Leah Mickens on the "Benedict option" (countercultural, combative Christian withdrawal from mainstream society) and how this option (curiously) seems to appeal primarily to straight white men — so that it cannot be adequately evaluated without noticing its gendered and racialized roots:
Conservative white Christians have a pathological need to be in control, and despite claims of oppression by people like [Damon] Linker and [Rod] Dreher, they control most of red America and will for the foreseeable future. Even as our country "browns," I suspect that most white conservatives in the South will simply find a way to set up a de jure apartheid system so they can keep calling the shots. . . .
The problem the religious right is facing is that the number of conservative white Christians (Protestants and Catholics alike) is starting to decline and they have done a poor to non-existent job of building coalitions with conservatives in other communities because of their not-so blatant racism and Christian privilege. Whatever they might think about gay marriage or abortion, black, Hispanic, and Asian Christians aren’t going to link up with white religious rightists who look down on them because of their skin color or method of doing church.
Note that Leah's posting does not mention sexual orientation. I've added that point.
