Fr. Ted explains why the Orthodox Church has never modernized—and never will!

Fr. Ted reminds us that while the worldly spirit changes with time, the truth of the Church endures forever.

Fr. Ted discusses the importance of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council and St. Justin, the Philosopher and Martyr.

Fr. Ted addresses the staff at the headquarters of World Vision Canada on the Orthodox view of charity as it relates to Great Lent.

Fr. Ted explains the importance of the Ecumenical Councils and how they make a difference in our lives today.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos gives the homily on the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman about the need to speak truthfully to one another.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos explains the way in which God chooses to work with us (synergy) in our lives.

Dr. Bruce Foltz, a professor of Environmental Philosophy at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, delivers a talk titled “The Truth of Nature.” The occasion for this lecture was the ecclesiastical new year, which St. Vlad’s marked by gathering to offer praise and thanksgiving to God the Creator and to contemplate the many gifts He has bestowed.

On January 30, 2021, New York Times bestselling author Rod Dreher delivered the 38th Annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture. Dreher’s lecture, “Living in Truth: How the Communist-Era Suffering Church can Prepare Us to be Dissidents,” defined the challenges and explored the gifts the suffering church has for a complacent West. His talk coincided with the publication of A Voice for Our Time: Radio Liberty Talks, Vol. 1, featuring an English translation of Schmemann’s broadcasts into the Soviet Union that began in 1953. This first volume of the two-part series, being published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press, features a foreword by Dreher.

Meet Ruth, one of the treasures at the Mission. Taken from Walking Humbly: The Holiness of the Poor, by St. John the Compassionate Mission.

Fr. Apostolos Hill discusses the Gospel reading from Matthew 6 and the Sermon on the Mount. He conducts a brief overview from Holy Writ of the pitfalls of money and our pursuit of it and that Jesus didn't say we "mustn't" or "ought not" serve God and Mammon, but that it cannot be done. He also refers to the writings of Solomon, Isaiah, and Jeremiah who each underscored how oppression of the poor invited the correction of God which saw Israel captive in Babylon for 70 years.

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a homily about the 1st Ecumenical Council and how only the God-man Jesus Christ is the Bridge that unites Heaven and Earth.

Sermon on the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Galatians 1:11-19; Luke 8:26-39)

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman - Fifth Sunday of Pascha

As the Church prepares us to celebrate the Elevation of the Precious Cross, Fr Tom reminds us that the Cross is the sign and reminder of the firm, unchanging truths found in the the person of Christ. (Sunday Before the Elevation of the Precious Cross)

St Paul's letter to the Galatians opens with an impassioned plea to those who once embraced the truth of the Gospel, to return to it. In our own day, numerous Christians are succumbing to the spirit of the age and compromising fundamental truths. Fr Thomas makes his own fervent plea not to accept any other Gospel but that which is given to us by the apostles and their successors. As a listener to the podcast wrote, "truth doesn't bow to feelings."

On the first Sunday of Lent, we celebrate the triumph of Orthodoxy over the icon smashers. Fr Thomas gives us some straight talk about the Orthodox Christian faith, the nature of truth, and our relationship with world religions. (Sunday of Orthodoxy)

During a Saturday Divine Liturgy, Fr Thomas taught from John 8:31-42, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

At the incredible encounter of the Samaritan Woman with Jesus as the well, Fr Thomas teaches us that the Lord models how to speak the truth in love.

Listen as Fr. Tom reminds us that the Sunday of Orthodoxy is about so much more than icons alone . . . it is about the triumph of truth.

Lest we forget the cosmic realities of our Orthodox worship, Fr. Tom unpacks the reading of the Samaritan Woman in order to remind us that worship in spirit and in truth is not bound to space or time, and includes - not least of all - personal sacrifice.

Truth is more than an internal reality or a set of external precepts - it is the transformative power of Christ!

On the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, Fr. Tom reminds us of the deep human need for Truth and how the Holy Spirit guides us into that truth, both in belief and in worship.

Fr Thomas teaches us that we need to cultivate in ourselves an openness to the truth based on all the goodness of the teachings of Christ. (John 9:1-38) Sunday of the Blind Man, May 21, 2023

Fr. Christopher sets the record straight on the celebration of Christmas.

Fr. Emmanuel Kahn gives the sermon on the Woman at the Well.

Fr. Gregory Hallam gives the sermon on Sunday, May 13, 2018.

