In defence of masculine strength
John Eldredge

‘See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.’
Revelation 5:5

Why would we put a man in a cage? For the same reason we put a lion there. For the same reason we put God there: he’s dangerous. To paraphrase Sayers, we’ve also pared the claws of the Lion of Judah. A man is a dangerous thing. Women don’t start wars. Violent crimes aren’t for the most part committed by women. Our prisons aren’t filled with women. Obviously, something has gone wrong in the masculine soul, and the way we’ve decided to handle it is to take that dangerous nature away. Our society produces plenty of boys, but very few men. There are two simple reasons: We don’t know how to initiate boys into men; and second, we’re not sure we really want to. We want to socialize them, to be sure, but away from all that is fierce, and wild, and passionate. In other words, away from masculinity and toward something more feminine. The strength so essential to men is also what makes them heroes. If a neighbourhood is safe, it’s because of the strength of men. Slavery was stopped by the strength of men, at a terrible price to them and their families. The Nazis were stopped by men. Apartheid wasn’t defeated by women. Who gave up their seats on the lifeboats leaving the Titanic so that women and children would be saved? And have we forgotten- it was a Man who let himself be nailed to Calvary’s cross.