I have been asked by a few people what I think of resources from the WO such as Ancient Faith Radio.
I am a firm believer that we must evaluate things on their content, first and foremost. If we know they come from a WO background, we should be on guard for signs of modernism or ecumenism. However, we should not dismiss it out of hand because it came from a WO priest or commentator.
That said, I find the recent direction of AFR very disturbing. While they have some traditional priests who adhere to a correct recitation of the faith, they have more and more lay podcasters who are off in their own worlds and nobody seems to be vetting what they do. Putting aside their recent focus on the Orthodox science fiction convention (something that I find disturbing in its own right, though I recognize others find allegorical value in some of the stories), there is a disturbing trend toward innovative interpretation and pop culture schlock. One of their recent lay podcasts is called The Bible's Grand Narrative, and I can't even really describe what it is trying to accomplish other than to create a new interpretive method for scripture. Another podcast, called The Trench, is hosted by a young lay employee (I believe of the GOA) and tries to be hip, trendy take on cultural issues. In one recent episode about "protecting our relationships" the host gave some rules about what people are worth interacting with and what ones aren't. I think under his interpretation, we can cut a number of stories out of the Bible, starting with the Good Samaritan. It's really just schlock for 20-somethings. The problem is, they go to listen on AFR and come away thinking this somehow represents the teaching of the Church. There have been other examples, but it seems to be getting worse and worse.
So, for my two cents, there are still a few valuable and edifying things to be found on AFR, but one must exercise discernment and be very wary of the lay podcasts currently being offered. I do however, enjoy the streaming music channel.
