by Aram G. Sarkisian For more than a decade, researchers have excavated the fascinating story of Philip Ludwell III, an Anglo-American convert to Orthodox Christianity who lived in colonial Virginia during the mid- to late-eighteenth century. A friend to Benjamin Franklin, cousin to Martha Washington, and a member of one of Virginia’s most established and…
Continue readingRacism and Otherness
by Nikolaos Asproulis | български | ქართული | Română | Русский | Српски This essay was first published in Greek at Polymeros kai Polytropos, the blog of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies. In our time, racism has many faces. Sometimes it manifests itself in a more visible way and other times in an invisible way. Whether it is racism…
Continue readingJacob Blake and My Struggle with God
Divine Love and the African American Mind
by Alfred D. Turnipseed On the morning of August 24, I was hot! I woke up as I usually do—to the morning’s light, with stares from my cat, awaiting his early meal. I turned on Morning Joe and opened up my iPhone’s newsfeed. This is what I saw: Black man shot multiple times by Wisconsin…
Continue readingRacial Injustice and Trinitarian Suffering
by Matt Kappadakunnel | Ελληνικά I discovered Andrei Rublev’s The Trinity icon ten years ago and have been using this icon for prayer ever since. I especially turn to the Trinity (both the icon and the Father, Son and Spirit) during times of crisis. Given the COVID-19 Pandemic, coupled with the racial violence that seems to…
Continue readingA Confession of Racism by a Southerner
by Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Payne | ελληνικά As I sit holding and examining the print of the famous painting “The Last Meeting of Lee & Jackson” by E.B.D. Julio, I reflect on my own racism and prejudices that I grew up with as a Southerner. I feel as Wendell Berry wrote about, The Hidden…
Continue readingFear Then, Action Now: A Response to “Full and Understanding Support”
by Yiorgos Anagnostou It is encouraging to see young scholars and emerging Greek Orthodox leaders entering the conversation about anti-racism. In a posting in this forum, Nikolaos Piperis and Stavros Piperis, scholars at the Creighton University School of Law and Youth Directors at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Omaha, Nebraska, contribute to…
Continue reading">The Many Faces and the Many Colors of Christ
In Response to "White Jesus and Shaun King"
by Alfred D. Turnipseed I know and am friends with Addison Hodges Hart, author of “‘White Jesus’ and Shaun King,” published at Public Orthodoxy on June 26, 2020. And I should also note that I am in full agreement with Fr. Hart’s main thesis there: Notwithstanding the fact that the historical Yeshua of Nazareth, as a first century,…
Continue readingSt. Tikhon Condemns Racism during Epidemic
by Scott Kenworthy | Română | ру́сский In the midst of pandemic and protests over racial injustice, it is important to remember that the connection between disease and racism in North America is not a new one: Europeans extended their domination over the land and the indigenous populations that lived on it in large part…
Continue readingThe Interfaith Community and the Crisis of Racial Injustice and Inequity
by Fr. Emmanuel Clapsis | ελληνικά On June 4, the leadership of four interfaith organizations—Religions for Peace USA, Parliament of World Religions (PoWR), United Religions Initiative (URI) and the Interfaith Center of New York (ICNY)—issued a statement: “This Perilous Moment: A Statement from Religious Leaders and Communities on the Crisis of Racial Injustice and Inequity…
Continue readingTwo Blocks from the Culture War
by William J. Antholis Robert E. Lee’s statue stands on 2nd Street NE in Charlottesville. I live two blocks away—in the same small redbrick Cape Cod where we have lived since 1999. For the last 18 years, this house and the rest of our idyllic downtown have been my retreat—the place to which I have…
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