HAGIA SOPHIA: SOME PERSONAL REFLECTIONS by Phil Dorroll

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About a year ago, someone asked me why I, an Orthodox Christian, decided to pursue a career in Islamic Studies—focusing in particular on Islam in Turkey. I couldn’t answer the question at the time. But a few days ago, I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. I had been following stories in Turkish news over the past few weeks about a hearing at the Turkish high court that would occur that day, where the current Turkish administration was requesting that Hagia Sophia—currently a museum—be turned back into a mosque. I realized, when I got up later that morning and scanned Turkish news, that Hagia Sophia might already have become a mosque again. (At the time of writing, the court has not yet issued its decision.) I couldn’t get back to sleep until I began to write the words below. I also finally had the answer to the question posed to me the previous year. Read More

EDITORIAL: ROD DREHER HATES BLACK PEOPLE…AGAIN

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Colin Kaepernick

Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s readers will recall our chronicle of Rod Dreher’s hatred of Africans and African-Americans. 

He has done it again, this time by celebrating the 4th of July with an article bearing the libelous, violence-inciting title, Colin Kaepernick Hates America. In response to Kaepernick’s tweet, Read More

BRITISH COUNCIL: EASTERN ORTHODOXY AND SEXUAL DIVERSITY

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Although the organizers of Bridging Voices determined that neither Orthodoxy in Dialogue nor editor Giacomo Sanfilippo had anything to contribute to this conversation, we share it with our readers in order to ensure your inclusion in it. Check our Bridging Voices: Call for Responses if you would like to respond to this report or to any portion of it, or consider writing a letter to the editors.

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Drawing on the perspectives of twenty-one participants, in ten essays, the Exeter-Fordham consortium’s report begins a nuanced and respectful conversation around sexual diversity and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

This report provides a diverse set of perspectives in the debate around sexual diversity in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is a step towards articulating and clarifying the theology and discipline of the Eastern Orthodox Church on matters of sex, gender, and sexuality. This report serves as a point of reference and departure for ongoing conversations about Orthodoxy and sexuality in terms familiar to the Orthodox Church. It re-articulates and explores the topic of Orthodox identity and sexual diversity within the context of secular and pluralist political frameworks. The report includes ten summary arguments presented by participants at the project’s first digital workshop, which involved 21 participants in total.

Read the report now.

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OPEN LETTER TO GRADUATE THEOLOGICAL UNION, BERKELEY

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Orthodox Rebel Red T-Shirt Front

Dr. Uriah Kim, Dean
Graduate Theological Union
2400 Ridge Road
Berkeley CA 94709 USA

Dear Dr. Kim:

Orthodoxy in Dialogue is the world’s most popular independent blog on Orthodox Christianity. One of the things for which we have become best known is our advocacy for social, racial, and LGBTQI justice.

Your doctoral student, David Patrick Harry, is the founder of the so-called “Church of the Eternal Logos.” You will see his name as the URL, and he identifies himself and his affiliation with Graduate Theological Union on the About page.

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