#180: The Crisis of Male Friendships—Adam Minehan and David Niles

Men tend to be good at doing things together, in the sense of separately together like watching a sports game or fishing, hunting, poker, billiards, etc. Men tend not to be good at spending time communicating face to face with each other.

The idea of male friendship has undergone a shift for the worse in the wake of the turbulent, and failed, sexual revolution. It’s not just relationships between men and women that have suffered; relations between men have also suffered. Men, Christian or otherwise, don’t want to “get too close” out of fear that it seems either gay or something only women do. But real friendship is built on virtue, and the root of virtue is the Latin vir, or male adult. What are men afraid of? Adam Minehan and David Niles, creators and hosts of The Catholic Man Show podcast, are lifelong friends and talk about the lost art of manly closeness.

In this episode you will learn

• The biblical basis for strong male friendships
• Why men must be careful and intentional about who they befriend and admire
• Examples of saints 
• Why men are not “called to get their families to heaven” without first seeking deep friendship with Christ 
• Why Jesus Christ is the exemplar of manly friendship (hint: His reaction upon hearing of the death of Lazarus
• Why friendship is interlinked with discipleship
• How contemporary Catholic men must overcome the lost social structures of the past, like bowling leagues, choirs, the Boy Scouts, civic clubs, etc.

Resources mentioned in this episode

• True Friendship: Where Virtue Becomes Happiness by John Cuddeback
• The Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo
• Catholic Man Show website 
• Bible verses:“The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” —Proverbs 10:9“Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.”—Proverbs 27:6

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