In this very important sermon, Fr. Gregory Hallam tells us that we do not believe in God to satisfy our ignorance about the world; in short to give us a nice and comforting alternative to science with its allegedly godless explanations and “theories.” If we are thinking like that then we do not truly believe in the God who is the source of ALL truth both religious and scientific, nor do we understand the world as it truly is.

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on the statement, "We are what we eat," in a discussion about truth.

Focusing on a text by St. Hilary of Poitiers, Fr. Irenei explores the Saint’s conviction that the multitude of heresies and errors surrounding us in the world are not to be feared or to become a cause for despair, for through their very error the Truth of Christ is revealed all the more in the Church.

Fr. Pat again addresses the "transcendentals," this time explaining how the Incarnation is the manifestation of truth, goodness, and beauty.

Fr. Pat shares his homily from the Sunday of the Paralytic.

Part of our communion with God is our connection to the saints; chief among them after the Theotokos are Peter and Paul.

Father Pat looks at the encounter with the Samaritan woman through the lens of Jesus' statement “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

World number three Mark Allen says he will never change and will continue to be outspoken on snooker issues.

A number of people have asked if I would respond to the piece Julie Bindel wrote about The Sex Myth in the Grauniad. Clearly as she took the opportunity to let rip, so too must I?

Maybe, maybe not. Because the truth about Julie Bindel is that she is - shock, horror - actually decent company. You would totally have a drink with her as long as you stayed off the topics of sex work, trafficking, porn, trans issues, gay marriage and... well you get the idea. There are definitely people with whom my politics are more closely aligned whose company I have enjoyed a lot less.

But in the interest of "setting the record straight" (as if such a thing exists) here are my notes on the encounter:

- I approached Julie to ask if she wanted to interview me, in part because I figured she would write about the book anyway. Since I criticise her writing extensively in The Sex Myth it seemed fair to give her a face-to-face.

- She's prettier in person than in her photos. Not that that's relevant, or important, but she is.

- We met three times that week: once for lunch, once for the photos, and again on Sky news. The first words out of her mouth on the air at Sky were "As much as I hate to say this I agree with Brooke." I did a little mental air-punch at that one. (It was also approximately the first thing Claire Perry said when we were on the Today programme. File under: win.)

- The "offal", by the way, was calf's liver and very good it was too. Though I did wish I'd ordered the lamb sweetbreads special instead.

- The dessert was an Eccles cake with cheddar cheese ice cream. Hand on heart, I loved the ice cream. The Eccles cake was not nice. If you have occasion to go to The Gilbert Scott at St Pancras, ask them for a bowl of that ice cream.

- She thought my criticism of Swanee Hunt mentioning her father's political background a bit out of line. My reply to that is if Hunt's still trading on his name and his connections, then she has to expect that. Her extreme privilege (yes, even in supposedly classless America; yes, even when your work is deemed charitable) is a huge hurdle to overcome. Eye of the needle and all that jazz.

- Julie's a big fan of Viz, especially Eight Ace and Sid the Sexist. Who knew? Also she liked Fat Slags better when it was shorter whereas I prefer the longer ones.

- In principle we both agree that sex workers themselves should not be criminalised. After that our thoughts on sex work are mainly opposed. When I put it to her at lunch that the much-talked-about "Swedish model" and Icelandic approaches could never work in the UK, she agreed.

- Julie's piece was filed after we met for lunch on the 17th April, I believe before we had photos on the 20th. The final edits to the book were made on the 25th and approved on the 27th. First edition came off the presses May 1st. (Yes, we cut it fine.) This unfortunately means some of the things from her piece may not be the book.* I'm not sure if it is the writer's or the editor's responsibility to check reviews against the published copy, but someone should have done.

- We both think the Grauniad will cease to exist in printed form soon. Probably most people think that though, so no news there.

- She seemed concerned that I think feminists of her stripe/generation are against sex, and took pains to assure me plenty of sex was going down among the redfems in the 70s and 80s. I said "I bloody well hope so," because what would be the point of rejecting the model of virgin-to-wife-to-mother only to not get laid? However, in my experience, the lesbian-identified feminists when I was at uni in the very early 90s were not so free and easy with the sexual favours. Not that I'm bitter, mind. It wasn't a great place or time to be a woman who slept with both women and men.

- She think my husband looks like a model. As far as independent assessments of attractiveness go, that's about as airtight as they come.

- Her claim that I was 'roundly criticised' by Catherine Hakim for my educational background is a misrepresentation of Hakim's review; you can read it here. My education is in anthropology, maths, forensic science and epidemiology. I've also worked in chemoinformatics and child health research (mainly cancer). If anyone thinks that makes me unqualified to comment on academic research... with all due respect, check yo self.

