- Hang on to your hat folks. The title does not say Christians should be intolerant. It says instead that tolerance is not an end itself but merely an important working principle in moral discourse and inquiry. Below is a summary of the point given by Abp. Chaput of the Roman Catholic Church. It is taken from a recent speech he gave back in 2009. He spoke to a Catholic audience thus the reference to Catholics, but the principle applies to all Christians particularly his conclusion that "a healthy democracy requires vigorous moral debate to survive." Source: Dover Beach Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia said in the last year that evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant and then it tries to silence good...We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty — these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it’s never an end itself. In fact, … [Read more...]

America is in a very deep moral crisis. Source: American Thinker | Steve McCann Americans take great umbrage whenever they, as a society, are portrayed by the residents of other nations as self-centered, avaricious and overbearing. While an egregious exaggeration in the past, is it an accurate description now? Who are the American people today and what sort of country is the United States in 2013? How does one describe a society wherein a majority of the people, and their elected leaders, have embraced the following mindset? a) The United States can commit to unlimited government spending as the long-term future of the nation is immaterial and will take care of itself. b) Based on 66 years of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, the good times will never end and America will under no circumstance experience massive national adversity as there is a bottomless pit of money to be siphoned from an equally bottomless pit of wealth. c) Since the dollar is the … [Read more...]

Re-creation of the Icon: Lynette Hull at TEDxCapeMay 2012 - Recreation and Re-creation" Lynette Hull is an American iconographer trained in the methods of fifteenth century Russian-Byzantine iconology. Since 2002, she has studied under master iconographer Vladislav Adrejev, founder of the Prosopon School of iconology. The Prosopon school, while committed to preserving the creative techniques and methods of antiquity, promotes the incarnation of the principles of the painting experience into all aspects of oneʼs life. Lynette graduated from Wheaton College with a BA in literature in 1985. Her home and studio are in Princeton NJ. … [Read more...]

Orthodox Christians need to remain faithful to their traditions. In the Christian tradition of both east and west, the twelve days of Christmas refer to the period from Christmas Day to Theophany. The days leading up to Christmas were for preparation; a practice affirmed in the Orthodox tradition by the Christmas fast that runs from November 15 to Christmas day. The celebration of Christmas did not begin until the first of the twelve days. As our culture became more commercialized, the period of celebration shifted from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day. Christmas celebration increasingly conforms to the shopping cycle while the older tradition falls by the wayside. It's an worrisome shift because as the tradition dims, the knowledge that the period of preparation imparted diminishes with it. Our Orthodox traditions -- from fasting cycles to worship --exist to teach us how to live in Christ. The traditions impart discipline. These disciplines are never an end in themselves but … [Read more...]

Granted, the ideas expressed in Wesley J. Smith's commentary below are preliminary, but the (still to be developed) core of the essay is this: a large part of the last election dealt with cultural shift particularly how we understand of the individual and community. Yet, even formulating the problem in this way is incorrect because strictly speaking the individual does not exist. A person is born into a family, and the family into which he is born constitutes the first definition of who he is. Self-identity in other words is necessarily relational. Framing the shift as "individual and community" then doesn't really work although it's the language we use to describe politics and culture. Maybe the difficulty in grasping the shift has to do with the limitations of the language we employ. Or maybe as the mediating institutions lose their moral authority collectivism is the end of the march into decadence. Smith also hits on something that bothers me as well (and has for years): … [Read more...]

Below is the letter of congratulations written by Met. Hilarion of Volokolamsk to the Right. Rev. Justimn Welby, the elect Archbishop of Canterbury. The tone is cordial but the warning is inescapable: innovations in the Anglican communion has created a division in fraternal relations between the Anglicans and the Orthodox Church that threatens a permanent estrangement if not reversed. To the Right Rev. Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham Dear Brother and Lord Bishop, I would like to extend to you wholehearted congratulations on your election as Head of one of the oldest episcopal chairs founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in the 7th century. You have been entrusted with the spiritual guidance of the entire Anglican Communion, a unique union of like-minded people, which, however diverse the forms of its existence in the world may be, needs one ‘steward of God’ (Tit. 1:7) the guardian of the faith and witness to the Truth (cf. Jn. 18:37). The Russian Orthodox … [Read more...]

The re-engineering of French society by the ruling Socialist Party hits a speed bump. Thousands march against same-sex marriage bill Source: France 24 Opponents of a bill that would open up civil marriages and adoption to same-sex couples in France marched in the country’s main cities on Saturday to protest what they call a “major and dangerous upheaval”. Protesters took to the streets of Rennes, Nantes, Dijon, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse to participate in the so-called “Demonstration for All” rally organized by conservative Catholic groups and which counted on the support of right-wing parties. Their stated goal was to persuade French lawmakers to abandon plans to pass the new law called “Marriage and Adoption for All”, which is being championed by France’s ruling Socialist Party. In Paris thousands of people gathered in the Denfert-Rochereau square, many brandishing signs that read “one mom and one dad for one child”. The … [Read more...]