I would quarrel with the assertion that binge drinking, drug use, mass forication and peverted abuse of other members are "key features" of fraternities. To be sure, drinking on most campuses isn't old and "hooking up" isn't new either. Further, we can't be ignorant: there are plenty of stories of rude behavior in Greek organizations, and even in my youth the guys (and gals) at my college knew darn well which houses to avoid if you had self-respect.
However, most fraternities with which I've had contact both as a student and alumni are, at worst, a microcosm of the student body. At best, they are social organizations of like-minded young men (and women) that will police out abhorrent behavior that goes unchecked in dorms and apartments. I've seen brothers cut off visibly intoxicated individuals and even provide an escort service (no, not THAT kind!) to girls who don't want to walk home alone; my fraternity had at least one designated sober brother (though we usually had more than one) to ensure things didn't get out of hand. Finally, brothers harassing girls or others usually were put in their place because it not only reflected badly on the rest of the brotherhood, but because we felt there WAS a way to "act like a man."
Bishop Fulton Sheen did a great program on selfishness, where he spoke of the West wanting a Christ without the Cross and Communists who want the Cross without Christ. Essentially, "we do not want a Christ in the Western world who's hands are scarred....we want a lilly-white hand. And the result is that we have a Christ who does not preach sacrifice and discipline...a feminine Christ...a weak Christ full of cheap moralizations...forgetting that He came primarily to die as a Savior, and to teach us how to be self-possessed, how to be men, how to avoid the thing that drag us down."
I don't see masculinity in hazing a pledge, letting a fellow human being die an alcoholic death, or bragging of carnal conquest. Alternatively, I see no value in snowflakes bemoaning "masculinity" and the holding of a door for a woman, of calling it "barbaric" to protect your family with a firearm, or to claim that there are no differences between men and women.
Again, vile elements of fraternities are nothing to champion. But if I had to pick between colleges with and without fraternities, I will take my chances with fraternities. I don't think many brothers are wearing pink ski caps or were promoting Hillary and her vulgar form of statism...not out of hatred of women, but out of a sense of masculinity that isn't promoted much anymore and which might be snuffed out on campuses absent these organizations.
Thanks for listening.
If I understand correctly, you view fraternities as sort of a counterbalance to the absurdities of establishment feminism. I agree there’s something to be said for that.
I do not see the relevance of the Fulton Sheen quote. Nobody of either sex learns to be Christ-like or self-possessed or to avoid the things that drag us down by getting drunk and fornicating, which are significant features of college life both in and out of Greek organizations.
Thank YOU for your response! Civil discussions are edifying regardless of agreement or disagreement.