Effeminacy

Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 10 Nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God. — 1 Corinthians 6:9

For my writings today, I would like to talk about Corinthians 6:9. I am sure we are all aware of what it says and the dangers of the soul relating to the 6th and 9th commandments. The dangers of the flesh and the world war against the soul, locked in a primordial struggle seeking to drag precious souls down to the pits of Gehenna. Any good-standing Catholic with a well-formed conscience is well aware of how steeped our American society is in sexual sin. Both men and women of today’s age know the true struggle it can be to stay chaste in a world that looks upon chastity with shame and degradation.

We are also well aware of how lying and drunkenness are equally as deadly, going hand in hand with the 6th and 9th commandments. The enemy uses both to send souls into a downward spiral of self-pity and worthlessness. There is plenty of modern saintly and theological material on these subjects and how to overcome such temptations. Instead, I would like to speak today about something in this passage that seems to be highly skimmed over and neglected, especially in the modern “church of nice”—effeminacy.

What is Paul referring to when he says "effeminacy"? Is he just relating the topic to homosexuality, a sad disorder that plagued his time as much as it does now? Or does he mean something different that has nothing to do with human sexual desire? Everything mentioned in this rebuke relates to the sins of the flesh. The tongue lies, the hands and eyes steal, the lower faculties commit fornication, and the stomach begs for drunkenness. But what does effeminacy have to do with the flesh?

Women desire to be accepted, and this is not a bad thing at all. In fact, it is something that, in the eyes of God, He has made them for and is quite beautiful to Him. Women are weaker than men and oftentimes gentler. They deal with relationships better and know the details of keeping a house better than any man could. God has created the feminine to reflect aspects of His divinity in a special way, and these things are all good. Rather, effeminacy seeks to twist these very things in men and even sometimes women, making them prioritize the disordered—acceptance, the need to be praised, the need to go along, the need to get by and not cause any trouble.

Many men have these characteristics today, even in the “traditional” side of things. Scroll Instagram or TikTok, and you will see many religious figures and priests making post after post in the name of spreading the Gospel, trying out modernistic humors of the world, eager for likes and entertainment. Is the cassock meant to be accepted in this effeminate way that brings humiliation to the stations of life of the Church and religious? The “look at me and what I am doing” attitude is a drought of real religion that has chafed the West for far too long.

Bishops effeminately skirt Church teaching so as not to offend anyone, fearing they might insult some Christmas-Easter Catholic who, because of offense, might never attend Mass again and instead change their religion to one of the many worldly-pleasing evangelical churches that make them feel good about their religion while blotting out the reality of hell and its existence. Even in the real religion of traditionalism, there are far too few voices willing to brave the chastisements of the world.

Many of our fellow brothers in Christ, whom I do not wish to criticize too harshly, take upon these effeminate characteristics by only attending Mass once a week, sticking their heads into their missals, sacred music texts, and nerding out with whiskey and Lord of the Rings. I often wonder what Clovis, first king of the Franks, and his followers would think of this new “traditional” Church and attitude. Men who had been brutalized and brutalized the world over again, who established their kingdoms of God with unbelievable harshness and unrelenting Christian charity.

These men had stories of St. Agnes, whose feast day it is today, January 20th—who would rather be executed than offend God by having her virginity taken from her. What would they think of this Church that they are faced with today? I would say that many would look at our “traditionalism” and scoff at its effeminacy—the need to get by and be accepted by the world, the need to not stir up any trouble and keep its head down, the need to not be poor, dirty, chased, or brutalized, and the need to not carry its cross.

This Church does have men like this who are busy with the world. Caring for one's family should always take precedence. But even when these men seek to lead inside the Church, they are shot down and put aside, told that they are too harsh and not charitable. Would St. Boniface say the same thing as he chopped down the demon pagan god Donar’s oak tree? Would Pippin the Short as he moved his forces across the Garonne?

Although I have a massive distaste for him, Andrew Tate is right when he says, “There are no white gangsters anymore.” The Church has lost its “gangsters”—its brutal men. Not just men willing to take up the cross and fight the enemies of God, but rather men willing to wage war against the internal: the flesh, the 6th and 9th commandments, and against themselves. Men willing to become saints and achieve heaven for themselves and for those whose lives count upon them to lead—their wives and their children.

There are few men who are willing to not be accepted anymore. Instead, the world’s effeminacy has replaced them. Worst of all, because of this, women have now been shackled to taking the roles of men, not free to practice the elegance of their femininity and reflect divinity. No wonder so many of our Catholic young adults are unmarried. What woman truly wants to be with a man who puts his head down and just does his job, who doesn’t go out and conquer anything, even if that thing is himself at the very least?

If a 13-year-old saint girl had more masculinity than even the traditional men of today, who refuse to forsake the world and take upon themselves the yoke of poverty, the burden of obscurity, and the ridicule and scorn of a Christian who preaches the Gospel, why should modern women even love, listen to, and take care of us? I would even say that, yes, effeminacy is a sin of the flesh—the sin of letting the flesh conquer the self and give in to the ways of the world, even if those things are portrayed as necessary to one's vocation (though they often aren’t, such as modern education, usury, and comfort).

It would be better to see brutal men willing to be converted Christians, standing in church parking lots, training in the ways of violence, spitting their teeth out on the pavement, building their homes out of war and blood, than some of the men we have now just going along with the effeminate world. These men God can use. These are the men who are not lukewarm. These are the men who can become saints. I do not care if one thinks me violent or uncharitable. Sometimes charity is telling someone the truth of the matter.

I know some men who think the same way and act it out. Paul does not rebuke those who are extreme; instead, he rebukes those who are effeminate. It is something he never was, and it is something that I am glad that I am not either.