Oh look, men playing the victim. YAWN. I am all for men finding their own way of empowering themselves, and yet somehow we always end up with nonsense like a Stronger Men’s Conference. Couldn’t even think of a better name for it? Alpha Dogs Unite was right there.
Sometimes you watch videos and think that it is just a parody of The Righteous Gemstones, but no, that is not the case. The Stronger Men’s Conference seemingly mixes religion with very manly activities like monster truck racing and boxing all shot like a WWE ad. If you go to the website for the convention and look at the speakers and then type “controversy” after their names, you’ll find all the information you need.
But a trailer from the convention, which happened earlier in April, really shows the small mindedness that is on display. I suppose in the grand scheme of boys being boys, a Christian conference where they do “manly” things on paper doesn’t look that bad, but then you watch this video and it is a big ol’ OH NO.
The simple concept of manliness is, often, hilarious to me. Maybe it is my hopeless romantic heart but the “men” who seem the strongest to me have always been those who are more in touch with their emotions and are willing to open up and do things that are maybe not deemed the most “masculine.” This convention is the complete opposite of that.
Hosted by Brandon Lindell and David Lindell, the conference ended and was instantly dealing with controversies. Pastor Mark Driscoll reportedly decided to perform a strip routine to demonstrate the “Jezebel spirit” trying to prey on men. Okay dude! That then had all the religious men grasping their pearls, and the rest is history.
Men can have safe spaces, I guess
I often see things like the Strong Men’s Conference and think about how if a woman were to do something like this that was exclusionary, we would have the same response that happened during the all women’s screenings of Wonder Woman—just anger and resentment at being excluded. It doesn’t say exclusively anywhere that women can’t attend the Stronger Men’s Conference, but the name alone heavily implies who it is for.
What I don’t get about the entire setup is just what they’re even selling. A message from god to be a better husband that includes sword swallowers and men fighting with each other? Do you guys think that god watches UFC fights?! It screams “little men” in every instance. Just guys who refuse to actually go to therapy and instead think that singing about how our god is a righteous god while guns probably shoot off somewhere is somehow more healing than working through their insecurity issues.
I don’t know why anyone would want to attend the Stronger Men’s Conference but if I had to watch that absolutely unhinged trailer from the weekend, so did you! Why were there monster trucks?! Are you guys 5????
(featured image: NBC)
