The following post was originally published as part of Why the US National Security State’s Orthodox Christian Obsession? That is a very lengthy post, and there was concern among some readers that the information below was not getting the exposure it deserves. After multiple requests, we are publishing just this section as a stand-alone piece dedicated to the topics of undermining the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Faith generally.  For those who have not read the original article, here is what is meant by the word: “blob” used below: The US National Security State is so lavish ..read more

Russia is not just an enemy of the West. Russia, and her Orthodox Church, are the enemy of the West. Russia, under her deranged dictator Vladimir Putin, is out to destroy everything the West stands for. The war in Ukraine, unless the rampaging Mongol Hordes are stopped, is just a prelude to invading Europe. Only the might and financial resources of NATO, led by the United States, can save the world! Thus was it in the beginning. Is now. And ever shall be. That is, at least until Russia is defeated, broken up, and stripped for spare parts. But, why? Independent analysts, politicians, world lea ..read more

A Philosophical Dialogue About the Western Rite Question There have been attempts within the Orthodox Church to incorporate the Western mass since the late 19th century. Many Orthodox Christians question whether this is appropriate and what reason could there be for doing something other than the standard liturgics. There have been many liturgical scholars and propagandists, but there has never been a philosopher-theologian who could explain why the Western Rite is important and sketch out a singular vision while dealing honestly with the dynamics and inherent weaknesses within the Western Rit ..read more

On March 12th the Texas Monthly published a hit piece titled “Inspired by the Confederacy and Czarist Russia, “Ortho Bros” Are on the Rise.” This “article” was primarily an attack on my father-in-law, Fr. John Whiteford, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), and the notion of Southern Orthodoxy. This article was authored by a recent convert named Meagan Saliashvili, a graduate of Harvard Divinity who posts many things which may lead one to believe she is an advocate of pro-LGBTQP church policy, abortion rights, and a female diaconate/priesthood&nb ..read more

To read this article in Greek, click here. What did the Greek Revolution of 1821 achieve? And why should it take the Greeks four centuries to free themselves from the Ottoman yoke? Well, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. One main reason why Greece’s many attempts to expel the Turks had failed, is that a free Greece (a return to the glory of Byzantium and the peak of civilization) was not in the best interests of the European powers of the time. England, France, Germany were afraid of losing control of the imperial and colonial system in the face of Greek progress. They knew what a free and ideal ..read more

How can that be? – Such will probably be most folks’ reaction to the title of this essay.  Aren’t they the States passing laws to ban transgender mutilations and abortions, to crack down on crime, to acknowledge God in some way in public schools, etc.?  That is true, and for those good things they should be praised.  But unfortunately that is not all they are doing. They are also granting special privileges to the Jewish people, privileges that they would not consider giving to Christians, Hindus, Muslims, or any other religious group.  South Dakota is the latest State to d ..read more

Haiti – much-suffering Haiti – is writhing in torment once again: Haitians have been plunged into a deepening crisis, as gang violence forces thousands of people to flee their homes and businesses and schools to shutter. On Thursday, Haiti’s government extended a state of emergency until April 3 in the Ouest Department, where the capital, Port-au-Prince, is located. It was first imposed on Sunday. The measure includes nightly curfews and bans on protests, although rights groups have said they have done little to stem the violence. A new police station was also set on fire on Wednesday night i ..read more

Lent is approaching, which for Orthodox Christians, is a time of fasting and repentance as we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. It is also a time when discussions with Protestant friends, family members, and acquaintances can often devolve into accusations of Orthodoxy teaching “works-based salvation”. Below is a typical social media post: Do we Orthodox really try to “earn our way” into Heaven via our own self-righteousness and “‘doing enough”? Let’s look at how we might answer that. To prove that this is simply not the case, I’m going to use quotes from the Liturgy of St. Tik ..read more

The last few decades have seen a dramatic turn away from Christianity in the West.  And yet Christlike figures (those who lay down their lives for others that they would not die; St John’s Gospel 10:11) continue to show up as heroes in the stories of her popular arts.  There are three such productions in particular that we will look at below:  the video games Chrono Trigger (1995) and Sea of Stars (2023) and the television show Travelers (2016-18). Protagonists Chrono Trigger This is a flighty sci-fi/fantasy role-playing game (RPG) involving time travel and the consequences ther ..read more

A couple of years ago, I had to attend the heterodox wedding of the child of one of the couples from our parish. They had embraced Orthodoxy, but their adult children had stayed Episcopalian. One of their daughters was getting married in an Episcopal ceremony, and they asked a few of us to attend for moral support. When my wife and I arrived, we saw that our priest was already there. He was dressed inconspicuously in a suit and tie. I had never before seen him in public without a cassock. Sitting next to him, I asked him why he was in “civilian” attire. “Because,” he said, “If I were here in a ..read more