Orthodox Editors

Caritas in Veritate: Why Truth Matters

July 10, 2009July 10, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Acton Institute | Samuel Gregg | July 8, 2009

Relativists beware. Whether you like it or not, truth matters – even in the economy. That’s the core message of Pope Benedict XVI’s new social encyclical Caritas in Veritate.

For 2000 years, the Catholic Church has hammered home a trio of presently-unpopular ideas into the humus of human civilization: that there is truth; that it is not simply of the scientific variety; that it is knowable through faith and reason; and that it is not whatever you want or “feel” it to be. Throughout his entire life, Benedict XVI has underscored these themes, precisely because much of the world, including many Christians, has lost sight of their importance. [Read more…]

GE to Test Drug Toxicity on Human Embryos, Not Lab Rats

July 9, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Here we go down the slippery slope. PETA will be very happy that rats will be spared.
CNSNews | Monica Gabriel | July 9, 2009

GE Healthcare, the medical research subsidiary of General Electric, has formed a partnership with a leading U.S. biotech company to develop products based on human embryonic stem cells that can be used to develop new drugs.

On June 30, GE Healthcare and Geron Corporation announced a multi-year alliance where Geron will provide GE scientists with an undisclosed amount of human embryonic stem cells. [Read more…]

Keeping Students Connected to the Orthodox Church

July 8, 2009July 9, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

AOCA | Fr. Kevin Scherer | Summer 2009

“Keeping Our College Students Connected to the Church” is a tagline for Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF). You’ll find it throughout our literature and even on our stationery. It says concisely what we believe to be our primary mission. I’ve spent hours thinking about it, talking about it, and wrestling with it. To be honest, I think it needs some unpacking, some clarification.

When I see the word “keeping,” I wonder whether some people unconsciously expect OCF to handcuff students to the church pew—because we know what’s best for them! The word “keeping” conveys the idea of preservation. The question is: What are we preserving? It’s helpful, I think, to reflect on the why, what, how, and who of keeping students connected to the Church. [Read more…]

Honduras at the Tipping Point

July 6, 2009July 6, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Why is the U.S. not supporting the rule of law?
Wall Street Journal | Mary Anastasia O’Grady | July 6, 2009

Hundreds of emails from Hondurans flooded my in-box last week after I reported on the military’s arrest of President Manuel Zelaya, as ordered by the Supreme Court, and his subsequent banishment from the country.

Mr. Zelaya’s violations of the rule of law in recent months were numerous. But the tipping point came 10 days ago, when he led a violent mob that stormed a military base to seize and distribute Venezuelan-printed ballots for an illegal referendum. [Read more…]

Carbon Police Enforcing Environmental Radicalism in England

July 6, 2009July 6, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

This is what’s in store for the US if Obama’s “cap and trade” insanity is passed and forced on the American economy. God help us!

The Sunday Times | Jonathan Leake | July 4, 2009

The boys in green are coming as the Environment Agency sets up a squad to police companies generating excessive CO2 emissions. The agency is creating a unit of about 50 auditors and inspectors, complete with warrant cards and the power to search company premises to enforce the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), which comes into effect next year.

Decked out in green jackets, the enforcers will be able to demand access to company property, view power meters, call up electricity and gas bills and examine carbon-trading records for an estimated 6,000 British businesses. Ed Mitchell, head of business performance and regulation at the Environment Agency, said the squad would help to bring emissions under control. “Climate change and CO2 are the world’s biggest issues right now. The Carbon Reduction Commitment is one of the ways in which Britain is responding.” [Read more…]

California’s Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics

July 6, 2009July 6, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Bloomberg | Kevin Hassett | July 6, 2009

With California mired in a budget crisis, largely the result of a political impasse that makes spending cuts and tax increases impossible, Controller John Chiang said the state planned to issue $3.3 billion in IOU’s in July alone. Instead of cash, those who do business with California will get slips of paper.

The California morass has Democrats in Washington trembling. The reason is simple. If Obama’s health-care plan passes, then we may well end up paying for it with federal slips of paper worth less than California’s. Obama has bet everything on passing health care this year. The publicity surrounding the California debt fiasco almost assures his resounding defeat. [Read more…]

Cap and Trade: The Big Con

July 5, 2009July 5, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

American Thinker | John Griffing | July 3, 2009

Masquerading as an instrument of environmental salvation, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill will result in one of the largest seizures of wealth in human history. The legislation will wreak havoc on American manufacturing and industry, and coerce the conformity of an already economically squeezed populace. The bill is a transparent power grab, based on a fictional crisis-the left’s ever-dependable threat of global warming. [Read more…]

No Laughing Matter – America’s Path to Marxism

July 2, 2009July 2, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

FrontPageMag | Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson | July 2, 2009

Who won the Cold War? That’s a no-brainer. The United States prevailed while the Soviet Union collapsed, and the People’s Republic of China dumped Marxism; capitalism (free markets and private property) triumphed over socialism (centrally planned markets and state-owned property); an ethos of individual rights proved to be more resilient and healthy than collectivist ideology; relatively small, democratic government clearly was demonstrated to help a society prosper far more effectively than elitist Big Government.

How ironic, then, that voices in Russia and China are mocking our current Big Government policies. Those whose countries took the tragic, impoverishing detour through Big Government hell now react with scorn and derision as we Americans charge headlong down that same path. What an amazing spectacle it must be for them to see the victor of the Cold War borrow many pages from the losers’ playbook. [Read more…]

Orthodox Christianity and Capitalism Revisited

July 1, 2009November 15, 2018 by Orthodox Editors

AFR – The Illumined Heart | Kevin Allen | Jun 26, 2009

The previous podcast on this subject with Chris Banescu stimulated comments about whether we covered the bases on this issue fully or dispassionately enough. In this conversation, Fr John Whiteford, (ROCOR) priest and frequent conservative commentator and blogger, and Dr. Amir Azarvan, (ROCOR) layman, political science lecturer, and self-described “social democrat,” talk about poverty, the welfare state, whether alms-giving is spiritually effective if government mandated, and the best way to live out the Orthodox Christian life in the world.

Orthodox Christianity and Capitalism Revisited – 6/26/09 http://audio.ancientfaith.com/illuminedheart/ih_2009-06-26_pc.mp3|titles=Orthodox

[Read more…]

The ugly face of liberalism

July 1, 2009July 1, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

American Thinker | Selwyn Duke | July 1, 2009

It has been interesting watching the response to the Honduran military’s recent ousting its nation’s president, Manuel Zelaya. Barack Obama called the action “not legal” and Hillary Clinton said that the arrest of Zelaya should be condemned. Most interesting, perhaps, is that taking this position places them shoulder to shoulder with Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega and Venezuelan’s roaring mouse, Hugo Chavez, who is threatening military action against Honduras. Now, some would say this is an eclectic group – others would say, not so much – regardless, what has gotten them so upset? [Read more…]