Two Prophetic Religious News Analyses from 2009 Still Relevant Today

I was looking over some old articles I posted (or reposted) back in 2009 and 2010 at johnsanidopoulos.com and found the following two articles worth taking a second look at 7 years later to see how they still hold up. Remarkably these two articles, which challenge two religious extremes in our culture, are just as relevant today as they were when they were written. Read for yourself.

Movies in the 21st Century

BBC.com this past week published a list of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century since 2000, as picked by 177 film critics from around the world. Though I have some personal issues with the list, I really liked the introduction to the list, which makes the case that film in the 21st century has not been on the decline, as many wrongly hold, but it is ever evolving and producing new classics like it always has. Therefore, I will reproduce a section of the introduction below, and you can view the list here, and determine how many you have seen, and if you agree with the list.

Olympics Resource Page

The Olympic Flame

The Church and the Olympic Games

The Body and Athletics in Orthodox Theology (1 of 4) 

The Body and Athletics in Orthodox Theology (2 of 4)

The Body and Athletics in Orthodox Theology (3 of 4)

The Body and Athletics in Orthodox Theology (4 of 4)

The Olympics of Virtue (On Our Lenten Asceticism) 

Athletics Means Civilization

Orthodox American Figure Skater Wins Olympic Gold Medal

The Fervent Orthodox Faith of Greek Olympians

The Medal of Panagia Soumela Goes to Greek Olympian

Olympian Ilias Iliadis Fulfills His Promise

Russian Olympians Place Their Hopes in Their Orthodox Faith

The Vow of an Olympic Gold Medalist

An Orthodox Chapel for the Russian Athletes in Rio de Janeiro

 

An Orthodox Chapel for the Russian Athletes in Rio de Janeiro

Members of the Russian Olympic team pose for a photograph after a prayer service at the Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. Photograph: Mikhail Metzel/Tass

August 11, 2016

Interfax

The father confessor of the Russian Olympic team, and rector of St. Dimitry Donskoy Church in Severnoye Butovo (district in south-east Moscow), Archpriest Andrey Alexeyev organized a chapel for the Russian Olympic athletes.

It was opened in the Olympic village in Rio de Janeiro. Each athlete receives support and consolation there, parishioners of St. Zinaida Church in Rio de Janeiro told Interfax-Religion on Thursday.

The Vow of an Olympic Gold Medalist

Anna Korakaki is a shooter who represented Greece at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, winning a gold medal in the 25m pistol and a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol. At the age of 20 and in just her maiden Olympic campaign, she became the first Greek woman to win two Olympic medals in the same competition and the first Greek athlete in general since 1912, making her one of the most decorated Greek athletes ever.