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Rules for Retrogrades: Forty Tactics to Defeat the Radical Left
What is a retrograde? A retrograde calculates, night and day, how to return the world the Old Order of moral and sexual decency, classical masculinity, national sovereignty and national borders, faith and hope and charity, goodness and beauty and truth, Christian civic liberty, and most importantly, the social kingship of Christ. In the words of Shakespeare, a retrograde is one of God’s spies. The retrograde has the unique capacity for understanding the stark chasm between the degenerate, socialist-infiltrated world of decay on one side and the well-meaning, good-hearted, but clueless Christian world on the other. In a time of such profound decay, being one of God’s spies is a last resort and a pure it involves not “deep cover,”—i.e., acting like the enemy—but rather “half cover”: acting as a “contra” in the secular arena, a crypto-Christian counterinsurgent willing to fight like a Navy Seal and to think like a counterintel officer. Retrogrades . . . to the our aim is to reverse the deliberate, deuced machinations of “radicals” like Saul Alinsky who, by penning the rulebook of radicalism, threw down a challenge that has, until now, gone unanswered. Rules for Retrogrades is the handbook men of good will need to win the culture war! Here is a sampling from the call to action found within these No truth is “off-limits”; we must never be ashamed to be candid. It is a damnable lie that humility disallows Christians from standing up (for what they believe) in the cultural and political forum! Control of language is control of thought; don’t let radicals control the language. Never trust a man who is unwilling to have enemies. Radicals form coalitions but retrogrades form fellowships. The root of cultural decay is end feminism to end radicalism.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2020
174 people are currently reading
252 people want to read
About the author
Timothy J. Gordon
5 books27 followersStudied philosophy in Pontifical graduate universities in Europe, taught it at Southern Californian community colleges, and then went on to law school. He holds degrees in literature, history, philosophy, and law. Currently, he resides in central California with his wife and six children, where he writes and teaches philosophy and theology. Gordon is considered one of the Godfathers of “Bro-Man” Catholicism. He does a popular biweekly podcast and is the author of Catholic Republic: Why America Will Perish without Rome. Two forthcoming Gordon books are due in early 2020, each co-authored with his brother David: No Christian Feminism (Sophia Institute) and Rules for Retrogrades (Tan Books).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 10, 2021
Solid. Love his Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas tenets. Agree to be Michael the Archangel retrograde may be only way to turn Alinsky's Lucifer.
Some quotes for core happiness and societal retrieval of that state are priceless.
Preface is 5 stars.
Some quotes for core happiness and societal retrieval of that state are priceless.
Preface is 5 stars.
June 24, 2020
The Battle Cry of My Sons’ Generation
Young men of honor, read this book and take up the sword of faith! Our country needs retrogrades and you were born for such a time as this.
Rules for Retrogrades is a cogent and, as a late Boomer, convicting read. We can and should be doing more than voting. It is time to act as Timothy and David Gordon make very clear in what I am sure will become a classic piece of literature.
Young men of honor, read this book and take up the sword of faith! Our country needs retrogrades and you were born for such a time as this.
Rules for Retrogrades is a cogent and, as a late Boomer, convicting read. We can and should be doing more than voting. It is time to act as Timothy and David Gordon make very clear in what I am sure will become a classic piece of literature.
June 29, 2021
I would actually give this fantastic book a 4.5 rating. My only qualm is the choice in vocabulary. I understand their intended purpose of using such choice words, but the average American reader may need a dictionary to follow along. Other than this small grievance, I would suggest this as a must read for fellow retrogrades! Let’s take back what’s once was lost or more appropriately, that which is being stolen from us without much fight. My honest opinion.
March 24, 2020
Would have given it five stars, except that the authors jumped on the trendy train of Boomer bashing, blaming them for things like feminism (which has been gaining ground since the 1800's), abortion (as far as I know, there were no Boomers on the Supreme Court when that ruling came down), and other rulings on divorce and immigration that occurred when the Boomers weren't even of voting age. I think we're all responsible for the mess the culture is in.
Also, they seemed to have a different definition of alt-right from what I've read and accuse them of actually being leftists. One 16 point credo of the alt-right lists that they're against communism and socialism as well as globalism, and points out that they believe the foundations of Western Civilization are Christianity, Europe, and the Greeks and Romans.
The tactics themselves are excellent and very much needed.
Also, they seemed to have a different definition of alt-right from what I've read and accuse them of actually being leftists. One 16 point credo of the alt-right lists that they're against communism and socialism as well as globalism, and points out that they believe the foundations of Western Civilization are Christianity, Europe, and the Greeks and Romans.
