The Illiberal Demand for Kosher and Halal Bacon

The Joy of BaconWith just a few days left before Pascha, the dominant logismoi distracting me from proper prayer (and analysis) is … bacon.  I love it.  I especially love the really fatty kind that just melts in your mouth.  The best of the best is fried salo, a sort of bacon cut so that it […]

Podcast 20141104: Ukrainian Orthodoxy from the Inside

Two Ukrainian Orthodox priests share their thoughts on history and current events After a bit of satire on Putin’s war against Ukraine, Fr. Anthony has a long discussion with Fr. Paul Koroluk, a priest of the UOC-KP (the largest, though canonically-unrecognized, Orthodox Church in Ukraine).  We share a vision of Ukraine and Ukrainian Orthodoxy that we […]

If Putin were President of Mexico: the Reconquista (update)

The Background: Before Putin came to Power in MexicoDue to the annexation of large portions of Mexican territory in the 19th century and generations of immigration, a significant portion of the population of US border areas was comprised of Mexican-Americans.  At the beginning of the 21st century, there were about six million Mexican-Americans living in […]

Day Twenty – Incense

The smell of incense is so much a part of our experience of worship that the smell – smell is one of the strongest triggers of memory for the brain – automatically calms us and moves us towards prayer.   Low-church Christians are often uncomfortable with incense in part because it is used in pagan […]

Day Eleven – Turkey

There’s a funny thing that happens every year among the Orthodox in America around this time of year.  Many Old Calendarists hop on their high horse and lord it over New Calendarists for breaking the Nativity Fast on Thanksgiving.  The built-in assumption is that there is no way any Tradition-loving, Real Orthodox Christian (TM) would […]

Day One: Get your beard on (or off)!

Beards are all the rage.  Here in New England, the Red Sox just won the World Series by getting their beards on; the male cast of Duck Dynasty has also done their part to bring respect to the beard.  In my profession, beards are often seen as part of the game.  When I was catechized, […]

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 […]

20120615 Orthodox and Genetics, Part One

A Pep Talk for the Orthodox Christian Sponsor: www.douglasaperkins.com Cool thing for the Prepper Priest from Duluth Trading Company: the prepper-priest’s kontorasson (clergy vest – I use the black one in tall; it has pockets for all my priest-stuff!) An interview with Dr. Deborah Sirko-Osadsa, D.A.B.M.G., F.A.C.M.G. Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Former Director, Molecular […]

20120412 The Orthodox Way

Notes: The Orthodox Way (Hesychasm and St. Gregory Palamas) Interview with Bryan Davis as Doc Fermento. News. Why things aren’t really that bad (and likely to get even better).  Matt Ridley (The Rational Optimist):  17 Reasons to be Cheerful.  No, things aren’t as bad as Alex Jones et al claim. Effects of Greek orthodox christian church […]

20120224 Seeds, News, and Judgement

Shownotes The Prodigal Son – Eating Pig Pods… and loving it! News Update on the homestead: prepping purchases of note (traded the jeep for a Smart Car, little house in the woods, pantry system from Shelf Reliance, Abortion safer than giving birth: study – Yahoo! News For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage […]