Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'

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尼古拉前执事
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Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'

Post by 尼古拉前执事 »

This is just a little but from the full article at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c30q5l8d4lro

Father Moses McPherson's congregation has tripled in size in 18 months, and he has a big following online
"A lot of people ask me: 'Father Moses, how can I increase my manliness to absurd levels?'"

In a YouTube video, a priest is championing a form of virile, unapologetic masculinity.

Skinny jeans, crossing your legs, using an iron, shaping your eyebrows, and even eating soup are among the things he derides as too feminine.

There are other videos of Father Moses McPherson - a powerfully-built father of five - weightlifting to the sound of heavy metal.

He was raised a Protestant and once worked as a roofer, but now serves as a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) in Georgetown, Texas, an offshoot of the mother church in Moscow.

ROCOR, a global network with headquarters in New York, has recently been expanding across parts of the US - mainly as a result of people converting from other faiths.

In the last six months, Father Moses has prepared 75 new followers for baptism in his church of the Mother of God, just north of Austin.

"When my wife and I converted 20 years ago we used to call Orthodoxy the best-kept secret, because people just didn't know what it was," he says.

"But in the past year-and-a-half our congregation has tripled in size."

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Barbara
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Re: Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'

Post by Barbara »

Heavy metal "music" ? I am not sure about this guy.
But some of that makes sense. Jeans in general look TERRIBLE.
Nice slacks would be better for men, making them look more "together", not sloppy like jeans=wearers appear - in my opinion.

But what's wrong with soup ?! Maybe too messy - needs a straw ?

I've never heard of him ! Where is his large online following ? I can't read the rest of the article til Tuesday.

Thank you for pointing this out - that's GREAT that the word is spreading about Russian Orthodoxy in general ! That's a big plus

Some of the crowds will for sure find their way to True Orthodoxy.
We need BETTER PR, though. Efforts are excellent but need to maybe challenge some of the Orthodox Ethos people directly at their social media sites with logical arguments against what they are saying ?

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Barbara
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Re: Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'

Post by Barbara »

Just to clarify about the straw, there was a FoxNews clip a few days ago featuring a congressman stating that he thought using a straw was not for him - but only for the women in his home. That seems to imply that employing a straw is too feminine for masculine men !

I don't see that correlation myself, but it brings up the point that there must be widely differing beliefs about what constitutes masculine versus feminine behavior.

eish
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Re: Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'

Post by eish »

There is a dearth of masculinity. Young men have been hammered into the ground by the system. On top of this they are being poisoned by endocrine disruptors which (combined with psychological factors) have decimated testosterone levels in recent decades. Many of them are looking for role models and this has created a cottage industry of weirdos peddling weird advice.

P.S. heavy metal CAN be good. It generally isn't. It isn't an edifying style of music and the content is generally garbage. However, it like other art forms can be used to spread ideas and sentiments for the overall good of society. I have respect for Sabaton who mostly sing about the heroes of old. Masculine virtue: courage, patriotism, self sacrifice. The energetic nature of metal is well suited to that message. They are not Orthodox, so sometimes the soldiers they praise were opposed to us. We can still (usually) acknowledge their bravery. Some of their best work below. They teach a bit of history to their audience:

https://www.sabaton.net/historical-fact ... -dead-men/
https://www.sabaton.net/historical-fact ... -italians/
https://www.sabaton.net/historical-fact ... of-vienna/
https://www.sabaton.net/historical-fact ... on-begins/

Agios_Irineos
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Re: Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'

Post by Agios_Irineos »

"Father Moses" is located about 15 miles from us. He washed out of the OCA, made his way to ROCOR, and got dropped into a parish that had just purchased a church building (and now will be purchasing a mansion to turn into a church campus). Between Youtube, social media and cartoonish theater, he's found a following and people like the article describes.

He positively despises TOC/GOC and is in no way representative of "old ROCOR."

Not to give any publicity to ROCOR hierarchs, but Bp. Irinei spoke pretty strongly against the mentality that article portrayed.

https://orthodox-europe.org/content/rem ... -may-2025/

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Barbara
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Re: Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'

Post by Barbara »

Oh, Thank you, Abp Irineos, for providing that key background. That's amazing that he is only 15 miles from you.

I felt immediately that "Father Moses" was half-phony. Or maybe 3/4 phony ! Definitely no authentic representative for Rocor-MP.

Thank you for explaining that he came from the OCA [in Texas, was it ?] but - what : Fr Moses was kicked out perhaps ? Or eased out ? Why ?

Would he have been under Bishop Gerasim, OCA Vicar Bishop of the South ? I'm curious to hear more about all this.

I wish BBC had found a MUCH better representative for conservative World Orthodoxy than that guy, who DID outright repel me.

I'll look at that link at the library. Thanks !

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Re: Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'

Post by Agios_Irineos »

My understanding is that he was in California and that he fell out of favor with Abp. Benjamin.

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