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Successful dissident organizations are not built merely by attracting attention. They are built by doing the taking the following and turning it something meaningful:

Interest → participation → responsibility → leadership.

Social media can introduce people to an organization, but it cannot, by itself, create the personal relationships, shared experiences, and sense of duty necessary to sustain it. For any organization seeking long-term growth, recruitment must be treated as an ongoing process of developing people rather than simply accumulating followers.

Seek Out Individuals, Not Only Audiences

Arguably one of the most common mistakes an organization can make is confusing an audience with a membership roster. Thousands of followers may produce impressive numbers, but those numbers mean little if few people are willing to contribute their time, abilities, or resources.

For example, the Ethnic American Broadcast (EAB), an online group run by The General, regularly has X Spaces with over 150 listeners. However, that is not indicative of actual participation. For instance, a couple of the listeners, frustrated that the EAB wasn’t practicing what they preached, decided to join my nationalist organization, The New Way.

I’m not saying that the EAB doesn’t have some people working behind the scenes to produce some kind of work, but it’s certainly not convincing people to rally behind them in the way that they think.

So, if you want to convert your audience to membership, you will have to begin by recruiting key individuals instead of trying to cast a wide net. Instead of putting out the same message to everyone and hoping someone responds, take the time to consider why a particular person might be interested in the organization. What are their interests? What concerns do they have? What experiences or skills might make them a natural fit?

In my experience, personal invitations demonstrate that someone is being approached for a reason. It established the possibility of a genuine relationship instead of treating the individual as another name on a mailing list.

Now, of course, I am not saying that you should abandon public outreach. You should be producing articles, videos, social media posts, and you should be building up to host public events. Because all of these things have their place and can make your organization more likely to catch more eyes, increasing you change to recruit more people. However, public outreach should be the beginning of the relationship, not a substitute for one.

It is crucial to remember that the purpose of publicity is to create opportunities for personal engagement, and the purpose of recruitment is to turn those opportunities into meaningful relationships.

Build a Ladder of Involvement

It should be remembered that not everyone who expresses interest is ready to become an active member. Some people need time to understand an organization’s purpose, while others may be interested but uncertain about how they can contribute, or if the benefits of joining outweigh the negatives of joining. Expecting every new new contact to immediately become a committed volunteer places unnecessary pressure on both the individual and the organization.

What I found to be more effective is to approach each new contact with a clear progression of involvement:

1. Interested: The individual encounters the organization and wants to learn more.

2. Supporter: The individual agrees with its general purpose and follows its work.

3. Participant: The individual attends an event, joins a discussion, or takes part in an activity.

4. Volunteer: The individual begins contributing time and effort.

5. Recruiter: The individual introduces other interested people to the organization.

6. Organizer: The individual assumes responsibility for coordinating activities, projects, or other volunteers, and manages the recruiters.

7. Leader: The individual demonstrates the judgment, reliability, and ability to guide others.

This progression helps to provide a framework for developing members without assuming that everyone will advance at the same pace. Some may remain occasional supporters, while others will eventually take on substantial responsibilities. Both will have their value.

The most important thing to remember is to make each progressive step more accessible, so a person who is not prepared to organize an event might be willing to attend one. Someone who cannot volunteer every week might be able to write an article, help with a single project, or introduce a friend.

Every meaningful contribution creates a new opportunity to gain more members and further involvement with the organization. Remember to keep track of these contributions and recognize those taking the contributions by inviting them to take the next step when they are ready.

Know Your Members

An organization cannot effectively develop its membership if it treats every member as interchangeable. People have different interests, abilities, schedules, ambitions, and levels of commitment. Successful organizations must understand these differences if they are to grow and remain successful.

I would recommend keeping practical records of each member’s interests, skills, previous contributions, and preferred areas of involvement. Someone with writing experience might be well suited to preparing articles of newsletters. Another person might have experiencing managing events, maintaining accounts, conducting research, designing promotional materials, or communicating with prospective members.

Also, it’s incredibly important to learn what your people are actually willing and able to do. A member may possess impressive professional skills, but they may have very little free time because they have a hectic work/personal life. While another may have fewer specialized abilities but be exceptionally dependable.

Reliability is also particularly important. A successful organization will need people who are able to follow through on their commitments, communicate when circumstances change, and can be trusted with responsibilities appropriate to their experience.

I’m not saying that you should develop a rigid system of labeling people or permanently limiting their opportunities. Members will develop new skills, discover new interests, and gain confidence through experience. The purpose of keeping these records is to help people find suitable opportunities and to ensure that responsibilities are distributed sensibly.

A successful organization will understand that its members can make better use of its existing resources before attempting to expand its membership. It can also identify where additional skills are needed and recruit accordingly.

The article below goes into more detail.

Give People Meaningful Jobs

By now, you should understand that people are more likely to become invested in an organization when they have a genuine role within it. Membership should mean more than receiving emails, paying dues, or occasionally reading publications. Whenever possible, it should provide an opportunity to contribute to something tangible.

Even small organizations can divide its work into useful responsibilities. Depending on its purpose and resources, these might include:

• Recruiters, who speak with prospective members and introduce them to the organization.

• Event organizers, who coordinate meetings, gatherings, and activities.

• Writers and editors, who prepare articles, newsletters, and other publications.

• Designers, who develop graphics, promotional materials, and visual content.

• Researchers, who gather information and prepare reports.

• Treasurers, who maintain financial records and assist with budgeting.

• Outreach coordinators, who maintain relationships with relevant individuals and groups.

These roles do not need to begin as formal positions with elaborate titles. A volunteer can start by completing a single assignment, then gradually assume greater responsibility as experience and trust develops.

What I found the key to be is to assign work that matters. Asking someone to help with a clearly defined project, giving them the resources necessary to complete it, and acknowledging the finished work is more effective than offering an impressive title without any real responsibility.

Delegation benefits the organization’s leadership. Trust me, you can’t do it all alone. When all decisions and tasks depend on one person, growth eventually becomes limited by that person’s time and energy. Distributing responsibility allows more work to be completed while giving members the experience needed to assume leadership themselves.

