በትላልቅ ተቋማት ሳይሆን፥ በትናንሽ ጣቢያዎች መበታተን፣ የአካባቢ ባህልና አስተያየትን መፍጠር / √ የተሻለ ሕይወት የተሻለ ፖለቲካን ይፈጥራል እንጂ የተሻለ ፖለቲካ የተሻለ ሕይወትን ላይፈጥር ይችላል / በፍቅር የሚመሰረተውን ውስጣዊ ሰርዓት ማሳደስ / ተስፋ አለመቆረጥ፤ ነጻነት፣ እውነትና ክብር ላይ ትኩረት ማድረግ / የክርስቲያናዊ ፍቅር ሰብዓዊነት ለየት ብሎ ማራኪ ይሆናል / የፖሊቲካ ስልጣን ለቤተክርስቲያን ነፍስ ጥቅም የለውም፤ በአነስተኛ ወረዳዎችን ውስጥ የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት እንገንባ

“Orthodox[1] Christians would be better off building thriving subcultures than seeking positions of power… Traditionalists must make their case not by planting themselves at the centre of society, as large institutions, but by dispersing themselves to the peripheries as small outposts” (Yuval Levin, editor at National Affairs)…

“A better system will not automatically ensure a better life. In fact the opposite is true: only by creating a better life can a better system be developed”. (Vaclav Havel, Czech political prisoner and former President of Czech Republic, The Power of the Powerless) The answer then is to create and support parallel structures in which the truth can be lived in community…

As the West declines into spiritual acedia, there will be more and more people who are seeking something real, something meaningful, and yes, something wholesome. It is our mandate as Christians to offer it to them…

The left and the right just disagree over where to draw the lines. Neither party’s program is fully consistent with Christian truth. By contrast, our politics assume that the disorder in people’s public life derive from disorder within people’s soul. Our politics start with the proposition that the most important political work of our time is the restoration of inner order, harmonizing with the will of God… Above all, this means being ordered toward love…

Those engaged in building these structures should not be discouraged by failures in the short run. These are bound to happen. Rather, they must keep their balance and stay focused on, in Havel’s words, “the everyday, thankless, and never ending struggle of human beings to live more freely, truthfully, and in quiet dignity”…

The sheer humanity of Christian compassion, and the image of human dignity it honors, will be an extraordinary attractive alternative – not unlike the evangelical witness of the early church amid the declining paganism of an exhausted Roman Empire…

We faithful orthodox Christians didn’t ask for internal exile from a country we thought was our own, but that’s where we find ourselves. We are a minority now, so let’s be a creative one, offering warm, living, light-filled alternatives to a world growing cold, dead and dark… Losing political power might just be the thing that saves the church’s soul. Ceasing to believe that the fate of the American Empire is in our hands frees us to put them to work for the Kingdom of God in our own little shires.

(From ROD DREHER, Benedict Option, Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, pp. 78-99)

[1] ‘Orthodox Christians’ is here intended in the general meaning of ‘faithful’ Christians.