My guest this week is Father John Whiteford. Fr. John is Archpriest and pastor at St. Jonah Orthodox Church in Spring, Texas. He is also the dean of the southern deanery (Texas and Louisiana) of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America ROCOR. Today, we are discussing some themes from a talk he gave at the Ludwig Orthodox Fellowship Inaugural Conference recently. It deals with his realization that once he became an Orthodox Christian, he could no longer support the neoconservative pro-war foreign policy philosophy. We get into the multiple wars that the US has participated in and the eradication of Christians in various parts of the world due to the actions of the US military. This leads us into a discussion on the Yankee mentality and the Southern mentality. The Puritanism of the Yankees has unfortunately won out when it comes to wars and democracy, and that has led to some very bad results. Fr. John feels as though Orthodox Christianity is suited for the agrarian southern heart and mind. We also get into a subject that Fr. John has written and spoken on many times over the decades, and that is Sola Scriptura. This is a wonderful discussion, and I think you'll learn a lot. For Fr. John's speech at the Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship, click here:   Here is Fr. John's blog: Sponsors: Amy Mastrine's art:   The Podsworth App: Get 50% off your first order at when you use code BUCK50 at checkout! Visit my website:  Donate to the show here:  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: Leave us a review and rating on iTunes! Thanks!