Don’t forget, responsibility should be accompanied by appropriate authority. If someone is expected to organize an event, for example, they should understand their budget, their decision making limits, and the support available to them. Assigning responsibility without providing the means to exercise it creates frustration rather than commitment.

Personal Outreach Is Essential

While it is true that public communication can reach large numbers of people, but personal outreach gives an organization the opportunity to establish trust. A thoughtful conversation with someone who already has an affinity for the organization’s ideals is often more productive than another generic post directed at thousands of strangers.

Personal outreach begins with listening. Instead of immediately delivering a prepared speech, ask what interests the person, what they think about the organization’s work, and whether there is anything they would like to learn more about. Explain the organization’s purpose honestly and give them room to decide whether they wish to become involved or not.

The invitation should also be specific whenever possible. Rather than simply asking someone to support the organization, invite them to a particular event, introduce them to a relevant project, or ask whether they would be interested in contributing a skill they already possess.

Following up with the contact is also important. If someone expresses interest, provide the information promised. If they attend an event, thank them for coming. If they volunteer for a task, acknowledge their contribution and communicate the results. These small acts demonstrate that the organization values people as individuals rather than merely viewing them as potential members.

Personal outreach should always remain respectful and voluntary. People must be free to decline an invitation without being subjected to repeated pressure or having their relationships treated as recruitment opportunities. Trust is difficult to build and easy to lose.

Over time, you will see genuine relations blossoming, which can create wider network participation. People introduce friends, recommend capable volunteers, and share their experiences with others. This kind of growth is often slower than a sudden surge in online attention, but it can produce a more dependable foundation.

Organizing Members

Members reinforce organization. Personal outreach brings key individuals into contact with the organization and a clear ladder of involvement gives them a path forward. Understanding their interests and abilities helps identify appropriate opportunities. Meaningful responsibilities encourage participation and develop leadership.

By keeping these things in the back of your mind, you will find a result in which your organization is not dependent entirely on continually finding new people. And it also develops the people you already have.

As the organization grows, this distinction will become more and more important. A small group may initially function through informal conversations and the efforts of a few dedicated individuals. However, as the membership grows informal arrangements can become insufficient. Responsibilities need to be clarified, communication needs to become consistent, and experienced members need to help guide newer ones.

Growth should therefore be measured not only by how many people join, but also by how many participate, how many fulfill responsibilities, and how many become capable of helping the organization function independently.

A hundred passive members may provide a larger audience than a dozen active members, but the latter may be better equipped to carry out projects, welcome newcomers, and sustain regular activities. The strongest organizations will seek both breadth and depth—a broad base of people who are interested and a dependable core willing to contribute.

The Most Important Thing to Remember

An organization’s greatest resource is not its social media following, its promotional material, or even its membership list. It is the people who are willing to put the work in and help it endure—perseverance through trial and tribulation.

Recruitment should be personal, involvement should develop gradually, members should be understood as individuals with different abilities and interests, responsibilities should be meaningful, and leadership should be developed rather than assumed to appear automatically.

Publicity can make an organization visible, but visibility alone does not make it effective. Lasting growth comes form turning interest into participation, participation into responsibility, and responsibility into a culture in which people take ownership of their work.

If you ask the question:

How many people can my organization attract?

You are asking the wrong question. Instead ask:

How many people can we develop into capable, dependable contributors?

Because that is the difference between building an audience and building an organization.

When you’re recruiting, you have to focus on the right way to recruit more members.

• Recruit individuals, not just audiences.

• Build a ladder of involvement.

• Know your people.

• Give people meaningful jobs.

• Personal outreach is extraordinarily important.

Find Frederick C. Blackburn/BB9/Blackbird9 at the following links:

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For more information and where to find Michael Weaver go to the following links:

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There seems to be a common misconception here in the US among Orthodox Christians that the Orthodox Church condemns “fascism.” This topic of argument was brought up on Twitter by an account going by the name of Zapadnjak. Who I exposed for being jewish.

Besides exposing him for being a subversive jew, I thought it would be best to correct the record and show Orthodox Christians that it is not counter to Orthodoxy to be “fascist.”

Zapadnjak uses the term “Fascism” as a catch all term for different ideologies/worldviews. So lets break down the ones he’s most likely referring to:

• Fascism is a revolutionary national doctrine that seeks to regenerate the nation through unity, discipline, hierarchy, and collective sacrifice. It rejects liberal individualism and Marxist class struggle in favor of a strong state that coordinates the interests of workers, employers, and other social groups for the common good. It places national duty above private interest and seeks to create a disciplined, vigorous people under decisive leadership.

• National Socialism is a worldview that seeks to unite the German people into a single national and racial community, subordinating individual and class interests to the welfare of that community. It emphasizes German national revival, racial ideology, social solidarity among those it considered members of the national community, authoritarian leadership, and the pursuit of territorial retribution after the Treaty of Versailles.

• Legionarism was originally a Romanian national and spiritual revolutionary movement that sought the rebirth of the Romanian nation through Orthodox Christian faith, moral purification, discipline, sacrifice, and service to the homeland. Its proponents envisioned a new Romanian man who would overcome corruption, selfishness, and materialism through spiritual transformation and national devotion. It combined Orthodox religious symbolism with militant nationalism, antisemitism, and revolutionary action, presenting national renewal as both a political and spiritual mission.

Counter to what Zapadnjak states in his post, there is nothing stated in cannon law that prohibits being a member of an organization that represents one of these ideologies/worldviews.

The closest thing you will find is a 2017 statement from the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the United States, who condemned racism, White supremacy, neo-Nazism, and other forms of hatred, explicitly stating that the actions of self-proclaimed fascists betray Christian values. However, this is an ecclesiastical statement, not a canon specifically prohibiting fascism as a political system.

Also, it’s worth noting that nothing that Legionaries—who hold true to the original teachings of Codreanu—believe is counter to Orthodoxy.

What Zapadnjak may try to use for his argument is the Synod of Constantinople in 1872, which declared that placing ethnic identity above the unity of the Church violates the apostolic constitution. But most people don’t actually understand what that Synod really means.

