From Russia with Idols

This discovery is a reminder that our picture of Russian religiousness should not be narrowly focused on Russian Orthodoxy. As I’ve argued elsewhere, Russia is a religiously diverse country where Orthodoxy is not as strong as it might seem to Westerners.

Full disclosure: I did help the author find a publisher for this book, but I only found out how great it is after reading it recently. — Full Disclosure: I did help the author find a publisher for this book, but I only found out how great it is after reading it recently.

Overall, these sorts of ecclesiastical rifts in the East show how facetious their critiques of Western schismatism are. However, it is very encouraging to see books like For the Unity of All not papering over these difficulties. This is something that Westerners can learn from as they head forward in their dialogue with “The East” and with fractions among themselves.

I feel oddly reassured dealing with my own grave economic mess when I see the greater messes of venerable institutions.

In other, even more tangentially related news, a German homeopathy conference ended in chaos after delegates took hallucinogenic drugs:

Broadcaster NDR described the 29 men and women “staggering around, rolling in a meadow, talking gibberish and suffering severe cramps”.

These are the people who are supposed to save the EU.

Three cheers for solidarity in confusion! It’s not just a Western problem. It’s an Eastern (Christian, national) problem too.

Smoke away folks. You’ll get to heaven sooner.

The Germans sound like characters from a Houellebecq novel, which why you should find out why he is such an important read for people of faith. You might also want to explore the diversity of Islam and why it doesn’t need a Reformation; it needs, surprise, surprise, something like a papacy.

As a freshly unemployed non-person I welcome your donations through the PayPal button on the right side of my homepage.

Go back