From the opening pages of Rod Dreher’s Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents (Sentinel, 2020), the assumption is that the lies which most threaten to engulf Christians today are those coming from the cultural and political Left. Political correctness, cancel culture, anti-racist kinds of training, gender theory, the “cult of social justice”—all treated…
Continue readingPastoral Guidance for Civic Engagement
Moving Towards a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church
It should go without saying that the current COVID-19 crisis combined with challenging social issues and a contentious political environment is a time for prayerful and meaningful pastoral guidance. We have seen many of our Orthodox hierarchs, leaders, and theologians engage with the challenging issues of our time, both with sincere and substantive reflection as well…
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 readingCompassion in Crisis: Challenging a Culture of Injustice
by Crina Gschwandtner | ελληνικά Compassion is the highest virtue! proclaims Gregory Nazianzen in a homily on illness and poverty. Embrace the sick without fear of contagion—leprosy in his case—and care for the poor, for they are Christ to you. Therefore, “Let us visit Christ, let us heal Christ, let us feed Christ, let us…
Continue readingThe Ecumenism of the Pro-Life Movement
One of the most effective collaborations among the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions in the United States has been the pro-life movement, which for more than 40 years has sought to give witness to the Christian confession that all life is sacred, including life in the womb. Indeed, while some Christians in each tradition…
Continue readingPro-Life Means Pro-Social Justice
I am pro-life. That means that I’m also pro-social justice. That means that I am not only for the dignity of the human being from the moment of conception, but also for the dignity of the human being until the natural end of life. For life does not end with birth. A person who is…
Continue readingArchbishop Iakovos, Martin Luther King Jr., and The Challenge of Selma
The third Monday in the month of January is set aside by Americans to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. King’s witness in life and death continues to call society to see every person as created in the image and likeness of God and worthy of equal treatment under the law. One of…
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