They say that most of the new converts found the Orthodox church by watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts.
Matthew Ryan, a former atheist, found Orthodoxy after he saw a comment about good and evil on YouTube after “hitting rock bottom”.
The science teacher, 41, who had moved to Salt Lake City in 2022 to escape New York’s “draconian” Covid rules, began researching the Bible.
This eventually led him to a one-hour YouTube video in which a Protestant visits an Orthodox church and speaks to a priest.
“I watched that, and […]
What the Article Missed About Orthodox Christianity
I read the article in which this is referring to regarding the growing number of young men converting to Orthodox Christianity, and while it raised an interesting point, I couldn’t help but notice something missing. The author framed the appeal of Orthodoxy largely in terms of masculinity—pointing to practices like fasting, prostrations, and long prayers as signs of “hard work,” which she equated with traditional masculinity. The implication is clear: young men are drawn to Orthodoxy because it feels more masculine than what she quotes from a convert referring to the “feminized” churches of today.
But here’s where the article misses something crucial. By framing the discussion this way, (in my opinion inadvertently androcentrism) it assumes that hard work, discipline, and endurance are inherently masculine traits. That’s a bias—one that not only misrepresents Orthodox Christianity but also subtly diminishes the role of women in spiritual struggle. If fasting and long prayers symbolize masculinity, does that mean women don’t—or can’t—engage in these struggles? Are they not capable of laboring for their salvation in the same way? Of course they are. Anyone who has spent time in an Orthodox monastery, seen the ascetic lives of Orthodox nuns, or simply watched the faithfulness of Orthodox women in their daily lives knows that these acts are not “masculine” but human.
The problem with this framing is that it limits the depth of what Orthodoxy actually offers. Yes, many men today are seeking something more structured, something that asks more of them, something that demands responsibility. That’s not in question. But to say that Orthodoxy is appealing because it is “masculine” is to misunderstand what the Church actually is.
If anything, one could argue that Orthodoxy, in its spiritual essence, is more closely aligned with what the world often calls feminine. The faith calls us to love, humility, sacrifice, and self-emptying. These are the very qualities embodied by the Theotokos, the Mother of God, who is not an incidental figure in Orthodox Christianity—she stands at the heart of it. She is the ultimate example of obedience, faith, and self-sacrificial love. Which are characteristics more often seen in woman. In fact, she is often referred to as the image of the Church itself. And yet, no one would argue that her spiritual life was “easy” or “passive.” It was a life of struggle, just as it is for every Orthodox Christian, man or woman.
This is where the article could have gone deeper. Rather than reducing Orthodox practice to a symbol of masculinity, it could have explored why these practices are significant in the first place. Why does the Church ask for discipline? Why is ascetic struggle central to salvation? Why does Orthodox Christianity feel so different from modern Western Christianity? These are the questions worth asking.
Part of the reason for this difference lies in Orthodox theology itself. In much of Western Christianity, faith is often presented in more systematic, intellectual, or legalistic terms. But Orthodoxy is deeply experiential—it is not just about believing in Christ but becoming like Him. And becoming like Christ is not about embracing masculinity or femininity—it is about transformation. It is about chiseling away the hardened parts of the soul to reveal something softer, more open to grace. It is about learning to love, to surrender, to carry the cross—not because it makes one “manly,” but because it makes one holy.
So yes, men may initially be drawn to Orthodoxy because they see something different—something more structured, something that demands effort. But over time, if they stay, they will find that it isn’t about masculinity at all. It is about the soul’s journey to God, a journey that is just as demanding for women as it is for men.
Perhaps that is the real story worth telling. Not that Orthodoxy is attracting men because it is masculine, but that it is calling people—men and women alike—toward something deeper than what modern culture offers. And in that calling, the Church is neither masculine nor feminine. It is simply the Church.