Should animals and humans have the same rights? How best should we care for animals in a humane way without confusing the value of the two?

Is euthanasia really the best way to alleviate the suffering of those dealing with serious mental illness?

In his special Christmas episode, Dr. Rossi explores the "night" in both the Nativity story as well as Christ's Passion.

Dr. Rossi addresses some of the difficult issues that youth today face, and how we can be a healing presence in their lives.

Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick shares his hopes for the future of the Antiochian Archdiocese and Orthodoxy in America. The text version of this commentary can be found here.

Drawn from a remarkable passage from St. John of the Ladder, Archimandrite Irenei examines the crippling effect of spiritual fear on the life of the Christian, and draws from the saint’s guidance the help towards overcoming it with a trustful love in the power of God.

In this week’s episode, Archimandrite Irenei explores St. John of the Ladder’s beautiful testimony of repentance as "the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair." What is the nature of such repentance, and how does it raise up the Christian to "a sure resurrection"?

Learn about a book series from Conciliar Press for children teaching them about Christ and the Theotokos in Old Testament stories.

A conversation with Erin Doom, the Director of the Eighth Day Institute, a relatively new organization located in Wichita, Kansas, that seeks to renew culture through faith and learning.

Fr. Andrew Damick interviews Dr. Gary Jenkins about the proposed Institute for Orthodox Thought and Culture at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. Please complete the survey to help them launch this program in the fall of 2015.

Bobby Maddex interviews author Katherine Hyde about her recently released children's book Lucia, Saint of Light, published by Ancient Faith Publishing.

Priest and iconographer Fr. Jerome Sanderson speaks at the Second Annual St. Herman House - FOCUS Cleveland fundraiser, held on Monday, November 10, at St. Paul Greek Orthodox Church in North Royalton, Ohio.

On this special episode of Ancient Faith Presents, Mother Abbess Gabriella speaks at the Third Annual Winter Dinner to support Holy Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan. Her talk is titled “Thoughts: A Monastic Perspective.”

Bobby Maddex interviews Alexei D. Krindatch, the Research Coordinator for the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, about a new study titled “Go and Make Disciples: Evangelization and Outreach in US Orthodox Parishes."

Archimandrite Maximos Constas, Senior Research Scholar at Hellenic College/Holy Cross, speaks at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Toronto, Ontario.

Bobby Maddex interviews Dr. David Chalmers, the musicologist-in-residence at Paraclete Recordings, about the All-Night Vigil, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

On this special edition of Ancient Faith Presents, Elissa Bjeletich, host of the live program Everyday Orthodox, interviews Anna Kallis, Michelle Moujaes, and Dr. Philip Mamalakis about their affiliation with the FaithTree organization and its Relationship Project, which focuses on youth and their identity in Christ, real intimacy, friendship and loneliness, physical desire and attraction, marriage, dating, and more!

Bobby Maddex interviews Fr. Joseph Lucas, a managing editor of a new Orthodox academic e-journal titled Rule of Faith: A Journal of Orthodox Thought.

"Bolivia, too, is undergoing a kind of disillusionment with democracy." How the rest of the world views this year's US election. / The Dial

See also: How British vernacular invaded America, or why everyone's saying "gutted" now. / The Guardian

More solar activity could again make the Northern Lights visible to more areas of the world this weekend. / BBC News

"A lot of people just said, 'This is too good to be true. This cannot be real.'" In early tests, visual therapy using flashing lights appears to halt the progression of Alzheimer's. / Nature

See also: Researchers find that, compared to viewing reproductions, experiencing art in person creates a 10-fold increase in people's emotional response. / Hyperallergic

"Not a single organism survived. This is unprecedented. It's Europe's first completely dead river." Ukraine accuses Russia of intentionally poisoning a river. / The Guardian

The US military has been updating various advanced weapons systems with gaming-style controllers. / WIRED

See also: The CIA is posting messages in Farsi, Mandarin, and Korean on social media and the dark web as part of an effort to recruit informants. / NBC News

This is a chilling development: By pairing Meta's smart glasses with facial recognition, Harvard students were able to instantly dox strangers on the street. / 404 Media

