Offsite Post: ‘Help and Consolation for Syria’

 

Any country that disobeys the dictates of the Western powers is slated for retribution.  Syria has lived this reality for nearly a dozen years now, as mercenaries, resource theft, air bombardment, and sanctions have all been deployed against her for refusing to comply with the West’s Arab Spring destabilization campaign across the Middle East and North Africa.

The sanctions against Syria have been particularly harsh and inhuman, not to mention ineffective at bringing about their main goal of regime change, all of which, thankfully, more and more people in the US are willing to point out, particularly after the recent catastrophic earthquake on the Turkish-Syrian border.

But here it is well to point out that the Syrian people are not walking this very difficult path alone.  They have unseen helpers around them, holy saints who voluntarily lived lives of hardship for the sake of their love for God and their desire to be united with Him.  They have not forsaken their brothers and sisters in Syria, nor will they.  But who are these hidden helpers?  They are wilderness hermits who lived without roofs over their heads, relying on the Holy Trinity alone to protect and sustain them.  Let us have a look at a few of their number who are closely joined together:

St Thalassius:

‘Saint Thalassius of Syria lived during the fifth century. At a young age he withdrew to a hill near the village of Targala and passed 38 years there in monastic deeds, having neither a roof over his head, nor any cell nor shelter.

‘For his simple disposition, gentleness and humility he was granted by the Lord the gift of wonderworking and healing the sick. Many wanted to live under his guidance, and the saint did not refuse those coming to him. He himself built cells for them. He died peacefully, granted rest from his labors.’

St Limnaeus:

‘Saint Limnaeus began his efforts under the guidance of Saint Thalassius and dwelt with him for a sufficient time to acquire the virtues of his teacher: simplicity of manner, gentleness and humility. Then Saint Limnaeus joined Saint Maron (February 14).

‘On a hill he built a small stone enclosure without a roof, and through a small aperture, he conversed with those who came to see him. His heart was full of compassion for people. Wanting to help all the destitute, he built a wanderers’ home on the hillside with the help of his admirers, a dwelling for the poor and the crippled, and he fed them with what pious people brought him.

‘The holy ascetic even sacrificed his own quiet and solitude for these poor brethren, and took upon himself the responsibility for for their spiritual nourishment, inducing them to pray and glorify the Lord. For his holy life he was granted the gift of wonderworking. He once cured himself of a snakebite through prayer.’

 . . .

The rest may be read here

https://www.geopolitika.ru/en/article/help-and-consolation-syria

And also here:

https://katehon.com/en/article/help-and-consolation-syria

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘Reflections on Asbury and Other Southern Revivals’

 

It is well known that Christian revival meetings have long been part of Dixie’s heritage.  They’ve been with us since the Great Awakening in the middle of the 18^th century, but the Great Revival of Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in 1801 was the real beginning of this spiritual phenomenon as a fixture in Southern life.  Once common also in the New England and other Northern States, they have largely disappeared there.  Our Yankee cousins have become content with a God who can be analyzed and critiqued with the rational mind, who will stay tamely on the pages of a book or a journal.  The Southerner wants something different:  He does not simply want to think about God; he wants, much like the Holy Prophet Moses on Mount Horeb, to experience God – to encounter Him here and now – to see and grasp as much of His mystery and wonder and glory as he can.  

The students and teachers at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, are the latest examples to manifest this longing in Southrons.  Another revival is underway there:  the Asbury Revival, as it is being called.  But will they find what they are seeking – the life of fruitful repentance, the meeting with God?

It is our contention that these are best accomplished in the Orthodox Church – through her practices of prayer, fasting, and so forth; her worship, particularly the Divine Liturgy; and especially in the monastic life – and, furthermore, that the theology of Protestants (and Roman Catholics) makes it difficult, at best, to attain man’s true end of union with God.  With the help of the testimony of Prof. Thomas McCall of Asbury Theological Seminary (which is next door to Asbury University) regarding the Asbury Revival, let us examine those claims.

