ORTHODOXY AS A CERAMIC HAMMER: THE PLIGHT OF ONLINE INCEL CONVERTS

An Orthodox Ceramic Hammer, Created to Fulfill the Dysfunctional Psychological Needs of Young Converts, Focused on Trying to Smash Others into Repentance Rather than Focusing on Personal Repentance and Growth 

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)

“We do not convert to Orthodoxy, but to Christ.” 

- Fr. Andrew Stephen Dammick 

“Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies” 

- 1 Corinthians 8:1

Introduction 

In online Orthodox spaces, especially among certain young male catechumens and early converts, there exists a destructive mentality that can be likened to a "ceramic hammer." This term paints a vivid picture: something designed to strike down perceived nails with force, triumph over others in arguments, and tear apart anything that doesn’t conform to a narrow, self-fashioned version of truth. The hammer is wielded with pride, often seen as a tool of righteousness and strength, but in reality, it is a very fragile and ineffective construct. It is dependent upon ignorance and mental dissonance, rather than a truthful retelling of history and a reliance upon the Holy Spirit. Made from ceramic, which looks hard and shiny, it can crack and shatter under pressure, revealing it to be a fake posture — built not on the strength of faith or understanding, but on insecurity and the need to dominate. This article exposes the dangers of this mentality, which distorts Orthodoxy into a weapon for control and division, while it itself is easily shattered by the wisdom of the Church Fathers, a truthful recounting of the problems of our past, and the humility Christ calls us to embody in ecclesiastical repentance.

Ignorance and Projection: The Patristic View of Humility and Knowledge

The problem of ignorance and psychological projection onto the Orthodox tradition is not a new issue, but one addressed by the Fathers of the Church. St. John Chrysostom, for example, consistently warned against arrogance in interpreting the faith: "Nothing is so injurious to mankind as being deceived in regard to the true knowledge of things; and nothing is so injurious to the soul as to imagine it has truth when it has error." (Homily on Ephesians 4)

Here, St. John Chrysostom emphasizes the danger of mistaking one's personal projections or simplistic interpretations for the genuine truth of the faith. The modern-day convert often falls into this trap by imagining that their narrow understanding of Orthodoxy is the final word, when in fact they are still infants in the knowledge of the faith. As one of my theology professors from the Balamand said, “Every student knows everything his first semester: in his doctoral dissertation, he is uncertain about everything.” This is the truth of Orthodoxy. Blind certainty and condemnation of others is the mark of someone who does not truly grasp its depth or really understand how it deals with the internal man. 

This same point can be defended scripturally. The Apostle Paul writes: “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19) St. Paul's warning against the arrogance of worldly wisdom applies directly to the “Konvert Mentality” that mistakes human projections, stemming from dysfunction and a lack of repentance, rooted in personal needs, rather than within divine truth. Wisdom in Orthodoxy comes from humility, not the forceful imposition of personal or cultural biases onto the faith.

The Fathers on Zealotry and Wrong Motivations for Doing the Right Thing 

Zealotry, especially when based on ignorance or projection, is condemned by many of the Fathers. St. Gregory of Nyssa provides a relevant reflection on how true knowledge of God should lead to peace and gentleness, not contentiousness: "If one truly seeks the knowledge of the divine, he must first learn the virtue of gentleness, so that his zeal may not become the flame of anger, but the light of truth." (On the Beatitudes)

This aligns perfectly with St. Isaac the Syrian’s words that we previously quoted: "Someone who has actually tasted truth is not contentious for truth." The toxic zeal found in many Orthodox online spaces today is not born of a true understanding of the faith, but of insecurity and the need to assert dominance in matters of theology. Scripture, too, echoes this teaching in James 3:17: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” 

Those converts who wield Orthodoxy as a "ceramic hammer" misunderstand the true nature of the faith, and try to do something ostensibly good, motivated by the wrong emotions - fear, hatred, disgust, rather than love, joy and peace. Orthodox wisdom should be peaceful and full of mercy, not contentious and zealous for the sake of dogmatic superiority. Orthodoxy breaks when used as a hammer. It was not made for such a use and cannot cause others to repent based on the forceful vehemence of those who wield it. Only personal repentance and good works will help others around us become Orthodox, and this only after many years of dying to self and loving and healing those around us. 

The Ideological Ceramic Hammer Cannot Withstand the Blows Meant to Shatter Others 

Against Fundamentalism in Orthodoxy: The Fathers on Diversity and Unity

One of the key points in critiquing "Konvert Mentality" is the idea that it fosters an ecclesiastical fundamentalism that is rigid and narrow, mirroring the worst aspects of Protestant Calvinism. Rather than personal salvation by God’s direct agency, despite the individual’s own decision, as in the Protestant form, Orthodoxy struggles with a belief in ecclesiastical preservation, despite the sins and historical evils of that local church. This can lead to myopia and an inordinate focus on the virtues of a place, a language, a culture or a “small t” tradition, which mistakes one part of the Church for the whole.

