Bonus Episode: The Toxic War on Masculinity with Nancy Pearcey

Summary

What’s wrong with masculinity? In this bonus episode of Refining Rhetoric, Robert interviews critically acclaimed author and speaker Nancy Pearcey about her new book The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes. Nancy is the author of several bestselling books, including Love Thy Body, The Soul of Science, Saving Leonardo, Finding Truth, and Total Truth. She is also a professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University and has been hailed in The Economist as “America’s pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual.” In this crucially important conversation, Nancy shares the research behind The Toxic War on Masculinity, examining the history of why modern culture is so hostile toward men, the Darwinian and Christian takes on masculinity, astonishing evidence that supports Christian evangelical men as the least likely to divorce or commit abuse, how the war on masculinity is affecting our culture at a large scale, and what men can practically do to stay involved with their families. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

Quote

“When I told [my students] I was writing a book on masculinity, one of my male students shot back, ‘What masculinity? It’s been beaten out of us.’”

Dr. Nancy Pearcey

Topics

• Intro to Nancy Pearcey [0:40]
• Nancy’s testimony: from agnostic to Christian [1:31]
• Nancy’s definition of “truth” [7:54]
• Why Nancy wrote The Toxic War on Masculinity; understandingwhy our culture is so hostile toward men [8:54]
• How did the idea of “toxic masculinity” come onto the scene? The differences between committed Christians and nominal Christians [14:45]
• What it means to be a “nominal Christian” [17:07]
• The history behind our culture’s negative perception of masculinity [17:50]
• How men can get involved more with their families [20:13]
• Why Nancy considers The Toxic War on Masculinity her most controversial book; the “Good Man” vs. “Real Man” archetypes [23:36]
• Why is a woman writing this book? [27:30]
• Does evangelicalism transform men into controlling patriarchs in foreign countries? [29:27]
• How Christian men can steer clear of the secular script for masculinity, which originated in Darwinism [32:57]
• How does the war on masculinity affect culture? Has masculinity been “beaten out of us”? [37:32]
• Farewell to Nancy [42:21]
• Outro [43:49]

Mentions

• The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes by Nancy Pearcey | Amazon
• Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality by Nancy Pearcey | Amazon
• The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy by Nancy Pearcey | Classical Conversations Books
• Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on the Mind, Morals, and Meaning by Nancy Pearcey | Classical Conversations Books
• Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes by Nancy Pearcey | Amazon
• Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey | Classical Conversations Books
• Francis Schaeffer | Wikipedia
• L’Abri Fellowship International
• How Should We Then Live? (DVD Set) | Classical Conversations Books
• Challenge I | Classical Conversations
• “Why can’t we hate men?” | Washington Post
• “HuffPost Editor Says New Year’s Resolution is to ‘Kill all Men’” | Inc.
• “James Cameron, ‘Avatar’ Director, Calls Testosterone A ‘Toxin,’ Here’s The Response” | Forbes
• About the Director: Brad Wilcox | The National Marriage Project
• Tarzan | Wikipedia
• Naturalism (literature) | Wikipedia
• Jack London | Wikipedia
• Prison Fellowship
• NancyPearcey.com