Prof. McCall describes scenes from the Asbury Revival:

 

When I arrived, I saw hundreds of students singing quietly. They were praising and praying earnestly for themselves and their neighbors and our world—expressing repentance and contrition for sin and interceding for healing, wholeness, peace, and justice.

 

Some were reading and reciting Scripture. Others were standing with arms raised. Several were clustered in small groups praying together. A few were kneeling at the altar rail in the front of the auditorium. Some were lying prostrate, while others were talking to one another, their faces bright with joy.

 

They were still worshiping when I left in the late afternoon and when I came back in the evening. They were still worshiping when I arrived early Thursday morning—and by midmorning hundreds were filling the auditorium again. I have seen multiple students running toward the chapel each day.

 

 . . .

 

The worship continued throughout the day on Friday and indeed all through the night. On Saturday morning, I had a hard time finding a seat; by evening the building was packed beyond capacity. Every night, some students and others have stayed in the chapel to pray through the night. And as of Sunday evening, the momentum shows no signs of slowing down.

This display of zeal for God is wonderful, but the fact that constant worship, prayer, Bible reading, contrition over sin, confession, etc., are seen as something abnormal shows the disconnect between Southerners and the Apostolic Faith.  It is the norm in the home life, the parish life, and the monastic life of Orthodox believers to constantly be doing these things (and these exertions are intensified even more during the four lenten seasons of the Church year). 

In the home, the individual believer (along with his family if he has one) has his morning and evening prayer rule to say, along with readings from the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers of the Church, as well as the Jesus Prayer and other short prayers to say throughout the day as time allows.  A look at a few portions from the Morning Prayers of the Orthodox will be helpful at this point:

 . . .

The rest is at https://southernorthodox.org/reflections-on-asbury-other-southern-revivals/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘Keep the Ban on Psychedelic Drugs’

 

There is a growing libertarian tendency in the Red States as it regards mind-altering drugs.  Many have legalized marijuana in some form, and now Missouri and Oklahoma are considering legalizing psychedelic mushrooms.  This is the kind of thing we expect from amoral Leftists (some of whose States and cities have already decriminalized dangerous substances like these), but it is difficult to harmonize with any kind of conservative/traditional ethos that the Red States say they support.

The damage to the human body and mind is appalling enough, as reports from legalized drug utopias like Oregon, that resemble something of a cross between a zombie apocalypse and a mafia documentary, reveal:

On the issue of reducing addiction and overdoses, Oregon’s decriminalization of drug use has been a tragic failure. Overdose deaths rose by over 33 percent in Oregon in 2021, the year after the law was passed, compared with a rise of 15 percent in the rest of the United States. As for the claim that the law would provide a pathway to treatment for addicts, less than 1 percent of the people eligible for treatment under Measure 110—a paltry 136 people—ended up getting help. In fact, out of the 2,576 tickets written by police for drug possession, only 116 people called the help hotline to get the ticket waived, with the vast majority of the others choosing to pay the minimal fine instead. As Coelho warned, without the threat of incarceration and the mandatory court programs that come with an arrest, addicts seldom have any interest in getting treatment.

The impact of decriminalizing drugs did not stop with addiction and overdoses. Police in Portland report that all categories of crime jumped in reaction to Measure 110. Drug addicts need money; they got it by stealing items and reselling them, so property crimes rose. Once a drug market opens up, drug dealers move in to service it. As a result, the streets of Portland are awash in guns and drugs. With drug dealers battling for turf, gun violence increased. Portland recorded 90 homicides in 2021, shattering the old record for annual murders in the city. “We’ve seen more guns than we’ve ever seen in our investigations,” a Portland police supervisor bluntly stated. “Almost everybody is armed. . . . Criminal organizations are robbing other criminal organizations. That’s kind of our big push right now—trying to stop the gun violence and the drug violence that goes with it, because they’re hand in hand. It’s not one or the other. It’s not related to the pandemic, it’s not related to Covid, it’s because we have a criminal environment that’s tolerated and allowed to flourish here.”

