by Archbishop Averky (Taushev) –
For a Christian, if he is truly a Christian and not a charlatan, can never indifferently and calmly observe the triumph of evil and cannot accept evil in whatever form it may appear. [Read more…]
Defense of Innocence
America Has a Moral Crisis, Not a Gun Control Problem
by Chris Banescu –
America faces a moral crisis, not a gun control problem. As God and morality are purged from all our institutions, darkness, chaos, evil, and violence grow to fill in the gap. There is no political solution or regulation that will stop these evildoers. Only more armed law-abiding citizens and a true spiritual and moral revival will help reduce these atrocities and protect innocent lives.
- The Left stopped disciplining children and teaching them accountability.
- The Left used anti-depressant drugs to “fix” spiritual problems.
- The Left chased God and prayer out of the public schools.
- The Left banned the Ten Commandments from the classrooms.
- The Left removed moral lessons from the curricula.
- The Left glorified sexual immorality and depravity.
- The Left promoted abnormality as “normal.”
- The Left defended the depiction of senseless gun violence and brutal murders in films, media, and video games as “entertainment” and “art.” [Read more…]
Tyranny Must Be Resisted Before It Exists
“The wisest thing in the world is to cry out before you are hurt. It is no good to cry out after you are hurt; especially after you are mortally hurt. People talk about the impatience of the populace; but sound historians know that most tyrannies have been possible because men moved too late. It is often essential to resist a tyranny before it exists. It is no answer to say, with a distant optimism, that the scheme is only in the air. A blow from a hatchet can only be parried while it is in the air.” ~ G.K. Chesterton
What We Do in Life Echoes in Eternity, A Timeless Christian Truth
“What we do in life, echoes in eternity.” ~ General Maximus
[Read more…]
Catholic Patriarch of Syria: Planned U.S. Attack on Syria is ‘Criminal Act’
by Chris Banescu –
Gregory III, the Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Syria and Lebanon, denounced the Obama administration for planning to attack Syria. If the U.S. launches such an attack, it would be “a criminal act” that would reap more innocent victims and help the “Islamic extremists from all over the world [who] are pouring into Syria with the sole intent to kill.” His Eminence strongly opposes any foreign intervention in Syria which will only fuel hatred, criminality, inhumanity, Islamic fundamentalism, and terrorism.
As reported by CNS News, in a public statement released on August 30, Gregory III, the Catholic Patriarch of Antioch said:
“We must listen to the Pope’s appeal for peace in Syria,” said Patriarch Gregory III. “If Western countries want to create true democracy then they must build it on reconciliation, through dialogue between Christians and Muslims, not with weapons. This attack being planned by the United States is a criminal act, which will only reap more victims, in addition to the tens of thousands of these two years of war. This will destroy the Arab world’s trust in the West.” [Read more…]
When Orthodox Bishops Spoke Boldly: Clear Teaching on Marriage and Family
by Chris Banescu –
The current societal moral collapse and the intensifying attacks on traditional marriage and the family were foreseen by previous generations of bishops of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Approximately 40 years ago, the Holy Synod of the OCA issued an Encyclical Letter on Marriage warning their flocks of the dangers posed by an increasingly secularized world and re-affirming the traditional, biblical, and orthodox teaching on marriage. The clarity of their teaching, boldness of their condemnation, and prophetic dimensions of their preaching are undeniable.
These shepherds saw the “signs of the times.” They discerned the growing darkness and corruption all around them and the seriousness of the cultural battles to come. They forewarned the faithful that the “moral foundations of society are collapsing.” They understood the ultimate consequences of a society that abandons its moral principles, abuses its freedoms, embraces the evil of abortion, is indifferent to the murder of millions of unborn children, and glorifies corrupt sexual behaviors.
We find it imperative to address you on an issue of crucial importance for the Christian life. An increasingly secularized world tends more and more to neglect the traditional biblical understanding of marriage and family. Misunderstanding freedom and proclaiming the progress of a humanity supposedly too mature, sophisticated and scientific to follow Christ’s Gospel, many have abandoned its moral demands. The consequences are plain for all to see: the family is disintegrating, legalized abortion is killing millions of unborn children, corrupt sexual behavior is rampant. The moral foundations of society are collapsing.
Orthodox Church Categorically Opposed to Abortion: Life Begins at Conception
by Chris Banescu –
Orthodox Christianity has always taught that life begins at conception. The Church Saints and Fathers have all defended the sanctity of human life. The Orthodox Church is and has always been absolutely, unequivocally, positively, universally PRO-LIFE!
We are all created in the image and likeness of God. The Orthodox Church, founded by Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles, bears witness to the truth that all human life begins at conception. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you,” declare the Scriptures (Jeremiah 1:5). The teachings of the Orthodox Christian faith are very clear and unambiguous: all unborn human life is sacred and innocent human life must be protected.
The Orthodox Church regards abortion as murder and opposes all forms of abortion. All Orthodox Churches throughout the whole world and across the 2,000 years since Christ have taught and proclaimed this same truth without alteration to all nations.
The Supreme Court’s assertions in the Roe v. Wade decision, regarding Christian theology prior to the 19th century, that “there was otherwise little agreement about the precise time of formation or animation” of an unborn child is false. This declaration has no basis in fact in the theology, teachings, or practices of Orthodox Christianity. It is a complete fabrication! [Read more…]