Ethnophyletism

Before 1872, most of southeastern Europe (the Balkans) remained under the rule of the Muslim Ottoman Empire. However, as the Ottoman power waned and Bulgarian national consciousness grew, Bulgarians increasingly sought to preserve their language, cultural, identity, and religious life independently of Greek ecclesiastical leadership.

During this time, Bulgarian Orthodox Christians were generally under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Rightfully so, many Bulgarians believed that Greek-speaking hierarchs dominated their church administration and did not adequately represent Bulgarian interests. So there’s two things happening at this time:

• Bulgarians aspired for greater ecclesiastical self-governance and recognition of a distinct Bulgarian church.

• The Patriarchate sought to preserve canonical order and the unity of the Church within its existing territorial jurisdiction.

So the argument between them was both religious and national, with the Ottoman government playing a decisive political role.

The creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate, 1870

In February of 1870, Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz issued a decree establishing the Bulgarian Exarchate, an ecclesiastical institution intended to serve the Bulgarian Orthodox Christians across designated areas. However, the Ottomans had no right to do this and the proposed jurisdiction actually overlapped with that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

By 1872, the dispute had boiled over when Bishop Antim I was elected the first Bulgarian Exarch. At this point, the conflict was no longer merely about administrative reform, but over whether the Bulgarian ecclesiastical structure was canonically legitimate.

The Council of Constantinople

Convened under Ecumenical Patriarch Anthimus VI, the council met in Constantinople in September of 1872. It included the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, the Archbishop of Cyprus, and numerous other bishops. However, not all Orthodox churches participated.

This where the council condemned ethnophyletism—the principle of organizing the Orthodox Church around ethnic or national identity rather than its territorial and ecclesiastical structure—and declared the Bulgarian ecclesiastical leaders involved in establishing the disputed jurisdiction schismatic. Its decree stated:

“We censure, condemn, and declare contrary to the teachings of the Gospel and the sacred canons of the holy Fathers the doctrine of phyletism, or the difference of races and national diversity in the bosom of the Church of Christ.”

So, what they decided was that the Church’s internal structure was not to become centered on organizing competing Orthodox jurisdictions within the same territory based on ethnicity.

The council’s position rested on the idea that the Orthodox Church is one Church in a given territory, rather than separate churches divided according to ethnicity. Essentially, what it opposed was the following:

• Establishing parallel Orthodox jurisdictions in the same territory on the basis of ethnic identity.

• Making racial or national distinction a governing principle of the Church.

• Creating ecclesiastical structures that violated the Church’s established canonical order.

What it did not oppose was patriotism, national culture, national independence, and it did not call secular nationalism inherently heretical.

Was the council universally accepted?

While the council had substantial influence, not all Orthodox churches attended, and some supported the Bulgarian position. Interestingly, the Bulgarian Church remained out of communion with Constantinople until 1945 and still does not support the 1872 Synod, even to this day.

The council was not attended by representatives of every Orthodox autocephalous church. The Russian Patriarchate supported the Bulgarian position, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem withdrew from the council. Of the Patriarchs that went, Alexandria, Constantinople and Antioch all signed the decree.

This council was a regional council attended by a few Patriarchs and some bishops, but was not representative of the entire Orthodox Church. That doesn’t mean that the council’s decision doesn’t hold some authority, but it also doesn’t mean that an Orthodox Christian has to follow it if their Church doesn’t.

The 2016 Holy and Great Council of Crete explicitly listed the 1872 council among councils that condemned ethnophyletism as an ecclesiological heresy.

However, the 2016 council was not attended by every autocephalous Orthodox Church: the Russian, Georgian, and Bulgarian Churches did not participate. And interestingly enough, the Antiochian Church also did not participate.

So, what does that look like in numbers?

There are roughly 100-115 million Russian Orthodox Christians in Russia under the Russian Patriarchate. There are 3.2 million under the Georgian Patriarchate. And there are 4.1 million under the Bulgarian Patriarchate. So that’s roughly 107-122 million Orthodox Christians who belong to Churches that do not agree with the 1872 Synod. That’s not including the 40,100 adherents in the US.

Belonging to the Churches that support the 1872 Synod is roughly 34-35 million Orthodox Christians in Europe and the US.

While agreeing with the 1872 Synod may be more represented in the US, it’s far less accepted throughout the whole of the Orthodox Church.

Protecting the Truth

Zapadnjak assumes that Orthodox converts spend more time defending Hitler and Fascism on social media and coffee hour than praying and talking about Christ. This assumes that all Orthodox converts spend more time thinking about secular topics than Christ Himself. But he’s projecting.

Aryans, who make up the overwhelming amount of Orthodox converts have been told their whole lives that Hitler was the antichrist. Turns out, they were lied to. In fact it turns out the “bad guys” were actually the biggest defenders of Christianity and now Orthodox Christians are trying to speak the truth.

Just because the clergy does not pastorally teach fascism in our parishes, does not make it evil or sinful. As previously stated, there’s no canonical law prohibiting Orthodox Christians from being “fascists.”

Zapadnjak is also trying to use the argument of some clergy allegedly supporting him to make a call to authority. However, my argument is actually more sound.

Clergymen in the Legion or Supporting the Legion

The clergy’s involvement in the Legion went far beyond the occasional expression of sympathy. Many priests actively participated in Legionary organizations, while others even become electoral candidates and local organizers.

Fr. Vasile Boldeanu of Putna County and Fr. Nicolae Nițu of Roman are both notable examples of priests becoming Legionary county commanders, giving them positions within the movement’s political hierarchy.1 While local organizers include Fr. Gheorghe Doară and Fr. Aurică Nicolescu of Vâlcea were notable Legionary organizers in their communities, where they mobilized people to volunteer in the work camps and other Legionary activities.2

Honorable mention includes Fr. Iustin Pârvu.

Bishop Vartolomeu Stănescu

A significant case was Bishop Vartolomeu Stănescu of Râmnicu Vâlcea. He wasn’t simply a parish priest who sympathized with the movement, rather he was a regional patron of the Legion, mobilizing village priests and church resources, while encouraging priests to join. And Legionary commander Radu Gyr regarded him as an important spiritual figure for the movement.