The tactics themselves are excellent and very much needed.
August 30, 2021
4.5/10
This is no radical right counterpart to Alinsky, who is still the gold standard for political organizing when adapted to the Right. The authors are run of the mill moderate conservatives who think they're reactionaries or 'retrogrades' because they happen to be Catholic, but rail against identitarianism, even when used by the Right, and even in terms of Christian identity, let alone White (Rule 35). In thrall to a crippling ethicism as the all-too-familiar pre-excuse for failure (because we're too righteous to act effectively), the authors buy into the incoherent and destructive concept of Judaeo-Christianity and disown any degree of anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism (Rule 39). Both the liturgy of the Catholic Church and E Michael Jones would like to have a word with them about that. The authors quote Vice as an authoritative source to prove the alt-right is evil and White supremacist (p 195).
Being a pro-life Catholic Republican anti-racist tea-partier isn't coterminous with being a reactionary or retrograde. I'm more inclined to think it's orthogonal.
Though the authors do recognize in passing that the postmaterial left was begotten by the mating of Puritanism with the Enlightenment (actually, Puritanism and Nietzsche's anti-Enlightenment reaction), they don't follow the thread to a diagnosis and treatment, a 'root cause analysis'.
The rest of the advice given ranges in quality, but none of it is particularly insightful (defeat the Left cataclysmically: but how?), some is destructive (there is no moral evil involved in sanctioning leftist causes by buying goods from them because small, unpublicized boycotts are economically ineffective), to the anodyne (stay fit and lift, feminism must be rejected and disassembled: but how?)
The authors do not account for leftist tactics as practiced, nor for deplatforming, nor for group-bloc realities, nor for natural inequality (they are race and sex egalitarians at core), nor do they account for the noetic effects of sin, believing that given a platform and speaking truth will overcome demographic displacement and an increasingly hard-totalitarian state-corporate nexus.
They believe truth will always win, but truth has been available for centuries, millennia: truth was the default condition of the West up through a century or two ago. How then did it ever lose?
Because truth is often inconvenient, and lies profitable. Only a small minority will ever practice truth and justice when it harms them, and even then we run into the problem of group masochism and the fall of the West in the traits of faustian Western man: unwillingness to take our own side.
This is no radical right counterpart to Alinsky, who is still the gold standard for political organizing when adapted to the Right. The authors are run of the mill moderate conservatives who think they're reactionaries or 'retrogrades' because they happen to be Catholic, but rail against identitarianism, even when used by the Right, and even in terms of Christian identity, let alone White (Rule 35). In thrall to a crippling ethicism as the all-too-familiar pre-excuse for failure (because we're too righteous to act effectively), the authors buy into the incoherent and destructive concept of Judaeo-Christianity and disown any degree of anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism (Rule 39). Both the liturgy of the Catholic Church and E Michael Jones would like to have a word with them about that. The authors quote Vice as an authoritative source to prove the alt-right is evil and White supremacist (p 195).
Being a pro-life Catholic Republican anti-racist tea-partier isn't coterminous with being a reactionary or retrograde. I'm more inclined to think it's orthogonal.
Though the authors do recognize in passing that the postmaterial left was begotten by the mating of Puritanism with the Enlightenment (actually, Puritanism and Nietzsche's anti-Enlightenment reaction), they don't follow the thread to a diagnosis and treatment, a 'root cause analysis'.
The rest of the advice given ranges in quality, but none of it is particularly insightful (defeat the Left cataclysmically: but how?), some is destructive (there is no moral evil involved in sanctioning leftist causes by buying goods from them because small, unpublicized boycotts are economically ineffective), to the anodyne (stay fit and lift, feminism must be rejected and disassembled: but how?)
The authors do not account for leftist tactics as practiced, nor for deplatforming, nor for group-bloc realities, nor for natural inequality (they are race and sex egalitarians at core), nor do they account for the noetic effects of sin, believing that given a platform and speaking truth will overcome demographic displacement and an increasingly hard-totalitarian state-corporate nexus.
They believe truth will always win, but truth has been available for centuries, millennia: truth was the default condition of the West up through a century or two ago. How then did it ever lose?
Because truth is often inconvenient, and lies profitable. Only a small minority will ever practice truth and justice when it harms them, and even then we run into the problem of group masochism and the fall of the West in the traits of faustian Western man: unwillingness to take our own side.
