Author: Vlad Smetanko
-
Possible Directions for This Blog
This blog is just about a year old, and it is a good time to take a breath and examine the direction in which we have gone and the possible places to go from this point on. There has never been a precise idea of what the content of this blog ought to be like,…
-
Just Say it in American
Here I am, back from a long break, and the best block of content that I could think of was a guide on how to pronounce foreign words in English. How does this have to do with Christianity? Let’s just say that you will find out later. But in the spirit of writing about religious…
-
Bad Dichotomies
You have probably heard, on multiple occasions, the distinction between knowledge and wisdom. “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit,” they say, “But wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” This distinction indeed exists, and perhaps even the tomato example is appropriate. But there is still something wrong, and…
-
The Strange Image of America
It is common in American immigrant communities to view things from their ancestral homeland as sacred and holy, while viewing everything American as profane and disposable. This trend is difficult to quantify, and it is based solely on my observations. Yet I noticed it consistently throughout immigrants from Eastern Europe as well as even some…
-
The Worst Argument of All
“You are not pro-life; you are pro-birth!” It is a common objection that the pro-life movement faces. In this article I will argue that this argument is not only fallacious and illogical, but also condescending, pathological, and destructive. It is the worst political argument ever made, and this fact should be common knowledge. I will…
-
More on Words and Ecumenism
This post is a response to Zach, who responded to my article about words. The discussion goes back further than these articles and rallies around whether the word “ecumenical” should be used as a descriptor for Morning Walk. Fundamental issues such as the use of words have become the crux of the debate, which led…
-
Political and Theological Divides
The Eastern Orthodox Church, of which I am a member, has had a schism within itself during this past fall. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow broke all ties with the Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople over a land dispute in Ukraine. Opinions on this event within the Orthodox community have been split, and the debate continues. Both…
-
Individualism and Christianity
Imagine two nutritional scientists arguing about cholesterol. One of them argues that it is good and cites all the benefits of high density lipoprotein (“good cholesterol”). The other argues that it is bad and cites all the reasons why low density lipoprotein (“bad cholesterol”) is unhealthy. This peculiar incident is an example of arguing over…
-
Religious Freedom in the Original Colonies
We all hear about American founding principles, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to self-defense, and many others. Yet we less often hear about the fact that these founding principles were, in many ways, a crossover between competing sets of values. We even less often think about the fact that these sets…
-
The Metaphorical Truth About Jordan Peterson
Jordan Peterson is a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, who is especially popular on YouTube for his incredibly interesting lectures. Those who know about Jordan B Peterson usually have a strong opinion about him. These opinions range from reverence to intense dislike, and this range does not diminish among Christians. He has criticized…
