Beers and Bears that Bind
Beer
Last weekend I had the chance to get together with some members of the Academic Agent extended universe to have dinner and drinks. Many of you are already shocked. Much of what I write implies a negation of both Curtis Yarvin, by affirming political action, and a negation of AA, through my unapologetic patriotism, disinterest of elite theory, and a firm commitment to the Orthodox Faith. Yet, I am a social creature, and one of my best friends was at the get together, so I decided to go along, and I had lots of fun. Laughing with people I have had spats with online, up to and including multiple public debates, people I violently disagree with on topics as varying as AI and the Petro Dollar, made me think about the significance of food and beer. Were we simply putting aside our very real differences for the sake of companionship? Or are our expressed views more performative? Signaling to our audience that we are “their guy”, while having fun with our sparring partners behind closed doors?
There is another option, that there might be something liturgical about beer and burgers that mends even the most violent disagreements. To quote from Father Alexander Schmemann,
“This is the reduction of the liturgy to "cultic" categories, its definition as a sacred act of worship, different as such not only from the "profane" area of life, but even from all other activities of the Church itself. But this is not the original meaning of the Greek word leitourgia. It meant an action by which a group of people become something corporately which they had not been as a mere collection of individuals -a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It meant also a function or "ministry" of a man or of a group on behalf of and in the interest of the whole community. Thus the leitourgia of ancient Israel was the corporate work of a chosen few to prepare the world for the coming of the Messiah. And in this very act of preparation they became what they were called to be, the Israel of God, the chosen instrument of His purpose.”1
From my response article to AA, I explain the above as follows,
“Understood in this fashion, my morning routine is a liturgy because it is what prepares me, an individual, to be united with my collogues at work, with whom we become greater than the sum of our parts and become [name of vocation]. The family picnic is also a liturgy, because the individuals are united into a whole, through the breaking of bread (we can see eucharistic themes already), a single family is made out of many unique persons. What separates the Divine Liturgy from these other two liturgies is that in the Divine Liturgy, the faithful become the Church.”2
Coming together to become something different, this is liturgy. In the Divine Liturgy, the height of this becoming-something-together is partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and by all sharing in the same cup, we become one. Though beer and burgers are certainly not the body and blood of God, by sitting down and sharing a meal together, we become something we were not prior. Before dinner, we were all doing our separate things, with our separate families, in our separate states and cities, and holding our own separate convictions. When we came together, we inaugurated a togetherness that, however indefinable, and perhaps loose, made us into something. Liturgy makes it possible for ideational opponents can laugh, plan future meet ups, and share beer. If beers can liturgically bind, then a simple meal, involving another other than food and company, can have a profound impact on the culture, for it creates a new culture, and a new person to inhabit that culture. You want to speak of metapolitics? Practically, sharing a meal is the most valuable first step.
Bears
After getting home from the get together, I was a bit wound, and it was not too late, so I took a walk downtown with my pipe. To my great joy, I unexpectedly stumbled into a Grateful Dead cover band concert. Standing outside the venue for a few songs (I left my wallet at home, so I did not have any cash for the cover charge) smoking—which got the crowd excited, thinking I might have some weed—people inside came out and pulled me in, telling me that “all are welcome.” For the second half of my night I danced, and sang along with complete strangers, who felt like family. If you have not been to a Grateful Dead show, or seen a cover band, comparing it to church might appear sacrilegious, but those who have will understand what I mean. Ripple is like Psalm 23, and there is a mutual recognition between those “on the bus”, a feeling that you area different sort of person, a member of a different race, not unfamiliar to the recognition between two members of the Christian race.
To explain the liturgical element in a Dead cover show by way of the actual Grateful Dead, the use of LSD, or the very intentional community building done by Dead and Co would not quite do it. Despite talking about the Dead a good bit, writing about them every so often, going to cover shows, and playing live performances at my office (I am the resident hippy), I have never seen them. Much of the younger crowd at these shows have also never seen them, despite being huge fans. Furthermore, there are no ice cream trucks selling Cherry Garcia ice cream without cherries…so little LSD usage. Part of the binding together, allowing people of disparate political and religious beliefs to feel like one people, one family, is the presence of old Dead Heads there, who have toured with Jerry, passing down the light to the next generation. Another part of it, is the culture surrounding the Grateful Dead. For decades there has been a certain culture, and you have to adapt to this culture to fit in. You simply have to be tolerant, easy going, judgement free, folksy, and religious in the broadest sense of the word. I implicitly trust anyone at a Dead cover show, because if you are there then you are a certain way, you are safe and joyful, and you are so because if you were not, you would not be at the venue. There is no authority mandating this top down, but the preexistent community is a certain way, and to get along with them, to have fun, you conform to their culture. Later on, the newcomers become the old-timers, and they then become the ones that initiate others into the community, by modeling the culture.
What binds? Meals, and cultures that you have to acclimate to. What binds? Beers and bears.