June 28, 2020
Out of all the books written by so called "Right-wing" "Conservative" Catholics concerning society at large and the duties of Catholics regarding it's revival, "Rules for Retrogrades" can appropriately be called the "pièce de résistance" in all such literature. The Gordon brothers hold nothing back and clearly and effectively illustrate the problems of society and how Catholic men must combat them, one by one.
Not only do the Gordon brothers reasonably assess the situation of society today, but they also give common-sense Catholic formulas (aka RULES) on how men today should and must act (not just REACT) in order to bring about the social kingship of Christ in society. The reader is left wondering how on earth Catholic men have not yet put into practice what "Rules for Retrogrades" proposes. As it clearly reminds the reader of his Christian duty to uphold the truth, in all circumstance, without retreat and without apology.
In reading "Rules for Retrogrades" one is reminded of the "good ole'" Catholicism. The same that one finds when reading Aquinas, St. Paul, and even Venerable Fulton Sheen. The "good 'ole" Catholicism that warmly embraces brotherhood, good conversation and common sense. Where truth is clear, straightforward and unambiguous. And where men are bold, daring and heroic.
Not only do the Gordon brothers reasonably assess the situation of society today, but they also give common-sense Catholic formulas (aka RULES) on how men today should and must act (not just REACT) in order to bring about the social kingship of Christ in society. The reader is left wondering how on earth Catholic men have not yet put into practice what "Rules for Retrogrades" proposes. As it clearly reminds the reader of his Christian duty to uphold the truth, in all circumstance, without retreat and without apology.
In reading "Rules for Retrogrades" one is reminded of the "good ole'" Catholicism. The same that one finds when reading Aquinas, St. Paul, and even Venerable Fulton Sheen. The "good 'ole" Catholicism that warmly embraces brotherhood, good conversation and common sense. Where truth is clear, straightforward and unambiguous. And where men are bold, daring and heroic.
January 6, 2022
In 2015, criticizing #BLM was allowed. In 2020, the rules changed and EVERYONE sucked #BLM's dick even if they weren't gay.
If you were like Tim Gordon and you made a public statement that you would never suck #BLM's dick because you weren't gay, you were fired.
Our spineless leaders genuflected to the idiots after letting them take over, so now it is up to the laity to employ the tactics of merciless dialogue at the expense of the radicals to change the hearts of the moderate conservatives content with complacency.
Rules for Retrogrades, written in 2019, predicts the chaos of June 2020. Gordon does not have to be a psychic because he is a Catholic and a student of history. Therefore, every prescient statement he makes in this book was brought to demonstrable example in June 2020.
Retrogrades need to be publicly courageous to win back the soul of the West.
If you were like Tim Gordon and you made a public statement that you would never suck #BLM's dick because you weren't gay, you were fired.
Our spineless leaders genuflected to the idiots after letting them take over, so now it is up to the laity to employ the tactics of merciless dialogue at the expense of the radicals to change the hearts of the moderate conservatives content with complacency.
Rules for Retrogrades, written in 2019, predicts the chaos of June 2020. Gordon does not have to be a psychic because he is a Catholic and a student of history. Therefore, every prescient statement he makes in this book was brought to demonstrable example in June 2020.
Retrogrades need to be publicly courageous to win back the soul of the West.
June 22, 2020
Commonsense Rules to Restore the Western Logos
This is a nice short book. It goes over the tactics used by the radical Left to win debates and advance their culture war. Reading it is a must for any conservative who wants to do more than look respectable as radicals lead society by the nose into their communist utopia.
This is a nice short book. It goes over the tactics used by the radical Left to win debates and advance their culture war. Reading it is a must for any conservative who wants to do more than look respectable as radicals lead society by the nose into their communist utopia.
July 10, 2020
Definitely a book worth reading!
In addition to making a solid moral argument for the need to challenge the radical left's cultural hegemony, Rules for Retrogrades, provides a tactical manual for defenders of a free society.
In addition to making a solid moral argument for the need to challenge the radical left's cultural hegemony, Rules for Retrogrades, provides a tactical manual for defenders of a free society.
August 30, 2020
Inspiring and much detail on fighting this war
Loved Tim's attitude, calling it like us to do more. Voting just isn't enough against the relentless forces of evil. Moderate conservatives have to get off the couch and take action, lest evil triumphs!
Loved Tim's attitude, calling it like us to do more. Voting just isn't enough against the relentless forces of evil. Moderate conservatives have to get off the couch and take action, lest evil triumphs!