The Fathers, however, frequently emphasized the diversity within the Church as a reflection of the richness of God’s creation. St. Basil the Great, in his writings on the Holy Spirit, defends the variety of spiritual expressions within the Church, while upholding unity in Christ: "There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who works all in all." (1 Corinthians 12:4-6) St. Basil applies this to the work of the Holy Spirit within the Church, showing that there is no single, rigid expression of Orthodoxy, but rather a diversity that reflects the manifold wisdom of God. Those who cling to a narrow, fundamentalist version of Orthodoxy are not reflecting this wisdom, but are, instead, projecting their own need for certainty onto the Church.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons, in his work “Against Heresies”, also defends the idea that the Church is not confined to any one cultural or ethnic group: “The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith… and continues to preserve it, as though she occupied but one house.” (Against Heresies, Book I, Chapter 10)

This universalism directly counters the idea that Orthodoxy is somehow ethnically or culturally confined, a common attitude among those who cling to the idea that Orthodoxy belongs solely to the Greek, Russian, or any other particular group. This mindset, as we see in many Orthodox online spaces, as young men strive to replace their own cultural identity with an artificial substitute, is a distortion of the Patristic understanding of the Church as catholic and universal. If Orthodoxy cannot be truly and authentically worked out in every time and place, in the first generation of conversion, without the aid of monasteries everywhere, then it is not true Orthodoxy - the early Church had none of these constructs for its support, and yet it shook the Roman and Persian empires! 

Incels and Toxic Orthodoxy: The Fathers on True Spiritual Strength

The rise of young men who use Orthodoxy as an outlet for their anger and frustration reflects a misunderstanding of Christian masculinity - thinking that God created men to show power and always “win,” rather than to show love and always protect. Instead of fostering virtues like self-control, humility, and compassion, many of these men fall into a toxic form of religiosity that alienates them further from society and from their true calling in Christ as husbands and fathers. The Apostle Paul speaks directly to this in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14: "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity." 

True Christian strength is rooted in love and charity, not in anger or aggression. St. John Chrysostom, addressing young men, emphasizes the importance of self-mastery over external displays of force: "The highest point of philosophy is to be master of oneself. For he who is master of himself cannot be subdued by anything. For there is nothing so strong as this philosophy which no one can overthrow or shake, it remains steadfast and stronger than all." (Homily 10 on Ephesians)

In this light, the rise of the "incel" Orthodox male, angry and embittered, is the antithesis of true Orthodox masculinity. Instead of cultivating strength through humility and self-mastery, these men are often cultivating their anger and projecting it outward, using Orthodoxy as a shield for their grievances and as a weapon against those they perceive to be hurting them. Such a use of Orthodoxy is destructive, not only to themselves, but to the Church. As Pew Research recently has shown, Eastern Orthodoxy has shrunk 10% in 10 years in the United States, while the Copts and other Oriental Orthodox have grown 67% in the same amount of time. Truly, always being right hasn’t helped Eastern Orthodoxy to evangelize the world or grow the Church. 

When the Church Becomes a Hammer, It No Longer Points Toward God

Abandoning the Ceramic Hammer and Picking Up a Mirror: The Way that Disavows Pride, False Certainty and the Desire to Exclude Others from Salvation 

The Patristic Fathers, along with Scripture, offer a robust defense against the toxic tendencies in today’s online Orthodox spaces. The "Konvert Mentality," with its ignorance, projection, and fundamentalism, is a distortion of the Orthodox faith—a faith that values humility, peace, diversity, and true strength. To return to true Orthodoxy is to embrace the wisdom of the Fathers, who teach us to seek God in humility and love, rather than in dogmatic zeal. As St. Isaac the Syrian reminds us, "someone who has tasted truth is not contentious for truth." Christ’s desire is for “all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth” (1 Timothy 2:4), and this must be our motivation, too. Orthodoxy, at its core, is about communion with God and neighbor, sharing salvation with the world, not about winning arguments or asserting cultural superiority. 

By fostering a spirit of gentleness, humility, and genuine repentance, we can begin to heal the fractures in the Church and offer a more authentic witness to the world. As St. Paul exhorts us: "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:3) This is the true calling of Orthodoxy - one that transcends the contemporary fads and the toxic online culture and calls all people to repentance, salvation and peace through the love of Jesus Christ. 

The Orthodox Church is a Bright and Shining Mirror that Helps Us to See Who We Truly Are and Work Towards Our Transformation and Sanctification in the Shared Life of the Holy Trinity - Theosis! 

(All of the above illustrations generated by AI)