Orthodox Editors

GOP Defeat and the ‘New Tone’

American Thinker | C. Edmund Wright | Nov. 6, 2008

Conservatism did not lose last night, as it was not on the ballot. The big winner was ignorance and the biggest loser was the Bush-Rove-McCain brand of watered down Republicanism. Yes, the Bush-Rove-McCain brand. They gave us each other. Much as the two men cannot stand each other, they are ironically much the same. And the result is indeed a new tone in Washington, and it is a scary dreary leftist tone.

We will never beat it back until the watered down bi-partisans are flushed from the system. Thomas Jefferson loved partisanship. Hugo Chavez does not. That should tell us all we need to know about this flawed path our party has been on for many years. Tuesday, our aisle-crossing chickens came home to roost. [Read more…]

The Way Forward

Acton Institute | Rev. Robert A. Sirico | Nov. 5, 2008

What more proof do people need in light of the historical record that bureaucratic interventionism – I may as well say it out loud – socialism – is not the cure for what ails us but bad medicine, a poison that more and more is the principal thing that does ail us. And this medicine is precisely what has been prescribed, merely in various disguises, by almost all political leaders. Even people who have professed a free market orientation seem to have fallen prey to Bastiat’s aphorism that everybody has the illusion they can live at everyone else’s expense, without remembering that sooner or later the pocket in front of you will be empty as well. When the economic preoccupation is redistribution of wealth, rather than on removing the barriers to its production, we are in a precarious and increasingly vulnerable position. [Read more…]

Free markets did not cause this crisis

Acton Institute | Oskari Juurikkala | Oct. 29, 2008

Many assert that the ongoing financial crisis was caused by rampant capitalism and free-market economics. I disagree – not because I’m a hard-nosed conservative or a reckless libertarian, but because it’s the conclusion one reaches by a reasoned analysis of the facts.

There are at least three distinct but related reasons for the crisis: the culture of greed and consumerism, irresponsible monetary policy, and misregulated financial derivatives. Are they rooted in free-market principles? Let’s see. [Read more…]

Washington voters approve assisted suicide initiative

The Seattle Times | CURT WOODWARD | Nov. 5, 2008

Voters approved Initiative 1000 on Tuesday, making Washington the second state to give terminally ill people the option of medically assisted suicide. The ballot measure, patterned after Oregon’s “Death with Dignity” law, allows a terminally ill person to be prescribed lethal medication, which would be self-administered. [Read more…]

Boy, Was I Wrong, America Embraces Marxism

American Thinker | Steven M. Warshawsky | Nov. 5, 2008

Who would have believed that the philosophy of Karl Marx – “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” – would triumph so spectacularly in the United States of America?

Frankly, I cannot understand how a man like Obama became president. It contradicts everything I know, or thought I knew, about American history, culture, and politics. Whatever happened to individual liberty, limited government, self-reliance, and the American Dream? Whatever happened to patriotism? Has the Left in this country finally completed its “long march” through America’s institutions, now capturing the White House? Has the Left at last succeeded in destroying the birthright of freedom and prosperity that the Founding Fathers bequeathed to us more than two hundred years ago? I fear it has. [Read more…]

Election Day 2008, Prayer for America

Orthodox Prayer BookNov. 4, 2008

Almighty God, the Father of mercies, Lord of all Creation, and Spring of all comfort, hear our prayers, come to our defense, and deliver us from the dangers and evil that besets us and threatens to enslave us and our children. Oh Master, Jesus Christ, we beseech You to save this land and have mercy on Your people, for the days are dark and our hearts are troubled.

We believe Lord, that all trials of life are under Your care and that all things work for the good of those who love You. Take away from us fear, anxiety, and distress. Help us to face and endure these difficult and dangerous times with faith, courage, and wisdom. Grant that these trials may bring us closer to You for You are our rock and refuge, our comfort and hope, our delight and joy. We trust in Your love and compassion. For unto Thee are due all glory, honor, and worship: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. [Read more…]