March 30, 2020
Tim and Dave Gordon give a thorough guide for navigating and fighting in our current anti-Christian climate.
March 28, 2020
Quite enjoyable and informative.
April 14, 2020
Talk about a must-read rulebook for these volatile times. Fascinating and provocative. I'm eager to see more literature come out soon from the Gordon Bros....
August 2, 2020
A Practical Answer to Alinsky
Tim Gordon’s youthful Thomistic clarity gives clear and very refreshing guidelines to wrest Western civilization away from the Marxist groundswell.
Tim Gordon’s youthful Thomistic clarity gives clear and very refreshing guidelines to wrest Western civilization away from the Marxist groundswell.
August 6, 2020
“Don’t frag a fellow retrograde” A rule that the "frag bros." should have paid attention to.
March 7, 2021
It’s providential that I finished this book on the feast day of St Thomas Aquinas in the TLM calendar. Since I was first made aware of Timothy Gordon from Dr Taylor Marshall, I’m amazed at his depth of knowledge and willingness to go a little further in order to win. His brother, David, does a wonderful job articulating the point. Many of the rules I kind of picked up on as a convert to Catholicism from my Baptism into the Baptist church, going to a United Methodist church as a teenager, and even a non-denominational for a chance to meet other young people, I can attest to meeting quite a few “mod cons” in these circles who are afraid to rock the boat. Some will even accuse me of taking the wrong tone.
Although, my general impression is that I probably need to find more Catholic women to emulate because I can’t be asserting such strength when I am meant to be a wife and a mother. I can only imagine that the Gordon Brothers are exactly what I would have imagined if Rush Limbaugh had any sons to hand on his legacy.
Although, my general impression is that I probably need to find more Catholic women to emulate because I can’t be asserting such strength when I am meant to be a wife and a mother. I can only imagine that the Gordon Brothers are exactly what I would have imagined if Rush Limbaugh had any sons to hand on his legacy.
June 29, 2020
I'd say this is pretty generally a good book.
A few issues:
1) The authors take the hypocrisy of the marxists to be a useful thing to make use of. I'd say that's only narrowly valuable for pedagogical purposes. Their understanding as to why the hypocrisy exists is exactly right. It exists to manipulate their audience towards being more convenient for their end goals. This is also why they upspeak - to test where their audience is.
2) They take the division in society to exist because of coaching.
3) Nationalism is used to mean statism.
4) They're stuck in the "ideas paradigm". It's not reasonable to be concerned with spreading the acceptance of ideas while dodging the dispositions, backgrounds and interrelations of people. They don't go completely off course here, though. They do accept center right people are probably easier targets for conversion
5) Opposition to a concern over relatedness and cues of relatedness. This will lead to people squandering efforts.
A few issues:
1) The authors take the hypocrisy of the marxists to be a useful thing to make use of. I'd say that's only narrowly valuable for pedagogical purposes. Their understanding as to why the hypocrisy exists is exactly right. It exists to manipulate their audience towards being more convenient for their end goals. This is also why they upspeak - to test where their audience is.
2) They take the division in society to exist because of coaching.
3) Nationalism is used to mean statism.
4) They're stuck in the "ideas paradigm". It's not reasonable to be concerned with spreading the acceptance of ideas while dodging the dispositions, backgrounds and interrelations of people. They don't go completely off course here, though. They do accept center right people are probably easier targets for conversion
5) Opposition to a concern over relatedness and cues of relatedness. This will lead to people squandering efforts.
July 21, 2022
Antidote to Alinsky
This book is a much needed and practical call to arms for those who the author refers to as Retrogrades. In other places, Retrogrades might be called paleoconservatives, America First conservatives, traditionalists, etc. In any case, not only are Retrogrades opposed to radicals (ie, the left), but more importantly they oppose those who the author calls mod-cons (moderate conservatives), typified by the likes of Mitt Romney or Mitch McConnell, two milquetoast Republican politicians more afraid of negative Washington Post coverage than the radical left agenda of the American Marxist (aka Democratic) Party. This book refutes those tactics and empty philosophy as much as it refutes the radical left. Tellingly, one of this book's final points is to refute the alt-right as devastatingly as the radical left, because both alt right and radical left are two sides of the same racist, central planning, neopagan, pro-abortion coin.
