The whetstone is a rock of offense.

Readership: Men
Theme: Problems with the Red Pill / Infighting
Author’s Note: Inspired by a discussion of this topic under a previous post.
Length: 1,000 words
Reading Time: 6 minutes

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Jesus in Matthew 10:34 (ESV)

Intro

Via the internet, the Manosphere has enabled men from all walks of life to share their experiences, opinions, viewpoints, and words of encouragement. A multitude of perspectives allows a philosophical mosh pit of men to compare notes on how they have tried certain things, some failing some working.

However, this panoply of personalities and purposes leads to wildly variant sectarianism — one of the main downsides of the Manosphere.  It is this sectarianism that has made the Manosphere Enemy Numero Uno of the Gubmint and showciety, and it is also this sectarianism that has splintered the Manosphere into many branches and remnants.

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In the interest of brevity, this essay is not intended to offer an exhaustive coverage of all the conflict that has surrounded The Red Pill, but only to introduce the topic of Infighting and to provide enough of a snapshot to obtain some takeaways which I’ll go over in future posts.

Sectarianism in Society

The epic rise of The Red Pill ca. 2008 introduced a huge socio-ideological schism that upended Western society and the SMP.  Ego investments in Blue Pill social conditioning, the overweening pressure to be Politically Correct, and various moral and religious convictions made Red Pill truths difficult to accept or even consider.

This schism could be summarized as an ontological question of whether the Red Pill is an Ideology or a Praxeology (or Heuristic)?  And believe it or not, this debate continues to be ongoing, largely fueled by the objections of churchians, civilizationists, moralizers, and religiosas, as well as the condemnation of feminists, the government, and society at large.  These groups insist that The Red Pill is a m!s0gyn!stic p@tr!@rch@l ideology while Red Pill adherents plainly state that it is simply an observation of the truths about human nature.

Not long ago, Rollo wrote an excellent breakdown of this societal schism.  So I’ll refer the reader to The Godfather for the details on this topic.

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Sectarianism in the Secular Manosphere

Back in 2013, before the rise of MGTOW, fellow blogger Jim argued that there was no schism in the Manosphere.

“It is not schism, it is disagreement in the search for truth.

If you worry about schism, you are trying to build consensus.  Consensus is the opposite of truth, it is the madness of crowds.  Consensus is truth by agreement.  The Dark Enlightenment truth by reality.”

Jim’s Blog: The total absence of a manosphere schism (2013/8/20)

Good point. Consensus, especially a forced or orchestrated consensus, may indeed pose a roadblock to one’s personal discovery of the truth.  However, the lack of consensus invariably leads to schism, by definition.  Apparently, Jim could not have foreseen the schisms that were to come.  Since then, there has been The Great Persecution of 2014 which gave birth to MGTOW, The Great Persecution of 2018 which nearly wiped out the Secular Manosphere, and The Great Schism of 2020, in which the Christian Manosphere seceded from what was left of the Secular Manosphere.  And the persecutions, schisms, and sectarianism continue on today.

I’ve written about schisms and sectarianism in the Manosphere many times before, so here I’ll refer the reader to this list of posts.

img-1783680693-6a50ceb5a14f75.36404055.jpgWhat is different in this photograph, compared to the photo of the 21 Convention above?

Sectarianism in the Christian Manosphere

The Christian Manosphere is rife with sectarianism on steroids.  When you have a group of people from different faith traditions trying to cross the ecumenical divide to solve a problem in the gender spar, this inevitably leads to all kinds of differing opinions about hot-button issues both in the church and between denominations, such as…

  • Is Game Christian?
  • Is The Red Pill Biblical?
  • What is the definition of ‘marriage’?
  • Complementarianism vs. Patriarchy?
  • Is polygyny Biblical / Christian / licit / permissible?
  • What is the ethical / moral context for sexual intercourse?
  • What does ‘submission’ mean and what does it look like in practice?
  • What is the Biblical / practical / proper extent of ecclesiastical authority?
  • Should cohabitation, common law marriage, concubinage, or prostitution be permitted?
  • Which sins are admissible / forgivable / tolerable and which ones are not (1 John 5:16-17)?
  • Where is the balance between Sola Ecclesia and Sola Scriptura, either as an Apostolic authority, or in the practical applications thereof in the life of a believer?

Many of these debates hinge on…

  • Deciding which sect or set of Christian sub-beliefs has threaded the needle of biblical interpretation exactly right.
  • Whether the proponents can unravel doctrinal presuppositions without fraying the ends of the threads in the process — something akin to “straining out a gnat” (Matthew 23:24).
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Amid all these contentions, eventually someone will ask, “Who are the ‘real’ Christians?”  Then comes the accusation, “You are not a real Christian.”  Then everything grinds to a halt and nothing is accomplished.

“For I lacketh the character necessary to tolerate any contention; therefore, to protect mine ego, it is imperative that thou shalt fully agree with MY interpretations of scripture, lest I be forced to summarily dismiss thine argument by declaring thee to be a damned heretic! Further, thou must agree with me that this is the most loving and proper thing to do.”

The problem here is that the Christian Manosphere needs a shameless Devil’s advocate (e.g. Roissy, Rollo, et al.) to keep the convo rolling, but these voices are quickly dismissed — for being a Devil’s advocate. It is ironic and self-defeating that in an age when bad boys are celebrated, no Christian man wants to play the part of a bad boy.

News Flash: Being a Christian is rebellion against the World. Being a moral chap is for the benefit of family, friends, and one’s self (where applicable).

Schisms and sectarianism in the Christian Manosphere have been covered before, so here I’ll leave a list of posts.*

* Frame Adjust: These posts are about the nature and the occurrence of schisms, NOT about the hot-button issues that instigated the schisms.

img-1783680860-6a50cf5c6837a4.99771192.pngImage Source: Right Response Ministries (Pastor Joel Webbon): Biblical Patriarchy: How Complementarianism Falls Short Of Scripture (2021/12/15)

Fin

We are wont to believe that anyone who is not for us is against us, but Jesus assumed His dominion in saying…

40 For the one who is not against us is for us.

Jesus in Mark 9:40 (NASB)

Also Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 1 Corinthians 3; James 2:1-13.

Here, readers are invited to speculate about the major takeaways before I address them in future posts.  If there are specific conflicts that readers believe may be pivotal, please write a detailed eulogy below.

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