Men thrive in brotherhoods. Not peoplehoods, but specifically brotherhoods. See Tom Sawyer, Gilgamesh, the Germanic comitatus, the Japanese samurai, the monks of Saint Benedict, the fishermen of Newfoundland, the Plains Indians, the cristeros of Mexico, and, in a human sense, the apostles of our Lord Himself. So what have we done?

I have been talking to some like minded men recently about just this sort of thing. None of us can seem to find what we want in terms of gathering with like minded men like ourselves. We’ve more or less decided that it’s time to put our own brotherhood of sorts together.

Each of us is also tired of Nice Jesus. For within the range of things included in the old, “WWJD” idea is contained grabbing a whip and running fools out of the temple. These days, we’d just rationalize the merchants away. “Well, at least they’re in church,” we’d say now.

It is also not the religion of the sword, either, so we are as well frustrated with far too many American ‘conservative’ neo-cons who wish to march to war at every turn.

Perhaps we’ll find something wherein we can connect and begin to make changes in our own lives that will move outward, toward our communities where we each live. I don’t know. All I know is that I can find no sanctuary in the average American church. I find no depth. No sense of purpose. Just, well, nice people.