This book is a much needed and practical call to arms for those who the author refers to as Retrogrades. In other places, Retrogrades might be called paleoconservatives, America First conservatives, traditionalists, etc. In any case, not only are Retrogrades opposed to radicals (ie, the left), but more importantly they oppose those who the author calls mod-cons (moderate conservatives), typified by the likes of Mitt Romney or Mitch McConnell, two milquetoast Republican politicians more afraid of negative Washington Post coverage than the radical left agenda of the American Marxist (aka Democratic) Party. This book refutes those tactics and empty philosophy as much as it refutes the radical left. Tellingly, one of this book's final points is to refute the alt-right as devastatingly as the radical left, because both alt right and radical left are two sides of the same racist, central planning, neopagan, pro-abortion coin.
November 14, 2024
Big words, and somewhat hard for the everyday lay person to just sit down and read. But when filled with determination and note taking, one can grasp the rules. Definitely a book men of the faith should consider reading in these woke times we find ourselves. This book will help to cultivate mental strength and strong intellectual fortitude. "Sin makes you stupid" -Fr. Ripperger. Sin dulls the interior life and weakens the will. This book along with some basic Spiritual Warfare knowledge along side the Sacraments of the Church should definitely help when faced with those poor souls confused by vice and modern day wokeness.
July 3, 2020
Some very good ideas in this book. Probably too many rules; quite a few are essentially a further explanation of an earlier rule under the guise of a new rule. The authors are also VERY Catholic. It sometimes clouds their thinking of understanding of history. That being said, if you're tired of the crazies and the mob bullying decent people around and fear for our country or Western Civilization in general, this is a must read.
April 13, 2021
The fundamentals of this book are sound and it is a good action plan for the authentic catholic. However, for someone who already is a retrograde//authentic Catholic many of the rules are just obvious (few rules go deeper than what we already now). The book, for me, has one specific audience: a young conservative who is culturally Catholic (That person will in this book find the first connection between his faith and conservatism).
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August 2, 2025A must read for all conservatives
This is a phenomenal book. A great read to the very last word. And also perfect for re-reading for reference. Informative, clever, very inspiring and also rooted in reality.
I have enjoyed every book by Timothy J Gordon that I've ever read. The man is a genius, and he walks his talk too. If we heed his words and act on his recommendations, conservatives will surely win.
This is a phenomenal book. A great read to the very last word. And also perfect for re-reading for reference. Informative, clever, very inspiring and also rooted in reality.
I have enjoyed every book by Timothy J Gordon that I've ever read. The man is a genius, and he walks his talk too. If we heed his words and act on his recommendations, conservatives will surely win.
April 29, 2021
Fabulous!! I’ve always had that retrograde
attitude so Tim & Dave just gave me permission to be as good as I can in the direction of acting for good! Just as the radicals rule for evil, we learn how to use strategies to defeat them using their own methods. Love it!! Excellent, short & useful everyday!
attitude so Tim & Dave just gave me permission to be as good as I can in the direction of acting for good! Just as the radicals rule for evil, we learn how to use strategies to defeat them using their own methods. Love it!! Excellent, short & useful everyday!
April 3, 2025
Some reasonable advice in here, but I can't rate higher than a 3 because so many of the points on modern culture were dated by the time I read it—just 5 years later. It became boring and I had to start skimming. Some tactics became irrelevant because battles were won and they are no longer need, others because the tactics were proven ineffectual, giving the feeling of "old man yells at cloud."
November 24, 2020
Covers many topics to help counter the radical left
Would recommend this as a good starting point. The radical left is so certain of its position that one needs all the tools and weapons to counter them. Very good stance from the Christian and Catholic perspective.
Would recommend this as a good starting point. The radical left is so certain of its position that one needs all the tools and weapons to counter them. Very good stance from the Christian and Catholic perspective.
July 4, 2020
Required primer.
October 28, 2020
Great Book
The Gordon brothers did an excellent job compiling these rules. The need for strong men to fight the good fight has never been greater.
The Gordon brothers did an excellent job compiling these rules. The need for strong men to fight the good fight has never been greater.
January 7, 2021
Tactics!
A handbook for actions that we can all take! Humility is not passive! We need to be as "activist" as our enemies!
A handbook for actions that we can all take! Humility is not passive! We need to be as "activist" as our enemies!
November 28, 2021
I was gifted this book and am glad I did not spend money on this drivel.
It is detached from reality facing the generations of today and resorts to name calling.
It is detached from reality facing the generations of today and resorts to name calling.
May 31, 2022
I'd rate this book 4.5 for content and message. I listened on audible and did not love the narrator's voice or style.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews