Rod Dreher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rod Dreher (born February 14, 1967) is an American writer and editor. He is a conservative editorial writer and a columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He also contributes to The American Conservative and National Review. He writes a blog called "Crunchy Con" at beliefnet.com.[1]
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Life
Rod Dreher holds a B.A. in journalism from Louisiana State University. Raised a Methodist, he later converted to Roman Catholicism in 1993. He wrote widely in the Catholic press, but covering the Roman Catholic Church’s child sex abuse scandal, starting in 2002, led him to question his Catholicism,[1] and on October 12, 2006, he announced his conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy.[2] Dreher is married and the father of three children.[1] At the time, Dreher had argued that the scandal was not so much a "pedophile problem", but was instead a "homosexual problem", the priesthood having been infected by large numbers of subversive individuals tied to the lavender Mafia.[3]
Career
Rod Dreher has written about religion, politics, film and culture in National Review and National Review Online, The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, Touchstone, Men’s Health, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He was a film reviewer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and chief film critic for The New York Post. His commentaries have been broadcast on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and he has appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Court TV and other television networks.[1]
In 2002, Dreher wrote an essay in National Review that explored a subcategory of American conservatism he defined as "granola conservatism", whose adherents he described as "crunchy cons". He defined these individuals as traditionalist conservatives who believed in environmental conservation, frugal living, and the preservation of traditional family values. They also express skepticism about aspects of free market capitalism and they are usually religious (typically traditionalist Roman Catholics or conservative Protestants). Four years later, Dreher published a book that expanded upon the themes of this manifesto. This book was Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, Gun-Loving Organic Gardeners, Evangelical Free-Range Farmers, Hip Homeschooling Mamas, Right-Wing Nature Lovers, and Their Diverse Tribe of Countercultural Conservatives Plan to Save America (or At Least the Republican Party).[4]
Dreher is working on another book with a new theme. He has said on his blog that it will center on "the Benedict Option", the idea that those who want to live with traditional morality should separate themselves to some degree from mainstream society and try to live in intentional communities or other subcultures.
References
- ^ a b c d Web page titled "Our Speakers:/Rod Dreher" at the website of the Orthodox Speakers Bureau, retrieved March 18, 2009
- ^ "Orthodoxy and Me"
- ^ The Gay Question: Amid the Catholic Church's current scandals, an unignorable issue
- ^ "Crunchy Culture: Author Rod Dreher Has Defined A Political Hybrid: The All-Natural, Whole-Grain Conservative", by Hank Stuever. The Washington Post, May 3, 2006
External links
Reviews
- Moosewood Republicans New York Times Book Review
- God, Guts, and Granola A critical review of Dreher's "Crunchy Cons" by Washington Times' editor R.S. McCain.
- Huh? Going After the Crunchies A critical review of "Crunchy Cons" by Jonah Goldberg of National Review.
- Hold the Granola A critical review of "Crunchy Cons" by Gilbert Meilaender in First Things.
- Has neoconservatism passed its 'Best-Before' date? By Russ Kuykendall[dead link] A review of "Crunchy Cons".
Interviews
- Birkenstocked Burkeans, National Review Online Commentary, July 12, 2002
- What Is a Crunchy Conservative? National Public Radio Commentary
- Interview on Fox News Radio
- Crunchy Cons Rising: An Interview with Rod Dreher
