The Christian Nationalist movement is growing rapidly in Evangelicalism with the success of multiple books by it’s proponents and a cottage industry for its adversaries. Andrew Isker builds on his previous book, cowritten by Andrew Torba, and further focuses on practical applications for fighting the dystopian world around us. Andrew Isker’s The Boniface Option is accurately subtitled “a strategy for Christian Counter-Offensive in a Post-Christian Nation.”
Isker’s format is a systematic breakdown of specific issues that deconstruct humanity and provides specific solutions to these articulated issues. His first chapter “Disenchantment with the Modern World” is a strong opening salvo against the dystopian world in which we live. In it, Isker refers to modern systems as Trashworld, a fake and gay reality. After which he takes aim at five specific issues: emasculated economy; male loneliness, corruption of food; feminism; and stupidity amidst education.
Part 1 of Boniface Option, is parallel to part 2 in structure and issues, as each of its 6 chapters is specific its corresponding chapter in part 1. The opening statement in part 2 is a call to proper worship, which is perhaps the part in the book that leaves the reader hanging the most, as the chapter ends before getting into the nitty gritty of what that entails.
Isker argues that prosperity gave rise to the emasculated economy tying consumerism and the desire for more stuff with the rise of women in the workplace which he argues corrupted the home. Interestingly enough, ISker calls on the boomer generation to look after the financial welfare of their children and grandchildren rather than spending their children’s inheritance on vacations and depreciating assets. Isker want men to pursue being the held of a single income household forgoing the pursuit of more stuff.
On the atomized man, Isker argues that the 2nd Amendment is a LARP and cope because men in 2023 lack the social cohesion to actually oppose a government. The atomized man is necessary for Trashworld to exist because weakened and isolated men are unable to band together to oppose dystopian reality. Isker advocates using family and friends as the starting point for rectifying loneliness and a lack of undergirding social fabric.
Andrew Isker attacks seed oils and manufactured food, in perhaps the shortest chapter in the book. In response, Isker convicts the reader about their own obesity and sees building physical strength as the solution to fighting Trashworld, perhaps setting off an entire debate in Evangelicalism about seeking strength and beauty.
Against feminism, Isker offers a standard critique, ultimately claiming that feminism began way earlier than we think. His solution, “A New Eve” advocates women teaching younger women and a focus on birthing large families.
Perhaps the strongest chapter outlining issues was that on education. Isker point out how Harvard graduates could not even pass the entrance exam from over one hundred years ago. In response, Isker posits a classical approach to education with a heavy emphasis on Greco-Roman reading.
Overall, Andrew Isker is far more articulate than he appears. A book against Trashworld and Bugmen contains a grander vocabulary and higher reading level than expected. These contrasting attributes make for a quick and enjoyable read ans well as a conviction for being a Christian Nationalist at the individual level.