But there is a deeper danger lurking here, a danger for the human soul, as these psychedelic drugs open the door for demonic influences to enter the lives of individuals and society as a whole:

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.reckonin.com/walt-garlington/keep-the-ban-on-psychedelic-drugs.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘Prophets of Antichrist’

 

Your head,

Your body,

Pierced with wire,

Pierced with nails,

You became an immortal

Martyr for Christ,

Venerable

Quintin of Amiens,

And your body

And the tools

Of your torture

Holy founts of healing.

 

Our heads,

Our bodies,

Ensnared with wires without,

And soon within,

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.newenglishreview.org/articles/prophets-of-antichrist/.

***

For an account of St Quintin’s life:

https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/lives-of-the-saints/volume-x-october/st-quintin-martyr

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘Louisiana Must End Transgender Treatments for Minors’

 

A new report from a doctor, Jamie Reed, in St. Louis, Missouri, makes it abundantly clear that Louisiana and any other sane State must bring a swift end to transgender treatments.  This is the opening of her powerful testimony, which should be read in full to understand the scope of the evil unfolding all around us (thanks to Rod Dreher for posting about this at his blog): 

I am a 42-year-old St. Louis native, a queer woman, and politically to the left of Bernie Sanders. My worldview has deeply shaped my career. I have spent my professional life providing counseling to vulnerable populations: children in foster care, sexual minorities, the poor. 

 

For almost four years, I worked at The Washington University School of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases with teens and young adults who were HIV positive. Many of them were trans or otherwise gender nonconforming, and I could relate: Through childhood and adolescence, I did a lot of gender questioning myself. I’m now married to a transman, and together we are raising my two biological children from a previous marriage and three foster children we hope to adopt. 

 

All that led me to a job in 2018 as a case manager at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital, which had been established a year earlier. 

 

The center’s working assumption was that the earlier you treat kids with gender dysphoria, the more anguish you can prevent later on. This premise was shared by the center’s doctors and therapists. Given their expertise, I assumed that abundant evidence backed this consensus. 

 

During the four years I worked at the clinic as a case manager—I was responsible for patient intake and oversight—around a thousand distressed young people came through our doors. The majority of them received hormone prescriptions that can have life-altering consequences—including sterility. 

 

I left the clinic in November of last year because I could no longer participate in what was happening there. By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to “do no harm.” Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care.

 

Today I am speaking out. I am doing so knowing how toxic the public conversation is around this highly contentious issue—and the ways that my testimony might be misused. I am doing so knowing that I am putting myself at serious personal and professional risk.

 

Almost everyone in my life advised me to keep my head down. But I cannot in good conscience do so. Because what is happening to scores of children is far more important than my comfort. And what is happening to them is morally and medically appalling.

Though it is appalling, transgenderism is spreading quickly even in a very red State like Louisiana, where 128 doctors, voice coaches, counselors, and such like are busy raking in piles of cash as they destroy young lives.

This raises the question of the priorities of Louisiana’s State government – a proposal to try to resolve the property insurance problem sailed through the Legislature in mere days.  Yet the silence and inaction on the dangers to Louisiana’s children from hormone ‘therapy’ and gender reassignment surgery is stunning.  Are inanimate objects worth more to the legislators than the souls and bodies of living Louisiana children?  Are they willing to let them go on being exploited and mutilated so that doctors, hospitals, drug makers, and others will have more long-term revenue sources?

If they do nothing, our State is no better than the ancient cultures that practiced horrifying human sacrifice.

Hopefully they will do the opposite, however, and act in accordance with the Christian Faith many say they profess.  There are examples they can follow.  Oklahoma is proposing a total ban on trans treatment for young people.  Federal proposals to ban social media for children and teens, which is at the heart of a lot of the trans madness, have been floated.  There is no reason why Louisiana could not implement her own bans of these kinds for the good of her young population instead of waiting for others to do so.

This is not proposed out of hard-heartedness towards those who consider themselves transgender, but out of a recognition that human beings, created by the Holy Trinity in His image and likeness, are created with a goal, with a longing, to be united with their Creator in love.  Bishop Athanasios of Limassol of Cyprus explains:

 . . .

The rest is at https://thehayride.com/2023/02/garlington-louisiana-must-end-transgender-treatments-for-minors/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!