Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

PaterFamilias Today

Home
Evangelical
Manhood at First Things and Touchstone

Manhood at First Things and Touchstone

Last updated on: May 18, 2018 at 9:42 am by C. R. Wiley

Manhood at First Things and Touchstone 2018-05-18T09:42:24-04:00 C. R. Wiley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here are some sightings of yours truly at First Things and at Touchstone–a couple of my favorite journals.

I was honored to be asked to write the following piece for First Things by the editors there–Mark Bauerlein and Rusty Reno. I’ve been even happier with the reception, which has been favorable. As a result I’ve been asked to appear on the radio in both Pittsburgh, PA and Louisville, KY–the ancestral digs of both sides of my family, the Ohio River Valley.

Here’s the opening to my essay at First Things. (You can begin the read here, and if you’d like, you can finish it at First Things online. Happily the entire essay is accessible there–no paywall).

I met men for the first time when I was eleven years old. My father left me with them. He was an academic. I don’t know much about what he did for the University at Buffalo, and later Washington University in St. Louis. When he was at work, he wasn’t with us. But he wasn’t around much when he wasn’t working. His spare time was largely given to the Church of Scientology. I remember the Org since I was often reluctant baggage carted off there (“Org” being the moniker for a local organization of Scientologists—at least in those days). Since Scientologists didn’t have much use for kids, there wasn’t much for kids to do. Mostly we waited for our parents to finish up whatever they were doing. There was a lot of clay to play with (that’s another story). But we spent most of our time sitting beneath the enormous photographs of the plumpy and unappealing L. Ron Hubbard.

Scientology requires total dedication while paradoxically encouraging complete self-absorption. On top of that, it is very expensive, so there wasn’t much money to spend on the family after bills were paid. And apparently the bills went unpaid, since my father went bankrupt. After that, he drove my mother, my sister, and me in his Opel Kadett to western Pennsylvania, to the town where I had been born. And there he deposited us and drove away for good. It was January 1974.

Western Pennsylvania was another world. Men did things there that men do, often right in front of people. It wasn’t just for show, like bodybuilders flexing biceps. They pulled engines and cleaned deer because those things needed doing. It was a world of functional manhood. (For the rest of the essay, follow this link: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/06/manual-manhood)

I’m also pleased to report that you can now register for Touchstone’s annual conference, Patriarchy: Fatherhood and the Restoration of Culture. I’m honored to be included as a speaker alongside a distinguished list of speakers: Rachel Fulton Brown, J. Budziszewski, Allan C. Carlson, Anthony Esolen, Steven Faulkner, Robert P. George, S. M. Hutchens, Hans Jacobse, Patrick McCaskey, Nancy Pearcey, Leon J. Podles, Patrick Henry Reardon, Glenn Stanton, C. R. Wiley

The dates for the conference are October 11-13, and the location is Trinity International University. Follow this link to register and to learn more: http://www.touchstonemag.com/patriarchy/

Author and Speaking Appearances

Previous Post

May 8, 2018

How Big Is Too Big?

Next Post

June 13, 2018 Is This Evangelicalism's Red-Pill Moment?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advising a Daughter Aristotle Art Atheism Author and Speaking Appearances Beauty Building Working Houses C R Wiley Children Community Creativity Cultural Apologetics Fatherhood Fiction Fidelity in marriage Film Freedom Gravitas H. P. Lovecraft Happiness Household Economy Infant Baptism Inklings Interpreting the Bible Interviews Jack Donovan Liturgy Localism Man of the House Manliness Martial Virtue Medieval Cosmology Metaphysics Mortimus Clay NecronomiCon New Left New Testament Household Codes Nietzsche Nominalism/Realism Politics Poverty Preaching Productive Property Reaching men Science Self-Sufficiency Side Hustles Social Ethics Social Security Spiritual Disciplines Sublime Techno-gnosticism The Pastor's Survival Guide Theology of the Family Tradition Uncategorized Virtue Weird Fiction

Select a Month February 2019 November 2018 October 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What book contains the shortest chapter in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Obadiah Proverbs Psalms Haggai

Books by This Author Books by PaterFamilias Today

See All Titles »

Books by C. R. Wiley

The Purloined Boy (The Weirdling Cycle #1)

C. R. Wiley

Man of the House: A Handbook for Building a Shelter That Will Last in a World That Is Falling Apart

C. R. Wiley