The Benedict Option: Why the religious right is considering an all-out withdrawal from politics

Have you heard of the Benedict Option? If not, you will soon. It's the name of a deeply pessimistic cultural project that's capturing the imaginations of social conservatives as they come to terms with the realization that the hopes and assumptions that animated the religious right over the past 35-odd years have been dashed by the sweeping triumph of the movement for same-sex marriage. From the start, the religious right has been marked by two qualities: optimism and a faith in majoritarianism....