This book focuses on a singular cause of male violence—the perpetrator's sense of threat to one of his most valued possessions, namely, his reputation for strength and toughness. The theme of this book is that the Southern United States had—and has—a type of culture of honor.

"Culture of honor" is what social scientists call a society that organizes social life around maintaining and defending reputation. In an honor culture, because reputation is everything, people will go to great lengths to defend their reputations and those of their family members against real and perceived threats and insults. While most human societies throughout history can be described as "honor cultures," the United States is particularly well known for having a deeply rooted culture of honor, especially in the American South and West. In Honor Bound, social psychologist Ryan P. Brown integrates social science research, current events, and personal stories to explore and explain how honor underpins nearly every aspect of our lives, from spontaneous bar fights to organized acts of terrorism, romantic relationships, mental health and well-being, unsportsmanlike conduct in football, the commission of suicide, foreign policy decisions by political leaders, and even how parents name their babies. Sometimes the effects of living in an honor culture are subtle and easily missed-there are fewer nursing homes in the American south, as more parents live with their children as they age-and sometimes the effects are more dramatic, as in the fact that there are more school shootings in honor states, but they are always relevant. By illuminating a surprising and pervasive thread that has endured in our culture for centuries, Brown's narrative will captivate those raised in these types of honor cultures who wish to understand themselves, and those who wish to better understand their neighbors.

Honor? In Today’s World? A one-of-a-kind book in both subject and perspective! The Practice of Honor is about reformation of honor—it is intended to disrupt your current model of authority! Jesus put it like this, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:25-26). In some realms, honor is something defended to the death. However you have defined and cultivated honor up to now, The Practice of Honor may require a significant paradigm shift in your thinking. Based on the revival culture of the very spiritually successful Bethel Church in Redding, California, this book is also a template to help any leader develop an environment that brings out the very best in people. The Practice of Honor is a recipe for introducing the Spirit of God, and all of His freedom, and how to host and embrace that freedom as a community of believers. Those with power must learn how to empower those around them—or Heaven on the earth will never be realized as God intended.

The Rise of Victimhood Culture offers a framework for understanding recent moral conflicts at U.S. universities, which have bled into society at large. These are not the familiar clashes between liberals and conservatives or the religious and the secular: instead, they are clashes between a new moral culture—victimhood culture—and a more traditional culture of dignity. Even as students increasingly demand trigger warnings and “safe spaces,” many young people are quick to police the words and deeds of others, who in turn claim that political correctness has run amok. Interestingly, members of both camps often consider themselves victims of the other. In tracking the rise of victimhood culture, Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning help to decode an often dizzying cultural milieu, from campus riots over conservative speakers and debates around free speech to the election of Donald Trump.

A controversial call to put honor at the center of morality To the modern mind, the idea of honor is outdated, sexist, and barbaric. It evokes Hamilton and Burr and pistols at dawn, not visions of a well-organized society. But for philosopher Tamler Sommers, a sense of honor is essential to living moral lives. In Why Honor Matters, Sommers argues that our collective rejection of honor has come at great cost. Reliant only on Enlightenment liberalism, the United States has become the home of the cowardly, the shameless, the selfish, and the alienated. Properly channeled, honor encourages virtues like courage, integrity, and solidarity, and gives a sense of living for something larger than oneself. Sommers shows how honor can help us address some of society's most challenging problems, including education, policing, and mass incarceration. Counterintuitive and provocative, Why Honor Matters makes a convincing case for honor as a cornerstone of our modern society.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Russians from all ranks of society were bound together by a culture of honor. Here one of the foremost scholars of early modern Russia explores the intricate and highly stylized codes that made up this culture. Nancy Shields Kollmann describes how these codes were manipulated to construct identity and enforce social norms—and also to defend against insults, to pursue vendettas, and to unsettle communities. She offers evidence for a new view of the relationship of state and society in the Russian empire, and her richly comparative approach enhances knowledge of statebuilding in premodern Europe. By presenting Muscovite state and society in the context of medieval and early modern Europe, she exposes similarities that blur long-standing distinctions between Russian and European history.Through the prism of honor, Kollmann examines the interaction of the Russian state and its people in regulating social relations and defining an individual's rank. She finds vital information in a collection of transcripts of legal suits brought by elites and peasants alike to avenge insult to honor. The cases make clear the conservative role honor played in society as well as the ability of men and women to employ this body of ideas to address their relations with one another and with the state. Kollmann demonstrates that the grand princes—and later the tsars—tolerated a surprising degree of local autonomy throughout their rapidly expanding realm. Her work marks a stark contrast with traditional Russian historiography, which exaggerates the power of the state and downplays the volition of society.

For years, Danny Silk has been teaching, writing, speaking, and coaching on honor and how to express it in our families, churches, organizations, and communities. And for years, he has received the same feedback and questions around this powerful, challenging, and frequently misunderstood and misapplied concept, such as: · "You say that people of honor must be powerful, but to a lot of people, 'powerful' means dominating and selfish. What does it mean to be powerful?" · "If respecting our freedom and the freedom of others is crucial to practicing honor, what do we do when people cannot handle their freedom?" · "We tried to honorably confront someone, and the person refused to 'clean up his mess.' What do we do now?" · "I really don't like confrontation. Doesn't honor mean we should get along without conflict?" · "If we're all trying to honor one another equally, does that mean there shouldn't be any leaders?" · "Why does 'honor' always seem to turn into 'entitlement'?" The Foundations of Honor Study Guide addresses these questions and more through a comprehensive study of the core values, practices, and cultural effects of honor. Clear biblical teaching and illustrations, along with provoking questions and targeted action points, equip and train readers to examine their own foundations and build a solid foundation of honor in their lives, homes, businesses, churches, and communities. The Foundations of Honor Study Guide is designed to work with the Foundations of Honor Teaching Series as a 10-session course suitable for both individuals and groups.