Disbanded Brothers – Has a ‘Feminised’ Church Alienated Men in the UK?

APPENDIX 4
SOME REFLECTIONS ON MALE SPIRITUALITY
It is regrettable that in this dissertation there is no space to engage with what constitutes or
defines male spirituality. By way of an introduction to this topic, however, I have selected
some interesting quotes relating to spiritual aspects of masculinity:
“It would seem that there are four ‘primary colors,’ so to speak, of the masculine spirit that,
blended together in unique combinations, compose the ingredients of masculinity:
competition, vulnerability, independence, and responsibility.”
Patrick Arnold, Wildmen, Warriors, and Kings (1991, 30)
“The wild man is not easy to explain, although most men can in some way relate to the
concept. The wild man is not savage or violent, but he is spontaneous and intuitive. He is the
source of creative brilliance. He is what happens when we let go of control and trust to
something inside of us to do the right thing.”
Steve Biddulph, Manhood (2004, 256)
“Spirituality today has a feminine mode of expression which leaves many men uninterested
or threatened by the processes. Having networked in many spirituality circles, I am
conscious that 90 percent of participants are women. The rituals, methods and topics reflect
the clientele which utilizes these facilities. There are few deliberate attempts to integrate
men into programming and to articulate their needs or spiritual search.”
Donald Bisson, ‘Men’s Spirituality,’ The Way 38:4 (1998, 321)
“When a contemporary man looks down into his psyche, he may, if conditions are right, find
under the water of his soul, lying in an area no one has visited for a long time, an ancient
hairy man… For generations now, the industrial community has warned young businessmen
to keep away from Iron John, and the Christian church is not too fond of him either.”
Robert Bly, Iron John: Men and Masculinity (1990, 5-6)
“I am convinced that there is a direct psychodynamic connection between the formation of
the melancholy self and the ways in which men are religious… the impulse of moral
rectitude, the impulse of searching and questing, and the impulse that challenges the
seriousness of the other two.”
Donald Capps, Men and their Religion (2002, 27, 102)
“In the struggle to develop a male spirituality for today, two of the emerging trends are to
see, more and more clearly, that men do have an innate hunger for God… and that
spirituality needs to be broken out of isolation and connected to every important aspect of a
man’s life… I believe that accepting one’s masculinity ought to include accepting one’s
inclination to be strong, take responsibility, hone a lucid mind, develop a warmth that mixes
desire and tenderness, and make a virtue of the frequently more limited emotional range
that, compared to women, men seem to exhibit.”
John Carmody, Toward A Male Spirituality (1989, 73, 94-95)
“The silence of Adam is the beginning of every man’s failure, from the rebellion of Cain to the
impatience of Moses, from the weakness of Peter down to my failure yesterday to love my
wife well… Since Adam every man has had a natural inclination to remain silent when he
should speak… Men are uniquely called to remember what God has said and to speak
accordingly, to move into dangerous uncertainty with a confidence and wisdom that comes
from listening to God… Spiritual manhood involves the courage to keep on moving – in the
middle of overwhelming confusion – toward relationships.”
Larry Crabb, The Silence of Adam (1995, 12, 14)
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