A Meditation on MLK Jr and Our Own Cowardice

The Lord God stands in the midst of the Divine Council and judges among the gods.”How long will you rule unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?Defend the poor and fatherless, maintain the rights of the afflicted and the destitute.  Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:1-4) […]

From the UOC-USA: Human Dignity and the Basic Rights of Freedom Must be Preserved

Council of Bishops of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA Human Dignity and the Basic Rights of Freedom Must be Preserved  Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! It has been only a few weeks, and most recently just two days since the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA expressed its […]

From the UOC-USA: The use of force, confrontation, and violence will fail to resolve political issues!

The use of force, confrontation and violence will fail to resolve political issues! Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! The events of the last several days and especially the last several months in the life of independent Ukraine have caused the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA to call upon […]

Four Orthodox Christian Lessons from MLK Jr

 This is a nice article by Andrew Estocin. Here’s a quote; “Martin Luther King Jr. and Archbishop Iakovos both knew that the human person as the image and likeness of God was a truth worth breaking the law, fighting and (in Rev. King’s case) ultimately dying for. Orthodoxy in America needs this type of courage […]

RIOCF: Statement on Same-Sex Marriage

Rhode Island Orthodox Clergy FellowshipStatement on Same-Sex Marriage  We, the clergy of the Orthodox Churches of Rhode Island, express our disappointment over recent developments concerning the status of marriage in our country and in our state.  Specifically, we disapprove our state legislature’s vote in favor of and signing into law the practice of same-sex marriage. […]

My notes for the talk on Moral Psychology

I had hoped to find time to write these up properly – but two moths later I haven’t!  So here it is, mis-spellings, poor grammar, and all! Notes for a talk on Orthodoxy, Ritual and Moral Psychology Warning: I use the words “conservative” and “liberal” throughout this talk. I am not talking about Republicans and […]

Podcast: 20130807 Being a Hero and Moral Psychology

This podcasts begins with advice for young people to become heroes.  The rest is devoted to introducing listeners to some findings in moral psychology and their relevance to Orthodoxy (hint- it’s about ritual/Orthopraxis).  Lord willing, I’ll be devoting more podcasts to devloping these themes.  Here are the notes for the moral psychology talk (alas it […]

Moral Psychology, Orthodoxy, and Ritual (video)

Here is a link to the YouTube Video of the talk. YouTube Blurb:  Sometimes it seems like religious conservatives and liberals are speaking a different language when it comes to morality. Framing plays an issue as both groups try to establish which moral category best fits the given issue, but this doesn’t really explain the […]

The Sunday of Orthodoxy: Embrace the Fullness of the Faith

If you are offended when priests and preachers talk about politics and rail against the government, then close your ears: I’m going to talk about the government and its policies, and I am going to evaluate them based on the unchanging Truth of Christ, the standard of perfection that is preserved and shared within holy […]

20121107 Gvosdev on Orthodoxy and Politics

The hits keep coming!  After I share some of my thoughts on how to approach democratic politics as a member of a minority faith that has universalist moral truth claims (hint: I love the U.S. Constitution), I share an awesome interview with Professor Nick Gvosdev.  He gives historical and theological hope for a “third way” […]