Source: OrthodoxNet.com
October 29, 2018
The following excerpts were transcribed from a public video of Fr. John Parker’s presentation at the Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care conference from June 2018. Topical headings and bolded wordswere added for emphasis.
But the digital age also provides a greenhouse for what I would like to call anti-catechism: the subtle and not-so-subtle questioning of, for example, the moral teachings of the Orthodox faith. On the whole, this anti-catechism is unmonitored and, one hopes, not blessed for publication; and yet, with several examples, we can see the advancing of agendas simply unrelated to Orthodox personhood and the moral life.
Public Orthodoxy
What do we do, for example, with a site like Public Orthodoxy? Public Orthodoxy is, according to their website, “a peer-reviewed online publication produced for the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University” in New York, whose “goal is to feature insightful, provocative op-ed pieces from scholars of Orthodox Christianity.” The blog is a main electric medium to “foster intellectual inquiry by supporting scholarship and teaching that is critical to the ecclesial community.” I’ll place my emphasis on “provocative” and “critical”.
Orthodoxy in Dialogue
A second online resource that captivates digital attention is Orthodoxy In Dialogue, which in 2017 according to its own report ranked in the top 60 Orthodox blogs on the internet. Orthodoxy In Dialogue considers itself a younger sister to Public Orthodoxy (mentioned above). In the essay “Same-Sex Love: The Church needs a conversation”, the anonymous authors and editors of the blog criticised Dr. Bradley Nassif for “not offering anything new” to the so-called conversation about homosexuality since he holds the Orthodox position that same-sex marriage and same-sex sexual activity both miss the mark and are contrary and immoral according to the Orthodox Christian tradition. The editors contrast his “unpastoral” spirit, as they identify his approach, to those of the radical Jesuit Catholic priest James Martin, S. J., who leverages his notoriety for consultant to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications where he promotes the acceptance and normalization of homosexuality.
...Read the rest at OrthodoxNet.com.
