Welcome back gents! It’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here, back from my not-so-long hiatus to bring you some more advice on how to be true gentlemen! Unfortunately, since I’m currently swamped with classes and projects at San Francisco State, I’ll have to cut back to one post a week, at least until our new admin starts (more info on that to come). Anyways, onto the topic of today’s post, which hopefully I won’t get shot over!

A disclaimer; while I myself have a Catholic background and upbringing, which will obviously influence just about everything in this post, it is not meant to push any kind of Catholic or Christian agenda. It is only my intent to share my life experiences and show how the teachings and messages of the Catholic faith could possibly help other young, up-and-coming gentlemen. If you hold any other religious or spiritual beliefs, or are even an atheist, that’s fine. I am in no way trying to convert you, condemn you, or pass judgement on you. You are entitled to believe in whatever you want to believe.

So with that out of the way, let’s get on to what the Catholic faith can teach you young gents!

1. Basic Moral Values

I feel like this should be fairly common knowledge. The basis for most modern western law can be traced back the the Bible. Specifically the book of Exodus and the Ten Commandments. While it is true that some of modern western law has had its influence from some places other than the Ten Commandments, it’s no doubt that those Commandments had the strongest influence. For instance, in just about every developed western nation, most forms of murder are illegal. This comes directly from the Sixth Commandment, “You shall not murder.” Most forms of robbery and theft are illegal too, branching from the Eighth Commandment, “You shall not steal.” And while not not being explicitly enforced by the law, most of the other Ten Commandments are still very pervasive throughout western ideals and morality. In many western societies, adultery is usually frowned upon taken directly from the Seventh Commandment “You shall not commit adultery.” The same goes for feelings of jealousy. Jealousy has been shown constantly to affect people in negative way, and the idea that you shouldn’t feel jealous comes straight from the Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet.” I could keep going, but I think I’ve made my point. Whether or not you believe in God, follow the Bible, or follow the teachings of Jesus, it’s almost impossible to deny that the most basic laws and moralities that you can’t live without branched at least in part from Christian teachings, which how I largely learned about basic moral code. Without the Ten Commandments, I don’t think I could’ve made it very far in life not knowing what’s ethical and what isn’t. And while much of modern law is based on the Ten Commandments and I strive every day to abide by the laws of my nation, the Commandments have shown me how important obeying the law and having upstanding morals actually is.

2. Traditional Family Values

Call me an old soul, but as a person raised on traditional family values, with two biological parents who, to this day, are still married and living under the same roof, I believe in those same family values and that said values should be preserved. It is almost impossible to deny the benefits of families, whether you’re growing up in one or are starting one of your own. Families are the building blocks of society. Children who grow up in traditional families (having been raised by two biological parents) are far less likely to drop out of school, exhibit behavioral disorders, or live in poverty.  And if there’s one thing that the Bible and/or general Catholic teaching defends in spades, it’s the traditional family! One of the best examples is this: which says “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). With this passage in mind, even if you take out the faith aspect of it, this reflects the majority of people’s ideas about fostering a family. If you saw a parent, mother or father, ignore their child and only provide for themselves, what would you think of them? You would most likely see them as a horrible, selfish person. Again, whether or not you believe in God or follow the Bible, the idea of the traditional family is a cornerstone of our entire civilization, it just so happens that I was taught such a thing through Catholic teachings. With the help of the church and my parents, who are both also Catholic, I was able to learn how integral families are to the building of societies and civilization, and why it’s important to uphold traditional family values.

3. Patience and tolerance

Now, when a lot of people think or Catholicism or Christianity, they think of possibly the most intolerant group of people in modern society. And while yes, there are certains sects of Christianity that are objectively intolerant, growing up with Catholic teachings and on Catholic values seems to have taught me the exact opposite. This passage essentially sums it up:

“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.  One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.  Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:1-4).

This seems to pretty strongly advocate for tolerance, doesn’t it? It’s literally saying not to judge another person simply because they have different beliefs than you. It almost serves as a preamble to Pope Francis’ controversial statement about gay people in the church, “Who am I to judge?” But it doesn’t stop there. There’s also this: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains” (James 5:7).  Again, even if you take the God aspect of it, the message is still fairly clear; those who are patient will be rewarded. While a lot of people can learn patience and tolerance at school or through common sense, which I did to a certain extent, it was the church, my youth ministers, and other ministers at my parish that have taught me not to judge others, and that being patient and working hard will reap the best benefits.