But at least the AI that Meta includes with the smart glasses seems incapable of deciphering much of what it sees, though it will confidently lie to you about it anyway. / Gizmodo

Parents of the surveillance era are facing the reality of having children away at college. / The Wall Street Journal [+]

"The emotions I feel for her are real." AI companions can be a lifeline for those who struggle with relationships. / Esquire

See also: Does anyone have time to be a good friend anymore? / Dazed

From initial novelty to immediate slop, the five qualities of every AI app. / Read Max

"Being online has always involved searching for the needles of 'real' content in a large and messy haystack of junk. But never has the hay been as convincingly disguised as needles." / The New Yorker

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Israel's military is investigating whether Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed during a military operation. / CNN

Mohamad Elmasry: The US warning to Israel to "let aid in Gaza"' is merely a distraction. / Al Jazeera

European leaders are calling for new laws to ramp up deportations. / Politico

See also: For Germany, it's a remarkable switch "given that it welcomed more than a million mostly Syrian refugees." / Semafor

The FBI says investment scams are surging this year because criminals are using AI tools to seduce their victims. / The San Francisco Standard

Kyle Chayka falls back in love with iPhone photography through an app that skirts Apple's AI optimization. / The New Yorker

Forgive us, but: a round-up of apps people look at on their phone while they're sitting on the toilet. / Defector

At this year's Paris Auto show, "glitz is out" and the focus is on lower-cost offerings. / Clean Technica

What is it like to work on a megayacht? "You're a fly on the wall, but it's very one-sided." / The Cut

Unrelated: Axiom Space, NASA's commercial partner, reveals its new spacesuits developed with Prada. / Gizmodo

China ends its international adoption program, sending shockwaves through the adoption community. / Goats and Soda

Three years later, there's still no satisfying answer as to the whereabouts of disappeared Chinese tennis pro Peng Shuai. / Sports Illustrated

Some examples of Korean painters pushing feminist art forward. Also, 10 contemporary artists who are innovating landscape painting. / Artsy

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For the first time in history, every incumbent party in a developed nation this year lost vote share in elections. / Financial Times

See also: A German far-right party won a regional election in September, which hasn't happened since the Nazi era—a result of 30 years of ignoring a lurking problem. / The Baffler

The good news is that the US political system is too complex for Trump to destroy it. The bad news is he's going to try anyway. / The Guardian

We blamed Facebook for Trump winning in 2016, so it tracks that we'd blame TikTok this time around—except the squirrel thing was not nothing. / Read Max

An explanation of 4B, the South Korean feminism movement that bans men, and that's been taking hold this week among American women. / Vox

"Ten percent of American workers today are union members, meaning that 90% of 'the working class' are not union members." To unfuck politics, create more union members. / How Things Work

Life after landing your dream job as a lighthouse keeper on a remote Australian island, where your only company for a month at a time is a colony of penguins. / BBC News

See also: From an 1860 John Ruskin letter, "One feels everything in the world so sympathetically ridiculous, one can't be angry when one looks at a Penguin." / Instagram

An emperor penguin has arrived on the southern coast of Western Australia, the furthest north the species has ever been recorded. / ABC

Ten years after legislation to curtail stores' and restaurants' seafood mislabeling, an investigation finds 18% of salmon sold as wild is actually farmed. / Gizmodo

Unrelated: Webfishing, a game that combines fishing, relaxing, chatting, and little else, could not have come at a better moment. / VICE

Or if smashing fascists sounds more appealing, the allure of Wolfenstein remains. / Kotaku

See also: From 1941, "It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one's acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi." / Harper's

A vibrant journey through the colorful world of mushrooms, comprising more than 800 shades. / Mushroom Color Atlas

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Microsoft is changing its famous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) to black in Windows 11. The software giant started testing its new design changes in a Windows 11 preview earlier this week, but the Black Screen of Death isn’t fully enabled yet. The Verge understands Microsoft will be switching to a Black Screen of Death for Windows 11, matching the new black logon and shutdown screens.

Fr. Pat explains the importance of hearing the word of God, putting on Christ, and having common sense.

Fr. Pat reflects on the story of the man born blind.

