Moral issues

Russian Orthodox Church Leaders Defend Marriage

February 5, 2010February 10, 2010 by Orthodox Editors

Pat. Kirill
AOI | Feb. 5, 2010

Russian Orthodox Church leaders called on Christians on Thursday to be firm in defending traditional marriage and lamented the family crisis in the country.

According to some estimates, over half of the marriages in Russia end in divorce. Women in the 140-million-strong country undergo some 1.5 million abortions annually.“We, Christians of different denominations, should profess the inviolability of the evangelic norms on the holy matrimony between man and woman,” Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said in a welcome message to participants of an inter-Christian forum for former Soviet republics held in Moscow. [Read more…]

If You Can Find a Better Deal, Take It!

January 9, 2010 by Orthodox Editors

Human Events | by Ann Coulter | Jan. 6, 2010

Someone mentioned Christianity on television recently and liberals reacted with their usual howls of rage and blinking incomprehension. On a Fox News panel discussing Tiger Woods, Brit Hume said, perfectly accurately:

“The extent to which he can recover, it seems to me, depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So, my message to Tiger would be, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.” [Read more…]

Domestic Disturbances

January 5, 2010January 5, 2010 by Orthodox Editors

Touchstone | by Patrick F. Fagan | Jan. 5, 2010

The Rising Polyamorous Culture Is Out to Get Your Children

The culture of the traditional family is now in intense competition with a very different culture. The defining difference between the two is the sexual ideal each embraces. The traditional family of Western civilization is based on lifelong monogamy. The competing culture is “polyamorous,” normally a serial polygamy, but also increasingly polymorphous in its different sexual expressions. [Read more…]

Conservative Singles, New Website Launched

January 1, 2010January 2, 2010 by Orthodox Editors

ConservativeDatingSite.com | Jan. 1, 2010

A new website dedicated exclusively to Conservative Singles has been launched. The site, located at www.ConservativeDatingSite.com, was created in order to serve the needs, interests, beliefs, and traditional values of the large and growing conservative community in the United States and around the world.

We welcome everyone to have a look around the site and see what it has to offer. Registration and regular memberships are FREE for all conservatives.

We believe this venue is a much-needed service for the many Conservative Singles out there who are looking for a friend, a companion, or are ready for a serious long-term relationship.[Read more…]

Have We Stopped Trying to Make Good People?

December 15, 2009December 15, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

DennisPrager.com | by Dennis Prager | Dec. 15, 2009

The most important question any society must answer is: How will we make good people?

That is the question Judeo-Christian values have grappled with. There are many and profound theological and practical differences between Judaism and Christianity. But in the American incarnation of Judeo-Christian values — and America is really the one civilization that developed an amalgamation of Jewish and Christian values — the emphasis has been on individual character. [Read more…]

Time to Exit Eli’s Road

November 30, 2009December 1, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Fr. Basil Biberdorf, a priest in the Orthodox Church in America, has launched “The Orthodox Leader”, a new site designed to address and challenge the evil and corruption that has been tolerated and enabled in Christ’s Church. God bless Fr. Basil for stepping into the public arena to openly challenge the complacent leadership and standing up for truth and righteousness.

The Orthodox Leader | by Fr. Basil Biberdorf | Nov. 30, 2009

We have a problem in Orthodox North America. Worse than matters of theft and malfeasance, we have sexual sin among some of the clergy – fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and, dare I say it, pedophilia – that is all too often being passed over by hierarchs and church administrators. Some priests, deacons, and bishops who should be serving, caring, and interceding for their flocks are instead “making themselves vile,” and, in some cases, ravaging the flock for their own base appetites. It is clear that these offenders will stand, like Hophni and Phineas, before God. But what of our leaders? What of those who should be restraining these men? Are they taking firm action, or are they taking the path of Eli?

[Read more…]

A Troubled Thanksgiving 2009

November 26, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

DennisPrager.com | by Dennis Prager | Nov. 24, 2009

I have always loved Thanksgiving. It is my favorite national holiday. It reminds Americans how fortunate we are to be Americans. And it unites Americans around gratitude, the greatest human trait. Gratitude is the mother of both goodness and happiness. The ungrateful cannot be either happy or good.

So, it is with a heavy heart that I write that my mood on this Thanksgiving will not be the same as on any other I have ever experienced. [Read more…]

The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

November 23, 2009March 3, 2011 by Orthodox Editors

American Orthodox Institute | by Fr. Johannes Jacobse | Nov. 22, 2009

On November 22, 2009 group of Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant leaders unveiled a document called “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience” that affirms the traditional Christian teaching concerning abortion, homosexual marriage, and religious freedom. The Declaration asserts that these three issues (sanctity of life, the definition of marriage, and freedom of worship) are under assault in western Democracies and call Christians into non-violent resistance against the injustices and, if necessary, non-violent non-compliance with the laws that would require a Christian to violate his conscience. (Read full text.)

The Declaration opens:

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are (1) the sanctity of human life, (2) the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and (3) the rights of conscience and religious liberty…We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

[Read more…]

The Medium is Not the Message

November 12, 2009November 12, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

OrthodoxyToday | by Chris Banescu | Nov. 12, 2009

As a fellow Orthodox Christian and an attorney I find Fr. George’s reflection quite eloquent but unfortunately lacking in the depth and moral clarity that our faith and profession both require. Fr. George’s central thesis is that “the nature of the medium, in this case the internet and blogosphere, is itself the message we get here even more than the content that people purport to communicate and consider.” I don’t believe that’s true, especially with regards to OCANews.org. The medium is only a neutral tool to be used or misused as we see fit. The truth of the message and the reliability of the information this medium conveys and the good it has done, in addition to the wisdom, character, and integrity of the messengers, are much more important and relevant. [Read more…]

The Market, School of Virtue

November 5, 2009November 5, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Acton Institute | by Stephen Grabill | Nov. 4, 2009

Does the market inspire people to greater practical virtue, or does it eviscerate what little virtue any of us have?

Far from draining moral goodness out of us—as many think—the free market serves as a “school of the practical virtues.” Rather than elevating greed and self-sufficiency, the market fosters interdependence and cooperation. Its rewards do not go to those who are the most isolated, self-absorbed, or cut off from society, but to those who sustain mutually prosperous relationships with others. [Read more…]