- The last thing I said to her, when we were leaving Sky news: "Civilised is the new uncivilised."

So there it is. No particular desire or need to fetch a hatchet, because who benefits? (It might also help that I have professional experience of finding common ground with just about anyone for two hours as long as they're buying.) The Grauniad is a known quantity and the "pity" angle of her article frankly unbelievable... you don't bother tearing down someone if you feel actual pity for them. You might even wonder why I bothered. To which I say: lunch? On their dime? Admit it, you so would. And so I did.

It's a pity her piece was, in the end, so misleading. I was told it would be presented as a conversation; it's a rant. She accuses me of accusing her of taking money from the far right: evidence for this claim is undisputed, and considering the libel threats that Eaves For Women put on the book the day of its release,  thus delaying its actual release by weeks while lawyers hemmed and hawed, you would have thought she'd feel free to take it to court if I was actually wrong.

The nuisance suit was dropped very quickly, of course; its fantastical claims included that I had somehow "hacked" the Eaves mainframe... by reporting details of a paper they presented at an international conference, and posted online... well, I guess it got the job done, from their point of view. Ugly but effective.

Helen Lewis, as well, gave a very misleading review. She blasts me for praising a study from Keele University, missing the entire point of why it was praised: because even given the selective inclusion of only a certain kind of sex worker, the results are still positive - which sets it apart from other, negatively skewed, studies. Point well and truly missed. She seems like a smart girl, so I can only imagine she went in with a particular result in mind: namely, punishing me for not saying yes to an interview with her. Hey, I'd already booked Juile... one in-person assassination is enough for my well-being, thanks! Usually reviewers are expected to rise above such petty machinations. (That her review contained some exact wording found in the Eaves libel threat is, I am sure, a complete coincidence.)

But as I say, no hard feelings. They have a point of view that includes taking no prisoners. Apt, I suppose, for a style of feminism that considers the police to be adequate protectors of sex worker safety. Obviously it's a view I disagree with. I'm sure they're both perfectly lovely if you don't disagree with anything they say, ever. But the tenor of so-called debate in this country lately dictates that all differences must be fought to the last. A shame for fact finding, and missing the point of the book.
Right now you're probably thinking I should go to the cinema with Tanya Gold and discover maybe she's not as bad as all that? Hey now, let's not get crazy.

tl;dr - I was expecting a snarling nemesis, what I got was a lesbian Michael Winner... hugely offensive, yet surprisingly charming, bon viveur.

Believe it or not The Sex Myth is not only about columnists, or trafficking, or even feminism: those are only a small part. Most reviews have barely touched on any of the other chapters. It also discusses the medicalisation of female desire and the denial of women's appreciation for erotica, for example. It examines the criticisms of "sex addiction" as a disease. It champions under-reported sexualisation research that is more interested in representing real families than in reflecting a political agenda. It includes citations of all referenced material so you can read them and decide for yourself. My aim is not to force people and certainly not Julie Bindel to think the way I do: it's to open up the discussion in ways we simply are not doing around these topics. It's a call for less panic, not more.

Go get it. Read it. Make up your own mind.



* [Update:  Yes, I have checked this against the email record between me, my editor, and the Orion legal bods; and yes, I have run this blog past them and got the thumbs-up. Proceed to question it at your own risk.]

Aim/Purpose: The paper discusses various factors contributing to disagreements, such as differing experiences, perspectives, and historical narratives, leading to disagreements within families and societies. It explores how beliefs, values, and biases feed into disagreements, with confirmation bias affecting decision-making and the media. Cultural values also play a role, showcasing conflicts between meritocracy and inclusivity in ethical decision-making. Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory highlights differences in value priorities between Western and Eastern societies. The impact of Western values like rationalism, freedom, and tolerance, under threat from Marxist illiberalism on campuses, is dis-cussed. The text also delves into disinformation, emotions in warfare, and the use of fake information and images for propaganda purposes. The need for diligent reporting to avoid spreading disinformation is emphasized, given its potential to create misconceptions and harm diplomatic relations.

It is often said that China is the world’s foremost peddler of fake news and distorted truths. The recent incident in the Taiwan Strait exemplifies this assertion.

Efrem Graham sits down with Poet, Evangelist, & Apologist Preston Perry. He talks about his new book called How to tell the Truth. We have a Studio 5 First Look at the film Average Joe. Plus, we talk to the director of the new film White Bird.