In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row,
  That mark our place; and in the sky
  The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
  Loved and were loved, and now we lie
      In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
  If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
      In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (May 3, 1915)

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Orthodoxy Today, that bastion of theological internet civility, recently published an excerpt of a presentation Fr. John Parker gave at a conference on pastoral care in a digital age. In it he accused the editors and writers of Public Orthodoxy, Orthodoxy in Dialogue, and The Wheel of prowling around like wolves in sheep’s clothing, preying on an unsuspecting catechumenate to sow division, discord, and confusion. They pretend to promote dialog, when really they have diabolical motives, mostly having to do with making the church more welcoming to LGBTQ people. It is a tired and thus boring accusation, a thesis plagiarized from a myriad of internet blog comments and coffee hour conversations with like-minded people. More importantly, it is a hypocritical thesis. Fr. Parker accuses the above sites of trying to sow confusion, when in fact he seems to do precisely the same thing.

I know in some way the editors of Orthodoxy in Dialogue, The Wheel, and Public Orthodoxy. I myself have contributed a couple of articles to the latter. The blanket accusation of a general, almost conspiratorial intent to sow confusion is both offensive and false. It is offensive because, speaking for myself at least, that is not the case. It is false because there are contributors to those sites who share his same views on gender and sexuality and because the active solicitation and publication of authors who share those views bellies the any supposedly nefarious intent on the part of those who run the sites. Read More

Video from USA TODAY

The slain Telemachus Orfanos was an Orthodox Christian. May his memory be eternal.

Several times a month we check the website of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America for signs of life. We hope especially for a united voice of pastoral engagement on the part of our hierarchs with the deeply troubled sociopolitical moment in which we live. Usually we find nothing.

Imagine our delight this time to discover two statements posted just over a week apart: the first, on October 31, in response to the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh; and the second, on November 8, in response to the Borderline Bar & Grill massacre in Thousand Oaks CA. The October 31 statement quotes the Message of the 9th Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America of October 4:

Additionally, we denounce all violence, whether caused by senseless acts related to weapons and shootings or instigated by abhorrent acts of discrimination and prejudice. Orthodox Christians are called to demonstrate their solidarity with and hospitality to all people, irrespective of race and religion, to welcome and embrace the image of God in the least of our brothers and sisters, as instructed in the parable of our Lord (c.f. Matt. 25:40-45). Our God is a God of love and forgiveness, of reconciliation and fellowship.

These signal a good start, for which we express our gratitude to the bishops of the Assembly. At the same time, we feel that they don’t go far enough. Read More

Father John Parker. Dean, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.

On October 29 Chris Banescu’s OrthodoxNet published excerpts from Father John Parker’s presentation this past June at the Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care Conference in Crete. As we noted in our OrthodoxNet Has Heart Attack over Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), Mr. Banescu—whose theological background includes  degrees in business administration, marketing, and law—seems to resort to flagrant misrepresentations to stoke his readers’ fears of open dialogue on complex topics in the Orthodox Church. 

Father Parker’s article on OrthodoxNet can be read here.

Dr. David Ford’s comment at the end of Father Parker’s article—”Thank you very much, Fr. John, for this very needful alert!”—might cause our readers some confusion since he has written extensively for Orthodoxy in Dialogue (here, here, here, here, and the March 29 and April 14 letters to the editors here); twice with his wife, Dr. Mary Ford, for Public Orthodoxy (here and here); and once for The Wheel (here). In fact in his March 29 letter Dr. Ford commends us for On Chastity: Two Letters to a Struggling Monk and acknowledges that Orthodoxy in Dialogue does not promote sexual immorality. Why join in misrepresenting and trashing three publications that have welcomed you to write for them? 

(Incidentally, has Dr. Ford seen our several articles in defense of both a proper Orthodox understanding of opposite-sex marriage and of women married to abusive husbands?)

We have already responded in two parts to Father Parker’s presentation in Crete: first, in St. Tikhon’s Seminary Appoints Internationally Known Homophobe as Dean; and second, in “For I Am Wonderfully Made”. Read More