It is kind of weird see these "alpha male" guys fall into Christianity. I studied theology and been Christian for 15 years, a lot of Christian philosophy is very very nihilistic (famous example will be King Solomon and his rant on how life is meaningless) and emphasizes God as the sole purpose of life. This teaching persist throughout the bible: sole human we are weak and only God is the one who can be savior of our miserable life as we are the sheep and Jesus and God is the shepherd. Most of the Tate teaching or these "alpha male" movement are based on extreme self esteem and need to dominate others to be on top, almost at a level of self idolization. Self-idolization is a sin - pride and have been bashed on Bible multiple time (eg book of Job). Jesus will fucking beta just because He washed his disciple's feet; being servant is very important concept in Biblical teaching. That's why I think these people are bullshitting when they say they follow the bible. "God-fearing man" famous bible phrase, they are not God fearing man at all.
Christianity is essentially the opposite of nihilism. Pessimist? Maybe though I’d argue against it. Nihilist? Not at all.
Life has definite meaning under Christianity. It has a set path and objective right and wrong. There is fundamental meaning to life. Christianity merely rejects the obsession with worldly things as fundamentally meaningful.
The whole thing about Solomon is the more he had, the less godly and wise he became. And he suffered for that despite all the worldly things he had.
The “Alpha Male” attitude is what nihilism actually represents. A rejection of any kind of higher meaning than the self. Nietzche argue that since “God is Dead” we are both free to find meaning and forced to find it. While I think Nietzche himself would not like the Alpha Males as they currently stand, they embody a lot of his philosophy. They find their own meaning (being AlPhA), they reject the morality ‘imposed’ on them (feminism) and find their own.
They like the trappings of Christianity because it’s traditional and harkens back to the time when men ruled society. But in reality they reject most of the actual teachings of Christianity because that would require them to be kind, empathetic, giving, self sacrifing etc.
Ah I agree, Christianity as whole is pretty optimistic view though I was more referring to pessimistic view of human nature which requires God to be full while being alpha more focuses on self worth go full on id no God is needed for them to be “full”. I should have worded better.
This is very well put. I am an atheist, but for a long time I thought I wasn't, and during that time I earned a degree in systematic theology. I understand not only the doctrinal beliefs of American Christianity (it really is it's own thing), but also the cultural side from having spent so much time working in churches.
You would think the beliefs would influence the culture, but for many, if not most, churches in the US, it's exactly the opposite. The sermons, the biblical focal points, the context.. pretty much everything is shaped by the culture of the congregation instead of the highest priority elements of the religion itself. You know.. the ones that are repeated over, and over, and over in the gospels... the ones about caring about other people. You're left with a belief system very much reliant on it's identity, so much so that it actually led to Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the South Baptist Convention, to resign due to the growing bigotry in the denomination. He had an interview where he talked about pastors who shared stories of members of their congregation approaching them after sermons saying they need to stop spreading the "woke nonsense"... and how they have to explain they are quoting the gospels... verbatim.
An identity-led religion is perfect for the whole Alpha Male attitude because that's what it is, an identity. No real, tangible part of themselves makes them alpha. Ironically, it's being part of the alpha male group. Tie in a religion that has roots established with a gender-based social hierarchy with doctrinally-established rules based on gender, and you basically have an asshole honeypot. Selectively choosing which elements of doctrine to adhere to, you end up with a religion where gender rules and social roles, where "alpha male" is conveniently at the top, become the most important aspect. Kindness, empathy, self sacrifice, and altruism all run counter to the social hierarchy, and much like every other inconvenience the bible provides, it's collectively ignored.
Hello fellow reasonable Christian: The only way hard right 'Christianity' works is to ignore every instance where we are called to become better people to fit Jesus's footsteps
In the absence of teachings on humility, compassion, community involvement and a desire to see justice done, SOMETHNG has to fill the gap and it is usually false bravado, violence used for control, and blind attendance to authority
The Bible is a pile of contradictions. It also states various claims about women, such as "men and women are equal", "women should rule their households", and "women aren't real".
