First, let's make clear what The League of Bearded Catholics is not... it is not an organization, let alone a Catholic men's organization. With some work it could become, say, a Loose Association, but even that sounds like too much fuss.
The League is meant to be held together by nothing much more than a sincere and spontaneous appreciation for Catholic culture, for authentic Catholic manhood and for the company of Catholic men and the women who tolerate them. If there is a chewy center to the Tootsie Roll Pop that is The League, it is an appreciation and gratitude especially for the lives and literary work of Tolkien, Lewis, Belloc and Chesterton - TLBC - (not necessarily in that order).
So, TLBC stands equally for The League of Bearded Catholics, and for Tolkien, Lewis, Belloc and Chesterton. You may have noticed that they are all dead British guys, and all important Christian writers of the twentieth century. You may also have noticed that not all of these gentlemen wore beards.
Okay, only one of them, that I know of, wore a beard, and that was Belloc in his later years;
I have found no photographic (or any other) evidence that any of the other three ever wore a full beard, at all. But Chesterton wore a mustache, and that's close enough (trust me) for TLBC purposes.
But then, C.S. Lewis was always clean shaven, as was Tolkien, as far as I know. The official position of the The League at this time is that, in spite of their smooth cheeks, both men sported a beard on the inside, which is the important and crucial thing. After all, some men - through no fault of their own - can't grow a beard, and we would not want to see them excluded from the fellowship by any mere accident of nature.
Does that make sense? It doesn't matter. If the work of these magnificent writers is the chewy center of The League, good humor and whimsy form the delicious candy shell. The one great and dangerous thing that must be avoided is the possibility that anyone would begin to take The League at all seriously. There are plenty of serious clubs and groups, if you like that sort of thing. TLBC isn't one of them.
The purpose of TLBC, then, is the same purpose for which God made wine... "To gladden the heart of man." We are glad to be alive, and our gratitude is expressed in what used to be called "merriment". The League is just a good-natured romp, even if our other goal (saving Western civilization) might sound to outsiders fairly grave and ambitious. If Western Civilization can be saved by beer, we stand ready to give it our best effort.
This is not a book club or (God help us) a study group. The point is not at all to study the work of the Four Patrons, the point is just to enjoy it together, to read it aloud, to talk about it, to watch movies or listen to music together - between drinks, anyway. Not only the work of the Big Four, but also of those who influenced them and those who were influenced by them, or anything judges to be in the spirit of their writing, though that could be argued. Arguing, incidentally, is also allowed. Maybe even encouraged. Whereas other social situations often demand that we hide our true opinions, this is the place to air them all.
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