Stănescu, rather than treating young nationalists as simply another political faction, regarded their activities as having potential social and moral value.

This demonstrated one of the fundamental reasons why the Legion was so important to the Romanian religious society. The Legion did not merely ask priests to vote for it or to convince their flock to vote for it. It presented exactly why the movement was necessary in the moral and material reconstruction of the country.

Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan

Among the most important clerical figures associated with the Legionary movement was Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan of Transylvania.

Bălan possessed a considerable amount of authority within the Romanian Orthodox Church and his relationship with the movement illustrated why clerical endorsement mattered.

Bălan’s support also demonstrates that sympathy for the Legion was not restricted to obscure parish priests and that there were senior members of the hierarchy who believed that aspects of the movement represented a legitimate response to the problems confronting Romania.

Metropolitan Gurie Grosu

Likewise Metropolitan Gurie Grosu of Bessarabia publicly praised Legionary work camps. His support was significant because it demonstrated that the Legionary movement’s emphasis on constructive labor provided a point at which nationalism, youth organization, charitable work, physical labor, and religious life could meet.3

Nationalism must be more than mere rhetoric, as it must become a form of service to your people.

Metropolitan Visarion Puiu of Bukovina

Puiu is another interesting example as he was actively supporting the Legion in the 1930s by financially supporting work camps, organizing Legionary projects, and spreading the Legionary ideology.4

In 1937, he defied government restrictions by holding religious services commemorating Ion Moța and Vasile Marin, Legionary leaders killed fighting in the Spanish Civil War.

After the war he established the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Western Europe, served as its first hierarch. In 1955, however, Puiu sent Archimandrite Teofil Ionescu on a mission to Canada and the United States to organize Romanian Orthodox communities, and he was the author of the original plan (1926) for establishing a Romanian diocese in the United States, describing himself as its founder.5 This would later give birth to the Romanian Episcopate of America in 1929.

Orthodox Priests in General

The historian Francisco Veiga estimated that approximately 2,000 of Romania’s roughly 10,000 Orthodox priests had joined or worked with the Legion by 1937.6 Meanwhile, Oliver Jens Schmitt estimates that approximately 1/4 of Orthodox priests had joined or supported nationalists movements in general.7

Interestingly, the 1937 election demonstrated the extent of clerical participation. Of the 103 candidates associated with the Legion’s Everything for the Country organization, approximately 33 (or 1/3) were priests.8

Orthodox priests did not regard political participation as inherently incompatible with their vocation. They believed that the priest could serve the nation not only from the altar but also through public life.

Legionaries Later Becoming Authorities in the Church

After the Legionary government fell in 1941, many former Legionaries were subjected to horrific treatment. Especially when the communist government gained power. However, despite the persecution, there were many notable Legionaries who became officials in the Orthodox Church, especially in America. Honorable mention includes Fr. Arsenie Papacioc.

Archbishop Valerian Trifa, head of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America.

One such individual was Valerian Trifa, who had been part of the Legionary government in 1941 and fled Romania after its collapse. However, by 1952 he had become an Orthodox bishop in America. And by 1957, he was running the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America. He was also the mentor to the current Archbishop of the Romanian Episcopate of America, Archbishop Nathaniel Popp. Archbishop Valerian never renounced Legionarism.

Fr. Vasile Boldeanu

During the National Legionary State, Boldeanu reached the rank of Legionary commandant and served as deputy to Nicolae Petrașcu, the government’s secretary-general. After the war, he became an Orthodox priest and worked with Metropolitan Puiu’s Romanian Orthodox organization in Paris. In fact, Metropolitan Puiu placed Fr. Boldeanu in charge of the largest Romanian Orthodox congregation there. He never renounced Legionarism.

Fr. Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa

Originally part of the Frățiile de Cruce, a Legionary youth organization, he was arrested both in 1942 and 1948 for Legionary activity. However, after imprisonment, he studied theology and eventually became an Orthodox priest.

It was in 1978 that he became internationally famous for his oppositions to Romania’s communist dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu, where he openly declared that Romanians had the right to worship their Orthodox faith openly and proudly. He was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, he was released from prison due in part to pressure from supporters such as U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

In 1984, he was defrocked by the Romanian Orthodox Church (communist pressure) but became a priest of the Orthodox Church of America’s Romanian Episcopate of America.

Moreover, he continued to glorify the Frățiile de Cruce, suggesting the canonization of Iron Guard leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu because of being martyred, as well as proposing his view of Legionarism.9

St. Ilie Lăcătușu

One of the former Legionaries who only disavowed the Legion under communist imprisonment, but not after was Ilie Lăcătușu.

In July 2025, following Legionary-themed manifestations at his relics, it stated that Lăcătușu was canonized for his Christian confession and suffering under communist imprisonment, but not for being part of the Legion.

St. Ilarion Felea

Felea had a documented Legionary association in 1940, later said that the January 1941 rebellion caused him to break with the movement, explicitly rejected renewed Legionary activity in 1948, and denied Legionary connections during his 1949 interrogation. Nevertheless, the Communist security apparatus continued to regard him as a Legionary activist and prosecuted him again in 1958–59 in an alleged Legionary-related conspiracy.

Felea was accused in 1958–59 of participation in an anti-Communist conspiracy that the Securitate interpreted in Legionary terms, and he was convicted in 1959. However, the available evidence does not by itself establish that he had actually resumed Legionary activity after his earlier break with the movement. And he died in prison in 1961.

Ignorance or Purposeful Subversion?

Zapadnjak also doesn’t really know much of anything regarding the Iron Guard (Legion of the Archangel Michael). He states incorrectly that Romania was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939. However, the Soviets annexed Moldavia in June of 1940 while King Carol II was still the leader of Romania.

In fact, it was the annexation of Moldavia and Northern Transylvania to Hungary that ended any remaining support for him. On September 6th, 1940, he abdicated in favor of his son, King Michael I, and left Romania. General Ion Antonescu, who was the Prime Minister, became the country’s de facto leader by leveraging the Iron Guard for support.