By giving Paul so dominant a place in the sacred Canon, the Fathers surely intended us to learn from his example how to examine the circumstances of our lives in order to attain wisdom in Christ.

Fr. Pat reflects upon the theme of revelatory light, particularly as Holy Scripture contrasts it with darkness.

Our contemporary culture is accustomed to thinking of the heart as a symbol of spontaneous feelings. That’s about the last thing it means in the Bible. Fr. Pat Reardon reflects on the Parable of the Sower from Luke 8.

The story of the Gadarene Demoniac in Luke 8 provokes three questions which are important for us to ask today.

The account of the man born blind serves as a narrative completion of the themes introduced on the night of Pascha. Fr. Pat preaches on the darkness of blindness and the True Light, which gives light to every man coming into the world.

On the Sunday after the Theophany, Fr. Pat preaches from Matthew 4:12-17.

Fr. Pat contrasts the Prodigal Son and Esau, and offers thoughts on the mystery of repentance.

On Palm Sunday, at the beginning of this saddest of weeks, St. Paul exhorts us, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice."

Fr. Pat preaches from Luke 13:10-17, the story of Jesus healing a crippled woman on the Sabbath. This homily was given on December 4, 2014

January 30 in the Orthodox Church is the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom. In this homily from 2011, Fr. Pat teaches us about these three Fathers of the Church and their contributions to the Faith.

This week we answer one of your questions! How do we control our thoughts and deal with the temptations we face everyday?

We don't light candles in Church. Here's why.

Being a Christian and living the Gospel isn't always easy; in fact, it's usually challenging. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., experienced that as he fought for justice. So did Archbishop Iakovos when, despite opposition, he chose to stand with Reverend King in Selma. Fifty years after the Selma marches, let's look ahead to how we can live with the same spirit of courage and love.

Have you ever wanted to do something good, and stopped because of doubt? God doesn't knock us over the head: He speaks to us in whispers, the good thoughts that remind us to love God and neighbor. Instead of letting those whispers get drowned out, remember: when you have a good thought, do it immediately.

"Thoughts" are the imaginings and fantasies that can distract us from God. And they can turn into action after they enter our hearts. So how do we deal with the thoughts that bother us? Instead of fighting them, we can turn away from them.

"O Gregory the Miracle Worker, light of Orthodoxy, support and teacher of the Church, comeliness of Monastics, invincible defender of theologians, the pride of Thessalonica, and preacher of grace, intercede forever that our souls may be saved." (Apolytikion for the Sunday of Saint Gregory Palamas) Is it possible to know God? How could a perfect God have anything to do with His imperfection creation? These are some of the questions Saint Gregory Palamas faced in the 14th century. And they're questions the Church faces today. We dedicate the Second Sunday of Great Lent to this important saint because he taught an important theological truth that's at the core of the Christian life: That God is both knowable in His Energies and unknowable in His Essence. And this mystery is shown to us when Jesus heals the paralytic in Mark 2. As always, we've prepared a FREE downloadable workbook to help you act on what you'll learn: https://mailchi.mp/goarch/bethebee170

Are Humans the Centerpiece of Creation? This episode deals with "Human Exceptionalism" and its threat by the animal and nature rights movements. Kevin Allens's guests are lawyer and award-winning author (and Orthodox Christian) Wesley J. Smith ("A Rat Is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy"), and Fr Christopher of New Skete monastery.

One of the great evils of all times is slavery and in this time human trafficking. Unknown to many an Antiochian Orthodox Christian has dedicated his life to educating the public and ending this evil practice. In this episode host Kevin Allen speaks about human trafficking with Tony Nassif Jr, the President of the Cedars Cultural and Educational Foundation. He also produces national Preventing Abuse Conferences which focuses on preventing human trafficking and child abduction.

St. Paul called together the leaders of the Churches and warned them of the wolves to come. He reminded them that his service was at his own cost. The wolves in the Church are still there and those who make use of the Church for their own benefit are still amongst us - make sure that you are not one of them.

Let that great dark void in you be filled with Light

Just as the moon shines with the light of the sun so you should shine with the Light of the Son.

So What had the other nine apostles been getting up to?