Last week, James at PARADOSIS brought up the topic of stem cell research. Here follows an article related to the topic (thanks to FWD from Fr Victor Potapov)… by the Very Reverend John Breck October 2004 Article #1 Not long ago, the American press reported, with a combination of shock and amusement, some fantastic developments Italian scientists had achieved in the domain of procreative medicine. Given the relative ease with which embryos can be created these days in vitro, Italian... Read more

By Fr. Gregory Horton This is a brief account of the journey that I took with my dear wife, Khouria Cindy (Elizabeth) Horton, to the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean from August 23rd to September 1st, 2004. We had already been away from home for nearly a month, having participated in an Orthodox Christian Mission trip to East Africa. Home was very far away and growing farther with each passing airline mile from Nairobi, Kenya into the southern... Read more

WASHINGTON BUREAU: Terry Mattingly’s religion column for 9/29/04 Call it church-state espionage. Unitarians and other activists on the religious left have been slipping into evangelical pews to endure altar calls, praise songs and sermons against gay marriage. The Kansas-based Mainstream Coalition has a simple reason for doing this. If preachers openly endorse President Bush, its agents can report these crimes to the IRS. Reacting to these watchdogs on the left, the Religious Freedom Action Coalition promptly launched Big Brother Church... Read more

Although distinct from one another, faith and psychic health are not necessarily incompatible. Is it possible to marry the disciplines of Pastoral Counseling and Psychotherapy? I believe it is, for God has dominion over all. Since I currently have a secular job at a recovery center, the struggle between the two disciplines, if you will, is ubiquitous. The following reflection speaks to this struggle, somewhat, and was originally presented to clergy. It has been edited for the purposes of this... Read more

I heard this rumour last week on a nationally broadcast radio program. I googled it and found no stories on the Net. The radio show, Coast-to-Coast AM, was interviewing a priest about some nuttiness or other and he made the claim that the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria was assasinated (helicopter tragedy) by Muslim terrorists because he had refused to remove his missionaries from West Africa. Now another rumour surfaces, this time in the blogosphere: NEWEST ON PETROS VII: According... Read more

I despise politics wholeheartedly: thus I am neither a Bolshevik, nor a National Socialist, nor an anti-Semite. I am a neutral Swiss and even in my own country I am uninterested in politics because I am convinced that 99% of politics are mere symptoms and anything but a cure for social evils. About 50% of politics is definitely obnoxious inasmuch as it poisons the utterly incompetent mind of the masses. A statement by Carl Jung when visiting the United States... Read more

Why do they put rubber tires with inner tubes on cars? So that they give in, to collapse a little with every little stone or pothole on the road, and in this way they pass obstacles. If the wheels were firm and unyielding, the car wouldn’t be able to move forward. It would fall apart after a short distance because of the vibration from the small inconsistencies of terrain. The same things happens with yielding to others in the family.... Read more

… than to be in Carolina in the morning” (as the song goes). “Be prepared.” I used to be a Boy Scout. My family went camping Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon at a place called Bear Den in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. We usually camp in a tent. But since the forecast, thanks to Hurricane Jeanne, was calling for rain on Monday and Tuesday, we opted for a little rustic cabin. It was basically two rooms, with a full sized... Read more

Over on Catechumen’s Walk there’s been a discussion of the nature of the Holy Trinity (Inner-Trinitarian Relationships, 9/22/04). Here follows St Basil the Great, whose treatise “On the Holy Spirit” is a classic exposition of trinitarian doctrine: When the Lord taught us the doctrine of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He did not make arithmetic a part of this gift! He did not say, “In the first, the second, and the third,” or “In one, two, and three.” He... Read more

Well by now you all know that I’m going camping with Hurricane Jeanne … and, of course, Dan Rather … for the next few days. Do not believe whatever he says or does not say regarding my participation in the camping trip on the Evening News. I’ll have a full report upon returning. Probably singing a new song to an old tune: “Camping in the Rain!” Read more