Both Antonescu and the Iron Guard opposed the old political establishment and both advocated for Romanian nationalism and antisemitic policies. Both wanted a close relationship with Germany, but German officials were divided over which Romanian faction to back.

The National Legionary State was proclaimed in September of 1940 with Antonescu as the head of government and Codreanu’s successor, Horia Sima, becoming the deputy prime minister.

By late 1940, the two sides increasingly clashed over control of the police, state institutions, economic policy, and the direction of the regime. The Iron Guard seized jewish-owned property, which intensified tensions.

The National Socialists saw the Iron Guard as more ideologically compatible to them, but Antonescu was more predictable and had more control over the military. On January 14th, 1941, Antonescu secured the support of Adolf Hitler as the more reliable partner for maintaining order and cooperating with Germany. Antonescu then began moving against the Iron Guard.

Historians are conflicted on who caused the 1941 Rebellion, but on January 20th, the killing of German military mission officer Major Helmuth Döring became a flashpoint, resulting in Antonescu and the Romanian military removing the Legion from the government by the 23rd.

Altogether, the Iron Guard was only in power for 4 months. Clearly not enough time to fight the Soviet Union.

Zapadnjak, also never uses any sources for his arguments. What he relies on is pop culture dramatized fiction. It’s like appealing to Schindler's List, which itself is based on the fictionalized book, Schindler’s Ark. Not to mention, Jasenovac was a concentration camp that was set up to house Serbs, Roma, jews, and communists. It was not a camp specifically set up for Orthodox Christians.

Also, what Zapadnjak isn’t mentioning is the fact that there were Serbian fascists during World War II, including an explicitly fascist movement, ZBOR, led by Dimitrije Ljotić, an Orthodox Christian.

Playing Both Sides

Famously, jews love to play both sides. Often taking controversial stances publicly to virtue signal and gain influence, then later subverting the audience to keep them pacified. Back in 2022, Zapadnjak was calling for an Orthodox Francisco Franco while trying to keep people from learning more about Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and the Legion of the Archangel Michael, by claiming he was an anti-monarchist and pseudo-populist. Both of which claims are untrue.

With the canonization of some of Codreanu’s fellow Legionaries in 2024, Zapadnjak shifted tune to try and audience capture more Orthodox Christians. This is a tactic that jews will employ in order to latch on to the narrative and later take control of it.

By November of that year, he was already instructing people to become Orthodox like Codreanu. Later defending them from accusations of being communists.

And the thing is, Zapadnjak is purposely doing this. He is well aware that there isn’t a dogmatic view on fascism from the Orthodox Church.

In Conclusion

Zapadnjak must have realized not that long ago that the narrative couldn’t be controlled. So instead of keeping up the charade, he decided to drop the act altogether.

In the Nationalist movement, the two proponents of Legionarism are myself and the Orthodox apologist, Benjamin Michael. Both of us having been unashamedly vocal about the direction the country needs to go in. However, while Benjamin mostly focuses on propaganda, I am the leader of a Legionary organization called, The New Way. My primary goal is to organize men in the same way that Codreanu did.

We are one of the most organized grassroots organizations in the country and we have been able to bring not only Orthodox Christians, but Protestants, and Catholics into the organization with the goal of renewing in real Americans the national consciousness and faith in God. Not only have we successfully organized these men, but many have also converted to Orthodoxy.

As time goes on, you will see us become more and more influential, and the likes of Zapadnjak become more and more subversive. But none of that will save them from what is to come.

The only way is The New Way.

It’s said that a nationalist organization cannot be sustained by political conviction alone. This is true for all political organizations, but especially for a nationalist organization which is dissenting from the status quo.

For a nationalist organization to succeed, it requires institutions, education, cultural continuity, organizational discipline, and a community of people willing to devote their time and abilities to a common mission.

Men and women alike can contribute to these efforts, although the particular responsibilities assigned to each will depend on the organization’s principles and understanding of national life.

So, therefore, I ask the question if women have a place in a nationalist movement, then what is their place and how can their contributions best serve the national community?

Preserving the National Culture

It is true that a nation is more than just some geographical territory or a political administration. A nation, or a neam, is the people, kindred, lineage, or historical community, who possess a shared language, customs, traditions, collective memories, and institutions inherited from previous generations.

In theological terms, the neam is inseparable from Christ, because we know that it is Christ who has given us our ultimate orientation, moral purpose, and understanding of true history.

As St. Nikolaj Velimirović said:

“We are the children of God, and people of the Aryan race, to which fate has assigned the honorable role of being the principle bearer of Christianity in the world.”

And these things do not preserve themselves. They must be taught, practiced, and transmitted to the people, while also repeating our duty to our neam through successive generations.

In this duty, women play an important role through the preservation of family traditions, the education of children, the maintenance of cultural practices, and participation in institutions dedicated to national history and heritage. They can help ensure the next generation understands not only the history of its homeland, but also the cultural inheritance that connects them to those who came before, as well as their obligation to carry out their duties.

The responsibility should not be understood as belonging exclusively to women. Men also bear responsibility for cultural transmission. Nevertheless, where an organization places particular emphasis on family life and intergenerational continuity, it has reason to recognize the significant of women’s contributions in these areas.

It should be said, that cultural preservation must extend far beyond the household. Women can participate in historical societies, educational associations, publishing projects, language programs, and cultural organizations. And by encouraging women to do such work, national traditions can be preserved as living practices rather than antiquated symbols of the past.

Organization and Service

Political movements frequently devote a considerable attention to their public statements, ideological debates, and prominent personalities—often times cultivating a cult of personality or perceived authority while neglecting the fact that their continued existence often depends on far less visible and glorious work:

• Membership records must be maintained

• Correspondence must be answered

• Events must be organized

• Publications must be prepared and distributed

• Members experiencing hardship may need assistance

• & new participants must be introduced to the movement’s principles.

I suggest that women take up these responsibilities so that they may develop the necessary skills, and assume positions of appropriate organizational authority.