So there it is! Those are three things that I learned through my Catholic upbringing. While I’m not denying that you can learn these things through normal society and common sense, the church was simply the vessel that allowed me to learn such things. So, no matter what your beliefs, I encourage you to simply keep an open mind. Even if you don’t believe in God, the Bible, or anything in between, there are still some good things that the Bible and the church teach even if you take out the faith aspect of those teachings. At any rate, thank you for reading today’s post, it is good to be back! Be sure to share the post with your friends, follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook and Instagram, and also send an e-mail to younggentlemansguide@gmail.com to send us some feedback or suggestions for future posts! And with that in mind, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

Afternoon gents, it’s Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide here! So, I recently watched a video from a young woman on YouTube known as Roaming Millennial about how modern feminism is ruining the importance of marriage and families in today’s society. I’ll link to the video right here https://youtu.be/tZ-eR5IuZ7w

Now, while I myself have my own opinions on the modern feminist movement, I completely agree with what Roaming Millennial says in her video. I even share in her mentality in the sense that, ever since I was a kid, I have wanted to be a husband and a father, and that’s what the majority of my plans revolve around. While not necessarily a response to the video, I would like to throw my hat into the ring, and give you gents a few reasons why marriage is possibly more important now than ever before. There are a number of benefits that come from marriage, which can range from legal and financial to emotional and psychological benefits. With this in mind, let’s jump into it! (Not intending to steal a quote from Philip DeFranco)

First, let’s start with the legal and financial benefits. According to many statistics, married couples make an average of 10%-40% more money than their unmarried peers. Not only that, but it has also been shown that it is easier for two people to provide for themselves on a combined income than it is for a single person to do so on a single income. From a legal standpoint, there are even more benefits. Being someone’s spouse allows you to visit your spouse in the emergency room or urgent care even after legal visiting hours (this also applies to the delivery room later down the line), you can more easily divide business and estate assets among your family, and you or your spouse can claim benefits from each other from things like insurance claims, social security, and the like. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, there is also a wealth of emotional, psychological, and social benefits that can come out of the knot.

First and foremost, marriage ultimately leads to a longer lifespan. Multiple studies have shown that married couples live an average of ten (10) years longer than their unmarried counterparts. While it is also shown that married people also get gray hair earlier, to me, that sounds like a pretty fair trade. Moving on, marriage also leads to better general mental health. Married men are significantly less likely to commit suicide, married couples have lower levels of depression, and married men drink less than single men, which obviously lowers their chances to develop alcoholism later in life. Married couples are also less likely to experience domestic abuse and violence. and while some of you may be asking why “cohabiting” isn’t just as viable, cohabiting couples just simply don’t have that same level of commitment. As opposed to married couples, cohabiting, unmarried couples are more likely to experience infidelity, are more likely to contract STDs, and are less likely to keep tabs on each other. While it’s obviously not very healthy to keep tabs on your spouse every waking moment of every day, it is still a good idea to keep up with your significant other’s general well-being. Did they go to the dentist? Did they finish what they had to for work? Did they take their medication? Did they go shopping? These are all very important questions that married couples in general put more emphasis on. So despite all these benefits, why is it that the rate of marriage has been steadily decreasing over the past few decades, and why are significantly fewer people having kids today? Most likely the biggest culprit is modern feminism.

While I clearly cannot speak for any modern feminist, it’s pretty clear that a majority of them nowadays are anti-marriage and anti-family. Back in the 1950s or 60s, hearing a woman, or anyone, say that they’d like to get married and start a family would raise literally no questions whatsoever. But in today’s society, the overall idea of marriage is seen as a glorified form of misogyny and slavery in the eyes of most modern feminists. Any woman today who shows even the slightest interest in being a wife or a mother is seen as, disempowered, who doesn’t even deserve the right to be called a woman. And just for the record, it’s my belief that any woman who says that being a mother isn’t in any way empowering has clearly never been a mother themselves. Now don’t misunderstand me, I know that marriage isn’t for everybody. And I’m also not saying that people should be forced to get married right out of high school if they don’t want to and are not ready (which does happen quite a lot all over the world, but that’s a completely different can of worms). However, the benefits that can come out of marriage and the importance of the familial unit is being dangerously undermined in today’s society, thanks to modern feminists. In a world where it is essentially our job to teach the next generation and prepare them for the future, modern feminists seem to be fighting the idea of there being a next generation just to serve their own entitlement.

So there it is! Hopefully this post has at least given you a different viewpoint on the prospect of marriage, and that you at least learned something. An to any of you gents reading this who are married or plan on getting married, my congratulations to you, and I hope that you and your wives have a long and happy life together. In any case, thank you so much for reading today’s post from The Young Gentleman’s guide, and nothing would make me happier than if you shared this post with a friend, followed the blog, and checked out The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!