Blessed art Thou, o Lord, teach me Thy statutes

Arianism is the most theologically problematic, because in Orthodoxy (and to a lesser extent in other branches) the point of Christianity is the union of humanity and divinity through the person of Christ, so if Christ lacks divinity or humanity than Christianity's whole purpose falls apart.

Modalism is the most biblically problematic, because the relationship between Christ and His Father is a major theme of almost every book of the New Testament, and so denying their separate personhood turns darn near every page of the New Testament into exegetical gymnastics.

there's a reason why the standard explanation of the Trinity (or non-explanation?) is the one that has stuck around the longest, because any attempt to "explain it away" in any way that fits into our happy little human-made boxes results in nonsensical contradictions.

at some point as a species we have to just accept that God, being the most unique Entity in and out of existence, simply does not function in ways that make sense to our tiny little brains and tiny little experiences. This is something we face in physics regularly (quantum mechanics notably has so many things like this built into it's math that whenever someone asks too many questions about what something is or how it works the standard reply is "SHUT UP AND CALCULATE"), why not faith?

Help Krystyna & Thomas Rebuild After Toxic Exposure and Severe Illness

After the birth of their second son, Krystyna’s health rapidly declined. She began suffering from severe and debilitating symptoms, including extreme fatigue that left her sleeping up to 18 hours a day, widespread nerve pain, body swelling, memory loss, confusion, autoimmune-related symptoms, muscle spasms, and cyclical vomiting. Despite numerous emergency room visits and doctor appointments, she received little relief as her condition continued to worsen. The family later discovered that Krystyna also had more than ten improperly placed mercury dental fillings from childhood, which may now be contributing to her illness and complicating her recovery. At the same time, the family’s rented home in North Carolina was located next to a property where large amounts of waste—including plastics and other hazardous materials—were burned on a daily basis. Toxic smoke repeatedly entered their home, creating dangerous living conditions. The contamination became so severe that workers refused to remain on the property, nearby trees died, and even the family’s beloved cat, Masya, became ill and passed away. Their two young children also began experiencing health problems from the smoke exposure. Krystyna, already medically vulnerable due to her preexisting health conditions, became critically ill and at times struggled to remain conscious. Thomas has since found work in landscaping, but the family continues to face overwhelming financial pressure while trying to secure the medical care and stability they desperately need.

Please keep Krystyna and her family in your prayers, and if you are able please consider donating to their fundraiser. Their fundraiser has been verified by local Orthodox clergy.

I think a general immigration policy aimed at keeping the foreign born percentage (a loose proxy for a complex set of statistics) under 10 percent most of the time would be reasonable. Of course if we somehow came by another few hundred thousand square miles of land it would make sense to accelerate immigration to settle it.

I find this kind of commentary from Walsh pretty incompatible with the American Constitution and to some degree tradition.

God asks that we love her with all that we are, that we devote all our our energy and desire and labor towards her and her alone. And sometimes —IN RARE CASES THAT DONT INCLUDE ANY OF US READING THIS — that means martyrdom. But for most of us that means living a life of loving your neighbor.

Your life is indeed a sacrifice but liturgy the killing is not ritualized. The point is NOT death; the point of a sacrifice is to eat it, not alone but in community. The point is to bring the Self to God by means of food: inviting God and the community, especially the powerless, grieving, and debased among us, to eat together. And God is not a man: she does not require that we biologically die in order for us to be consumed. She can can and does consume us alive. She prefers her meals alive, her sacrifices living. Sacrifice is about love because eating is about love. And love is about Life, not death.

It’s a nice sentiment, I like the energy, I do. That said, I am actually descended from a “Salem Witch,” and my Ancestor, Mary Isham Towne, was not burnt at the stake, she was hanged by the neck until dead. We’re not savages y’know.

Furthermore, Mary Isham Towne was a churchgoing, god-fearing woman, who just so happened to be a widow who owned a piece of land that the local judge wanted to purchase, but which she refused to sell, and which he set out to acquire pretty much immediately after he sentenced her execution.

For anyone who doesn't know, "Massa Damnata" is a Latin phrase meaning "damned mass" that refers to two distinct-but-related concepts: (1) humans are damned by default and need to perform some action or have some action performed on them to not be damned and (2) most people will go to Hell.

My problem is the same as my main problem with Marxism - it imagines future positives and negatives so extreme that it abrogates all normal morality. For example, the obvious response is to ensure that as many people become Christian as possible by starting a theocracy were people are bribed or coerced into becoming Christian - what's a little suffering now if it prevents an eternity of suffering? But if you reject that, then the other solution is to have all Christians evangelise all the time and pour all their money and energy into evangelism. And, of course, all unbelievers' good deeds are meaningless to God and, if repented of, so are all believer's good deeds.

Plus the fact that most people either have never heard about Christianity, have never looked into it in any detail or don't find it convincing and so are damned. At which point you should conclude that God wants most people to suffer eternally.

A major bill funding ICE passed the House and it is really important we bombard our senators into voting against the bill and holding strong against it. Even if there is no chance that your senator will budge, I urge you to bear witness to our neighbors in need.