I should also say that I don’t believe that it is effective to have women in places of authority over men, unless there is a man of higher authority who permits it. The Bible states in 1 Timothy 2:11-12;

“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

But it was Acts 18:24–26 that Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, instructed Apollos on how to be a better Christian teacher:

“They took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”

Those previously mentioned responsibilities should not be dismissed as a secondary simply because it attracts less public attention than speeches or political campaigns. An organization that cannot administer its affairs reliably will struggle to accomplish its objectives, regardless of the strength of its rhetoric.

However, I am also not saying that administrative or charitable responsibilities need to become exclusively female occupations. What I am saying is that their distribution should reflect the organization’s needs, the ability of its members, and the principles it wishes to uphold. And so, a serious organization should cultivate competence wherever it finds it.

Education and Intellectual Life

Every successful nationalist organization must be able to answer questions about its history, principles, and intended future. It must explain what it seeks to preserve, what it hopes to reform, and what responsibilities it believes its members owe to their neam.

Here is where I have found women to be exemplary in contribution.

Women often times make the best researchers and note takers. So, they can be effectively used for researching national history, writing essays, editing publications, organizing lectures, maintaining archives, and participating in discussions of political philosophy. They can also examine the organization’s assumptions, identify weaknesses in its arguments, and help develop a more coherent understand of its objectives.

Education is especially important when a movement hopes to endure beyond the lifetime of its founders. Personal loyalty may bring people into an organization, but education helps them understand its principles and judge conduct against them.

An organization should expect women to transmit its ideas to future generations and also give them the opportunity to study those ideas seriously. It should not expect them to defend a traditions they have never been permitted to understand.

Remember, intellectual responsibility requires both instruction and independent judgement. By cultivating the mind to make important judgements independent of others, you create a greater nationalist.

Family, Demography, and Generational Continuity

A nationalist organization must regard the family as the fundamental social institution, because family life will naturally occupy an important place in their understanding of national continuity.

Families are responsible for raising children, establishing habits of mutual responsibility, transmitting cultural practices, and connecting successive generations. While many would argue for the nuclear family, what I have found is that it is isolating to the clan—creating indifference and splitting up the extended family—, so I advocate and believe that our most fundamental social institution must be multigenerational.

Nuclear Family

The nuclear family consists of two parents and their children living in a single household. It is a two-generation unit focused on the parent-child bond. In nuclear families, financial and childcare duties are concentrated within the small unit, often requiring outside services, such as schooling, child rearing, etc. Nuclear families offer greater privacy, autonomy, and mobility, making them common in Western Civilization.

Extended Family

The extended family is a multi-generational group that may span three or more generations. Extended families pool resources, allowing for shared labor, collective financial support, and built-in caregiving networks. Extended families also provide stronger community support, security, and cultural continuity, but involve less privacy and typically involve more complex interpersonal dynamics. They also may or may not live in the same household.

Women make important contributions in this sphere, just as men do. Parenthood, however, should not be treated as the only measure of a woman’s worth or commitment to her nation. Women who are widows or cannot have children may contribute through education, scholarship, public service, charitable work, and organizational participation.

By rhetoric alone, demographic security is not ensured. However, it depends on practical circumstances, including economic security, housing, access to education, and the ability of parents to provide for their children.

An organization looking to encourage family formation should consider whether its policies and institutions actually support family life. Celebrating the family while ignoring the material difficulties faced by families is unlikely to produce the desired result. So, the objective should be to strengthen the conditions under which families and communities can flourish.

Leadership and Responsibility

I have touched on this topic a bit earlier in the article, however, I thought it would be good to expand on what I had said. Easily one of the most important questions is what should be the extent of a woman’s participation in leadership.

Men and women have complementary, but distinct, social roles. While women can have substantial opportunities to lead certain institutions and undertake public responsibilities, it is not in an organization’s interests to adopt a sense of egalitarianism.

A woman who demonstrates exceptional ability in research, administration, public speaking, or organizational participation should not have those abilities ignored without a clear explanation grounded in principle. Equally, an organization that encourages women to assume demanding public responsibilities should consider how those responsibilities might affect family life and other obligations.

Leadership entails not just duties, but certain privileges as well. Those entrusted with authority should be judged by their competence, integrity, discipline, and service to the organization.

Beyond Symbolism

What I have noticed among many nationalist organizations is the tendency to treat certain groups primarily as symbols. Women may be praised as embodiments of national tradition or motherhood, but I rarely see them given meaningful opportunities to participate in the institutions supposedly built to preserve those things. Look symbolic recognition certainly has its place, but it cannot substitute for substantive responsibility.

If women are to be expected to contribute, than their responsibilities should be clearly defined with appropriate training and a genuine opportunity to develop their abilities. Their contributions should be evaluated honestly, and their work should be recognized fairly.

The standard that you apply to women, should be applied to men. An organization cannot build a culture of service if it reserves recognition for prominent personalities while overlooking the people who perform its essential work. You must learn to distinguish between appearance and achievement.

A Common National Purpose

Arguably my strongest argument for women’s participation in a nationalist organization is not that every women must perform in a predetermined function, but that because there are numerous responsibilities for the preservation and development of the national community, many of them will undoubtedly require the participation of the entire community.

Cultural institutions need teachers and researchers, while organizations need administrators and organizers. Families need responsible parents, while publications need writers and editors. Charitable projects need volunteers and capable leadership, while political institutions need people willing to accept responsibility for their decisions.

And women can contribute to all of these endeavors, as long as they have male supervision to ensure that they maintain the organization’s principles.

In my opinion, national service is not to be reduced to a single occupation, nor should commitment be measured solely by public visibility. A person who quietly preserves an archive, educates children, organizes a local association, or assists a family in hardship may contribute to the continuity of a national community as meaningfully as someone who addresses a public gathering.

The task at hand is to connect individual abilities with collective responsibilities. Therefore a nationalist organization that takes its future seriously must ask not merely how many people it can recruit, but what kind of community it intends to build, what institutions that community requires, and how its members can sustain those institutions over time.