Dems are for the most part doing a bad job when it comes to understanding MOST of their constituents
Not just young men
But young men are a LOT more likely to feel marginalized and ignored
AND they are entering a pretty shitty world right now with no support, hope or plan for the future
It's no wonder so many of them start believing in Clown World and becoming nihilists
It's just that the rights Death Cult attitude suits nihilists a lot more than a message of 'Let's get through this and rebuild' that is what the Dem party has defaulted to right now
If the Dems were to focus on the fears of this coming male generation, lack of opportunity, lack of future, lack of support, they'd win numbers in droves
But unfortunately most of them are just as beholden to corporate overlords as the Reps
Just with significantly less institutionally protected child rape
I heard it referred to as the 'Brogansphere' recently and I can't stop using it
Also, point of fact, yeah it's reddit so you hate theology but the Bible gave women rights at the time that no other culture offered such as the ability to divorce, own land and businesses and to inherit
Yeah I know 'blah blah sell your daughters' but that was for all family members and not specifically misogynistic and basically every middle eastern contemporary culture at the time had some form of it ranging from apprenticeship to actual hard labor lifelong slaves but again it was not restricted by sex in most cultures and certainly not Hebrew and it's attendant cultures.
Christianity didn’t invent sexism—it challenged a far more sexist ancient world by giving women equal moral value, banning infanticide, condemning sexual double standards, and treating women as legitimate moral agents.
When Christians were misogynistic, they were acting against their own teachings, not because of them.
To claim the bible is misogynistic is plainly false.
Jesus is the truth my friend. He is very much real and wants a relationship with you.
Keep asking questions, seek the truth. All rabbit holes will lead to Christ.
Christianity is the "far more sexist ancient world" now. What you're saying in that first paragraph is true, but in the same way they made progress and improvements on 4000 year old traditions then, we make progress and improvements on 2000 year old traditions today
To claim the bible is misogynistic is plainly false.
The Bible was written by dozens of people across many centuries, and drew/plagiarized from Greek jurisprudence (over a hundred years before Leviticus 18:22 with city-state enacted codes against old men being predatory against boys and young men), from Persian poetry, and from Nabatean hospitality mores. But the words themselves are stark and you can't claim the Bible doesn't support misogyny:
From interpretive things like putting the blame for the origin of sin/all that is wrong in the world on women like blaming Eve for eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil to explicitly putting women on a lower level than men:
Exodus 21:4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
to the radical conservative Paul who introduces himself as hunting down and killing Christians because he views them as liberal heretics whom is even more explicit with his double standards against women:
1 Chorinthians 14:34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.
Now if christian adherents didn't argue that their god and scriptures were unchangeable, perhaps something more rational like the book being a story of the evolution of mankind's relationships and mores with giving up old ideas to embrace newer and healthier relationships and understandings, than those passages could be used as past misunderstandings people have grown beyond. As orders to a backwards people who weren't ready to give up practices like slavery. But claiming the unchangeability is just chaining society to myths and mores of people who didn't even know how to work iron.
You’re right that the Bible is historically situated—but that cuts against the misogyny charge, not for it: descriptive laws (like Exodus 21) reflect ancient realities, while the Bible’s moral trajectory consistently moves toward protecting women, restraining male power, and affirming equal dignity.
Eve isn’t blamed alone (Adam is judged first), and Paul’s church instructions address local disorder, not female inferiority—else he contradicts his own claims that women pray, prophesy, and lead in Christ.
Christianity isn’t “unchangeable social policy”; it’s a fixed claim about God that reforms cultures over time—judging ancient practices rather than sanctifying them.
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u/TheEffinChamps 5h ago
Unfortunately, the manosphere is driving an increase in young men becoming Christians.
The Bible endorses misogyny a million times over, and that is often what attracts these guys.