Glenn Beck and social and economic justice

Recently Glenn Beck said on his radio shows that if their priest or pastor or preacher is using the terms economic or social justice that they should leave their local congregation. To make sure that you do not think that Father Orthoduck is misquoting Glenn Beck, please go here to read his defense on his own website. In fact, Father Orthoduck thinks that there is some interesting stuff in his own defense posting. For instance: GLENN: No idea. “Mr. Beck said on his radio show March 2nd, I beg you look for the word social justice or economic justice on your church... [Read more]

Short-term missions, social support, and Tony Campolo

I am a supporter of short-term missions. However, my blog post of the day before yesterday did not make that clear. I have seen at least two people called to long-term missions because they served on a short-term mission team. My problem is not with short-term missions per se. My problem is with under-trained teams who come over and cause multiple problems to the missionaries in residence and who expect the local long-term missionary to be overwhelmingly grateful that they have deigned to come. I saw too many of that type of visitor coming through. Nevertheless, I do not... [Read more]

“In God We Trust” upheld in San Francisco federal court

Fed. appeals court upholds ‘under God’ in pledge By TERENCE CHEA Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court upheld the use of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected two legal challenges by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who said the references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his... [Read more]

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Learning about whom we visit in short-term mission

In January of 2009, I posted a blog on what we can learn from the poor. I talked about Fr. Alejandro Mesco and what he had taught me about sharing the good things that the Lord gives us. Just today, I read an article in Mission Frontiers which is a magazine of the US Center for World Missions. It is found in the column titled Further Reflections and the particular article is called, Learning the Lay of the Land. The author is reflecting on Haiti and a culture where, “the rule of law is questionable and where only a few people control the flow of the money.”... [Read more]

Gossip and justifications

From Pithless Thoughts: Do you fast? Let the ears by not listening to evil talk and gossip. For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers and sisters? (St. John Chrysostom). When my wife and I were married less than five years, we were asked to go to Port Huron, Michigan, where there was a small congregation that was also a covenant community. They were affiliated with what was then one of the leading examples of intentional community in the USA, the Word of God Community. We both learned many things from that community and the... [Read more]

… but not so little boys (and girls)

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys. One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar. As I was listening to this Peter, Paul, and Mary song on Sunday, I found myself with tears in my eyes. In part this did not surprise me. I am a proud Latino, that means that my original culture has taught me that I am allowed to be emotional, and my adopted culture (USA) has taught me that it is OK for men to cry. So, between one and the other, I had tears in my... [Read more]

Brain on Lent

As Father Orthoduck is writing this, he is very tired from a long Sunday of very worthwhile worship and service of the Lord. But, thanks to a fellow blogger, Father Orthoduck was introduced to the blog of a delightfully wacky fellow Orthodox blogger. And, so, Father Orthoduck recommends Steve of Pithless Thoughts. Particularly his current Lenten cartoons take a wonderful and humorous look at the reality and foibles of Lenten fasting and Lenten attitudes. Father Orthoduck must admit the longer that Lent goes on, the more scrumptious a hot dog looks, and who cares how bad... [Read more]

MacArthur, Marshall, and the Middle East

What can we learn from the experiences of General MacArthur and Secretary of State Marshall on handling the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan? After all, both history and statistics show that both men were fully successful in turning former enemies into stable and reliable allies. Mind you, this does not mean that they never disagree with us, but, when all is said and done, they stand with us. What did they do that helped turned former military enemies into civilian allies? Well, there were several things that they did that might be helpful to us at this time. 1.  They... [Read more]

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Some unpolished thoughts on the Middle East

Yesterday Father Orthoduck talked about the Marshall Plan and suggested that it may have some things to say to us about Iraq and Afghanistan. Father Orthoduck also suggested that some knowledge of history might be helpful in order to be able to understand why citizens of the Middle East might be less than excited about our presence in Iraq, even though they agree with our invasion of Afghanistan. Let’s start first with a look at the recent history of the Middle East. Have you ever heard about the British Mandate of Palestine? It was, “a legal instrument for... [Read more]

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Hearing ourselves through the ears of others

Yesterday Father Orthoduck posted on the fatwa that was announced against the jihadists by a prominent Islamic scholar. Sometimes we ask ourselves why did this not happen sooner. But, since Americans have very little tendency to listen, despite all the Oprah-like shows that emphasize learning to listen, and since Americans know very little history or geography, they then have a tendency to be somewhat clueless when dealing with world affairs. Even our Psych-Ops people inside and outside the Armed Forces tend to be oriented only towards neutralizing a perceived immediate... [Read more]