I tend to hand with people who strike most as odd on the internet. Not in real life: I praise God that my wife is talented, artistic, sensible, sane and not at all weird. The inbreeding of teh nerdz should be discouraged. But in this fallen time, the truth is considered hate facts. I watch he faces of people I am teaching, and see their horror as the data is given. For it is not according to the narrative.

But is the time of debate past? Is this a waste of time? Should we be silent?

I have found the same to be increasingly true in any discussion not only with progressives, but with an increasing number of ordinary folks. The discussion may concern politics, religion, sexuality, economics, or cultural matters. If there is a disagreement, there is very little logical thought or rational debate. The two weapons of emotivism and utilitarianism usually rule the day. No true debate takes place. Instead, arguments are dismissed by changing the subject, launching a personal attack or playing the victim.

A position is advocated according to sentimental feelings or practical considerations. The more intellectual, like Lewis’ demon- possessed Weston, use intellectual arguments not as a process to discover the truth, but as a weapon—and a weapon that is more like a bludgeon than a rapier. If their intellectual argument falls flat, they simply deny, lie, and shout more loudly.

In other words, the Benedict option may be the only option because debate has ended. Our society is so worm-eaten with relativism the any idea that one might use reason, research and debate to discover truth is defunct. The idea, not only that truth can be discovered, but that once discovered one has a duty to believe and obey, is even more obsolete. Consequently, if there is no truth there can be no reasoning into truth, and if there is no reasoning then there is no reason to argue. All is relegated to a matter of opinion—and often the opinion is not even offered as being true. The person asserts it simply because they believe it and they believe it because they assert it.

“You say pot-A-to and I say po-TAH-to… So let’s call the whole thing off.”

Thus the silence of the monks. They are silent not only in order to listen to God more acutely, but also because all the words are falling on deaf ears. If humanity is deaf there is no need for words.

The Benedict Option is therefore more about a change of heart and mind than growing a beard, getting some chickens, and building a utopian religious community in the woods. The Benedict Option means coming to the realization that the time for dialogue and debate is over and the time for quiet action has begun.

I am convinced that this is the true reason why Benedict headed for the hills in the sixth century. The dialogue was pointless. The debate was a dead-end. So Benedict did what he could with what he had where he was.

The answer is that we should not be silent. Longenecker did not write this essay (Go and read it) because it was a waste of time. I agree it is a time for action, and that action may not be withdrawal from the world (Dreher does not argue for that, but for a disconnection with the elite, and a development of our own anti-fragile structures that will sustain the coming crises). But he feels a refugee from his society. What he forgets is that being a migrant is bad for you: it is the nicotine addiction of mental health.

To a psychiatric epidemiologist, migration is arguably associated with one of the defining public health inequalities of the last 100 years: that certain migrants, their children, and their children’s children are as much as 10 times more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for psychotic disorder than the majority (usually white Caucasian) population in a given setting. The exact magnitude of this risk varies, depending on the given migrant group and setting in which the study is conducted. In the UK, for example, psychosis risk ranges from slight increases (of 1.5 or less) for white migrants, to 2-4 times greater risk for people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin, and up to 10 times higher rates amongst black Caribbean and African groups. Elsewhere, elevated risk also follows historical migration flows, such as amongst the Surinamese and Moroccan populations in the Netherlands, or East African migrants to Sweden. Emerging research from countries which have experienced unprecedented contemporary immigration pressures5 also shows that incidence rates are elevated amongst migrant groups.

World Psychiatry 16:2 – June 2017 119-120

It is not time to debate. It is time to act. Get your life as non dependant on the authorities who want to micromanage you as possible. Do not trust your tenure or professional status.

Be prepared to fight for the truth. Our nations are still with much good, and it is worth saving.