I believe that women have a vital role in answering those questions, because the nature of that role should be determined through a serious consideration of cultural inheritance, family life, organizational needs, individual ability, and the organization’s stated principles.

Ultimately, a national organization is measured not only by the strength of its declarations, but by the quality of the community it cultivates. Its lasting achievement will depend on whether it can educate successive generations, maintain functioning institutions, encourage responsibility, and translate its convictions into enduring work. And it is these tasks that require dedication, competence, and service from all of the community.

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Dissident organizations have to understand the population that they are trying to organize. So, learn who exists, where they are, how that population is changing, and what those changes actually mean for organizing capacity.

This is going to be the population that you are recruiting members, leaders, donors, volunteers, and eventually families and institutions from.

An important thing to remember is that demographics aren’t destiny, and statistics can’t tell you exactly what people believe. However, demographics certainly help establish the pool of people available to organize and the social conditions under which organizing people should take place.

You need to ask yourself:

Who are the people, where are they, how is their population changing, and what institutions and circumstances shape their lives?

Population Growth

The first thing you need to think about is if the population is growing, shrinking, or remaining relatively stable.

The first things that I would look at are:

• Total population

• Annual population change

• Long-term population trends

• Birth versus deaths

• Domestic migration

• International migration

• Household growth

• Population projections

A growing population obviously has the potential to provide an expanding recruiting pool, while a shrinking population will undoubtedly force organizers to work even harder to maintain its membership.

Total population is extremely misleading, because a county or region might grow by 10%, for example, while the population an organization actually hopes to recruit remains flat or declines.

So you have to distinguish between them:

Total population growth → target-population growth → potential membership pool → actual recruitment pool.

Also, population projections are essentially educated guesses, so don’t treat them like facts. Different assumptions about fertility, mortality, and migration can produce substantially different outcomes.

Birth Rates

Birth rates obviously tell you something about the future age structure of a population.

The measurements I pay attention to are:

• Crude birth rates

• General fertility rates

• Total fertility rates

• Age-specific fertility rates

• Births by geographic area

• Births by mother’s age

For us organizers, birth rates are extremely important because today’s children become tomorrow’s workers, parents, activists, community members, and potential leaders.

To be clear, you should not make fertility statistics the immediate measure of organizational strength. Just because the organization has a high birth rate, it doesn’t mean that in 18 years time that the organization will be larger or even still around.

You have to think of these outcomes:

• Retention

• Education

• Religious affiliation

• Family stability

• Migration

• Economic conditions

• Geographic concentration

• Whether young adults remain in the community

You can’t just ask yourself, “How many children are being born?” You really need to think about the population’s age structure in 10 → 20 → 30 years.

Age Distribution

Age distribution is one of the most important demographic considerations for any organizer.

When I am looking at any area to recruit in, I will break the local population down into categories:

• Children

• Teenagers

• 18-24

• 25-34

• 35-44

• 45-54

• 55-64

• 65+

It’s essentially every ten years.

Then ask what every single category means organizationally to you. For instance, a population dominated by young adults presents a very different organizing environment from one dominated by retired men.

These different age groups are more likely to have different:

• Work schedules

• Family responsibilities

• Disposable income

• Social networks

• Transportation patterns

• Communication habits

• Institutional connections

• Willingness to volunteer

• Leadership potential

It’s also really important to consider how many children and elderly people there are relative to the working-age population.

Migration

Population change isn’t just about births and deaths, because people move.

So, study:

• Domestic migration

• International immigration

• Interstate migration

• County-to-county migration

• Rural-to-urban migration

• Urban-to-suburban migration

• Suburban-to-rural migration

• Migration of young adults

• Migration of retirees

• Migration associated with particular industries

Migration could completely transform an organization’s potential geography.

A community may have a declining local population, but rapidly increasing total population because of migration. For instance, if there is an area in Maine that has a declining population, but a bunch of people from Boston are moving there, that could completely change who you would have to attempt recruitment there and how you would need to do it.

So you have to think:

Who is leaving, who is arriving, and who is staying?

Because those 3 different groups could have wildly different relationships to the local community.

Urbanization

Determine how concentrated the population is by asking yourself the following about your potential recruitment area:

• Concentrated in one city?

• Spread across suburbs?

• Distributed among small towns?

• Scattered across rural areas?

• Concentrated along a transportation corridor?

• Divided among several metropolitan areas?

Population density dramatically affects organizing costs, because a thousand potential members living within a few miles of one another is way different from a thousand potential members scattered across the country.

Urbanization really affects the following:

• Meeting locations

• Travel requirements

• Event attendance

• Door-to-door organizing

• Local chapters or clusters

• Communication costs

• Volunteer coordination

Family Formation

When I look at population statistics, I don’t stop at individuals. Instead, I also look at households and families.

Specifically, these are what I look at:

• Marriage rates

• Median age at first marriage

• Household size

• Number of children per household

• Single-person households

• Married-couples households

• Divorce

• Cohabitation

• Household formation

• Homeownership

• Multigenerational households

I mean, think about it… family formation has enormous implications for organizational life.

Look, a 25-year old single person, a married couple with 3 kids, and a 65-year old empty-nester may all belong to the same broad demographic category, but that doesn’t mean they share the same time availability, financial commitments, transportation needs, and social networks.

If you can understand families, then you can build a program around actual household circumstances instead of an imagined member.

Education

Education must be examined at several different levels.

What I measure are:

• High-school completion

• College attendance

• Bachelor’s degrees

• Graduate degrees

• Vocational education

• Apprenticeships

• Trade certifications

• School enrollment

• School quality where appropriate

• Fields of study

You have to remember that education can influence someone’s employment opportunities, the amount of money they make, where they can move to or work, their professional networks, their political participation, their civic participation, communication styles, and how involved they can be in institutions.

However, do not automatically assume someone’s intelligence, character, or political beliefs based on their level of education. For instance, I am a high-school drop out, but here you are reading this to learn more about political activism.

Employment

Another thing you’re going to need to understand is how people make their money.

