Theological troublemaker. Orthodox Christian.
Late Sunday evening I received an e-mail asking me to appear on Huffington Post Live, which is the video arm of the Huffington Post. Several other guests and I discussed the role clergy should play in the voting decisions of their congregants. Continue reading “My Appearance on Huffington Post Live”
I announced last month that I would be taking a short hiatus from the blog because I learned that some of the heat I occasionally get has been singeing other people. (You can read the full post here.) I was planning on a much shorter break, but I got bogged down with an essay I was submitting for an academic journal. Over the course of what turned into a month, I did learn some lessons. Continue reading “Lessons from Silence: Culture-Wars Orthodoxy”
When people call you a blasphemer, Christ-denier, a defender of tyranny, and an apologist for Babel, who cares more about impressing liberal academics than listening to the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church, the best response is almost always silence. My general practice is to avoid confrontations with anyone who believes him/herself capable of knowing me in 1500 words or less. But, for Fr. Johannes Jacobse and some of his readers, I am going to make an exception. Fr. Jacobse is involved with a call-in radio show I will appear on this Sunday (June 17). Even though his article did not speak for the show or its station, I thought it might be wise to offer potential listeners/callers a short “intellectual memoir” of my involvement in the gay marriage debate over the past year. I do not intend to change anyone’s mind. I only hope that offering a little insight into my intentions and motives might help us have a more substantive conversation – one focused more on the issues than speculations about my character. Continue reading “My Year as a Pro-Gay “Orthodox” Heretic”
Warning, the following post contains an image that may trouble some readers. If it doesn’t, then there’s something wrong with you.
This video captures pretty much everything that is wrong with Christian politics today. The hammer of the blacksmith pounds out important issues, issues that are surely on the mind of the woman marching toward the voting both (in a very small polling station): jobs, taxes, and energy (gas prices?). But then, with about as much subtlety as a California forest fire, the blacksmith urges us to commit those concerns to the flames. For Catholics (the target audience of this video), and by extension all Christians, this election is about three things: gay marriage, abortion, and “freedom.” Continue reading “What’s Wrong with Christian Politics”
No really! Why? I want to know!
The Huffington Post e-mailed me yesterday to let me know my article on gay marriage had been published, and I immediately got a sinking feeling in my stomach. (It was the same feeling I got less than a year ago.) I hate writing about this subject. Really, I do. I get attacked from both sides. New atheists (who apparently have too much time on their hands) attack my beliefs, and my sisters and brothers in Christ attack the sincerity of my faith. Just this morning, someone called me stupid (atheist) and a liar (Christian).
According to the Pew Research Center fewer people are getting married, and they are waiting longer to “tie the knot.” Basically, what we think of as “traditional marriage” is on the decline. It clings desperately to life, somewhere in the hinterlands of suburbia, where scattered herds of Hummers and Tahoes still run free. But it is basically a dying institution.
Personally, I am not quite so worried. Our ideal marriage has more in common with 1950s sitcoms than the facts of history or the theology of the church, for that matter. That’s not to say I do not worry about marriage. Speaking for myself, there are lots of threats to my marriage, but I’m pretty sure none of them is gay.