Here’s what I look at:

• Labor-force participation

• Employment rate

• Unemployment

• Major industries

• Major occupations

• Self-employment

• Unionization where relevant

• Full-time versus part-time employment

• Shift work

• Commute patterns

• Remote work

• Median and household income

• Wage distribution

Organization memberships are constrained by people’s time and economic circumstances. A community dominated by healthcare workers, for example, may have large numbers of people working irregular schedules. Meanwhile, a manufacturing community may have concentrated workplaces and shift changes that mean different organizing opportunities.

So, your goal isn’t merely to know whether people are “working.” You have to understand the economic structure of their everyday lives.

Geographic Concentration

Once I have done all of that, I map where my main recruitment centers should be created by marking:

• Counties

• Towns

• Neighborhoods

• Metropolitan areas

• Rural communities

• Population density

• Transportation

• Employment centers

• Educational institutions

• Existing associations

Then I look for clusters. I won’t tell you what they are for TNW, but lets say that an organization discovered that its potential recruitment centers are distributed nationally but are heavily concentrated in 10 metropolitan areas.

This information will influence how you structure your organization, so it’s best to stop pretending that every single state requires an equal organizational presence—because that won’t be the case.

Think about it like this:

10 strong geographic clusters → regional networks → national organization.

This is the map that should determine your organization—not the other way around.

Rural vs. Urban Populations

“Rural” and “urban” are not to be treated just as two demographic labels.

They represent completely different organizational environments. For instance, rural populations may have:

• Lower population density

• Longer travel distances

• Greater dependence on automobiles

• Smaller local institutions

• More overlapping social networks

• Fewer large public gathering places

Meanwhile, urban populations may have:

• Great population density

• More potential recruits within a small geographic area

• Greater institutional diversity

• High mobility

• More anonymity

• More competing organizations

Also, suburbia deserves a completely separate consideration, because it’s the transitional phase from rural to urban. So, your organization’s recruitment model should reflect the actual communities you’re looking to recruit from.

Generational Differences

People who were born in different time periods do not have identical experiences.

When you’re recruiting, you have to look at each generation:

• Silent Generation (Ages 98-81)

• Baby Boomers (Ages 80-62)

• Generation X (Ages 61-46)

• Millennials (Ages 45-30)

• Generation Z (Ages 29-14)

• Generation Alpha (Ages 13-)

The exact boundaries are less important then understanding the underlying differences. So, different generations will have experienced different economic conditions, technologies, educational systems, family structures, wars, recessions, cultural institutions, media environments, and housing markets.

Undoubtedly, these experienced will affect how people communicate, form friendships, consume information, and participate in organizations.

However, generational categories are analytical tools, not personality types.

Separating Demography from Demographic Narratives

One of the things that I need to address is how demographic data tells you what is happening, while political narratives tell you what someone thinks those changes mean. And this is easily one of the places where most organizers become intellectually careless.

What you need to understand is that demography and demographic narratives are very different things. So, every time you hear a major demographic claim, you must ask:

• What is the actual measurement?

  • Geography

  • Year

  • Population definition

  • Data source

  • Measurement

• What is the time period?

  • 5 years

  • 10 years

  • 25 years

  • 50 years

  • 100 years

• What exactly is being measured?

  • Immigration, foreign-born, ethnicity, race, ancestry, and citizenship are not interchangeable categories.

  • Birth rate does not equal fertility rate, and fertility rate does not mean population growth.

  • Population percentage does not equal absolute population.

• What are the competing explanations?

  • Low fertility

  • Mortality

  • Domestic migration

  • International migration

  • Economic conditions

  • Housing costs

  • Aging

  • Changes in household formation

  • Changes in geographic boundaries.

• Distinguish description from prediction

  • The claim that ‘a population has become older is different’ than ‘a population will become dramatically older by 2050.’

  • The first statement is a statement about observed data, while the second is a projection dependent on assumptions, not fact.

• Distinguish prediction from political interpretation

  • These claims are different:

    • ‘The median age is increasing.’

    • ‘The median age will increase over the next 25 years.’

    • ‘This demographic change will destroy our organization.’

  • The first claim requires historical data, the second requires demographic modeling, and the third requires an argument about organizational consequences. So, don’t let someone try to sneak the third claim into the first.

So, remember to establish the baseline of a time period, because statistics could look dramatically different in comparison. Remember not to immediately assume that a population declining is explained by one answer, because your job when analyzing demographics is to ask which factors actually account for the observed change.

The Core Principle

If you’re trying to be a serious organizer, than you need to move through these four separate stages:

DATA → DEMOGRAPHIC TREND → INTERPRETATION → ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSE

You can’t skip from one to another like:

POLITICAL NARRATIVE → ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSE.

In case you didn’t just see what I did, political narrative is not a stage. So if you use political narratives to determine your organizational response, then you’re an idiot. Don’t do that.

Discipline protects an organization from building its strategy around exaggerated statistics, selective anecdotes, ideological assumptions, and demographic myths.

At the same time, avoiding political narratives does not mean ignoring uncomfortable demographic realities. If the data shows substantial population change, acknowledge it. If the data contradicts a popular narrative, acknowledge that too.

The purpose of demographic analysis isn’t to confirm what you already believe. It’s to find out what is actually happening.

I have decided to put together a worksheet that paid subscribers can use, and one which only they can see.

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Monika Schaefer

Etta Volk

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Critical Review with Etta Volk

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The New Way

Arditi

Arditi Magazine features a collection of right wing writers, podcasters, and artists who are White Christians.

By Imperator Ardito

Listen to more episodes of Critical Review with Etta Volk on Arditi.

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Rumble

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Episode link: WTFR Random Thoughts

Find Shaun at:

WTFR Shaun Surplus

Radio Garden Myrtleford 24/7

Email

Subscribe to the podcast and website

Critical Review with Etta Volk

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

The New Way

Arditi

Arditi Magazine features a collection of right wing writers, podcasters, and artists who are White Christians.

By Imperator Ardito

Listen to more episodes of Critical Review with Etta Volk on Arditi.

Arditi is an independent publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Etta’s Social Media Links

Video Live Streaming

Rumble

Call into the show at 512-248-8252

Listen Live RBN