I thought if you are moderate (ie do all things with moderation), then its fine. Phil 4:4-7.
1 Cor 10:23 - all things are lawful, but not necessarily profitable or edifying. If a worldly consolation is lawful, but not edifying, it's valid as long as its in moderation and not too indulgent or excessive?

But I digress, its a personal journey of holiness and discipleship and the artcile was not intended to judge anyone.
We can all do better each day to focus on Jesus. May your zeal to be a better disciple rub off on everyone.
The author who wrote the above verses I quoted, had a life that puts us all to shame, so I'd likely agree with that article but not condemn myself on it.

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Great timing, releasing this article out on the first day of Lent.

I felt like previous fasts were a disaster because I sought exactly this sort of consolation to compensate for discomfort from being deprived of tasty foods, the problem is that doing such basically makes our fasting to no effect. If we’re trying to distract ourselves from discomfort we won’t get any benefit from it. Instead we have to lean into it, to take those pangs of hunger as a reminder to draw closer to God and focus on spiritual things and the state of our souls.

Some of the things I’m trying this time around:

- Avoiding visiting websites that feed my obsessions/hobbies: forums and retailers for interests like guitars, clothing, and coffee. I spent a ridiculous amount of time over the last few weeks looking at guitars and thinking about ones I’d like to buy, and now I’m trying to cut that out.

- Avoiding superficial entertainments/things to fill empty time: games on my phone, funny YouTube videos, scrolling through social media.

- Avoiding listening to music outside of intentionally practicing an instrument; especially avoiding very exciting or stimulating music.

- Replace normal online activities, watching, and listening with edifying Orthodox content that will help me focus on God/remember the purpose of the fast.

Our whole society is cunningly constructed to offer maximum spiritual distraction, to prevent at all costs focusing our souls and on God. Now is the time to reject the normal worldly way of doing things and cut out whatever distracts us from turning our hearts toward God.

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- Avoiding visiting websites that feed my obsessions/hobbies: forums and retailers for interests like guitars, clothing, and coffee. I spent a ridiculous amount of time over the last few weeks looking at guitars and thinking about ones I’d like to buy, and now I’m trying to cut that out.

Since content is posted on the forum throughout the day, it can be tempting to "snack" on it throughout the day, which can be spiritually detrimental for some. It can be more useful to have a "meal" of whatever internet you want to use within a defined time, so that outside of that time you're not prone to as much distraction.

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It's better to just cut these behaviors full stop but sometimes I try to "ween" myself. For example, instead of scrolling online, I might read a non-edifying novel or listen to a podcast. Instead of verbally responding to an insult or criticism, I'll try to just stay silent but internally I'll still think very negative thoughts, when really I should take it as a blessing that I'm either being corrected or will receive blessings for enduring injustice with patience. This Lent I'll try to take things to the next step. It is very difficult and I have to remember that everyone has different temptations and to a different degree.

You are not alone. I think we all struggle with this, I know I certainly do. What matters is that you recognise this behaviour in yourself and are struggling against it.

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I thought if you are moderate (ie do all things with moderation), then its fine. Phil 4:4-7.
1 Cor 10:23 - all things are lawful, but not necessarily profitable or edifying. If a worldly consolation is lawful, but not edifying, it's valid as long as its in moderation and not too indulgent or excessive?

Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Titus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

I think I see where you are coming from but I believe Roosh is pointing out how when you start to uproot large and obvious sources of sin in your life, you become aware of all the smaller ways you are still missing the mark, and this bothers you. I suppose the more elevated your consciousness becomes the more aware you will be of all your faults, and how filthy and impure they are would bother you more.

Thank God for Christ and His atonement. My sin although forgiven is still disgusting and abominable to me as it is to God, and I wish I could conform more closely to the standard set by Christ when it comes to things like not judging or hating others, not retaliating in word or deed, not being lazy and slothful, keeping my mind on God instead of the world, having the right attitude, and many other things. Even just avoiding cursing when angry is not easy for me because it's such a deeply ingrained habit and sometimes seems like the only way to get my point across quickly and hard enough when I am emotionally worked up. Let's say I have a hard time calming down and tend to go into a downward spiral when it comes to things like anger and depression. This is a major sin and I have to avoid anything that gets me even in that ballpark.

I have noticed how things I used to enjoy, rock music for example, can seem enjoyable now but have bad after-effects. For example I might be feeling good, and decide to lift weights while listening to Van Halen. Not some overtly satanic music like Metallica, but just hard driving, loud rock music. Then afterwards I end up depressed and low energy, irritable, generally having a bad attitude, not able to concentrate well on work, etc. Whereas if I had done the same workout while listening to Russian Orthodox chanting I would be in a much better frame of mind for the rest of the day, much more ready to deal with stress and things that bother me without getting angry. Obviously it's because the rock band is just singing about getting drunk and high, fornicating, and creating loud, obnoxious music to show off their skills in order to exalt themselves and basically have people worship them. And this is supposedly the "good life" we are supposed to be "rocking out" to. All of that is false, stupid and pointless, and has a bad effect on my soul.

In summary I get what Roosh is saying about how these seemingly little things actually make a huge difference, and not in a "purity contest" kind of way but as in, they personally bother and disgust you, and reduce your quality of life, so you want to get rid of them.

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Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Titus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

I think I see where you are coming from but I believe Roosh is pointing out how when you start to uproot large and obvious sources of sin in your life, you become aware of all the smaller ways you are still missing the mark, and this bothers you. I suppose the more elevated your consciousness becomes the more aware you will be of all your faults, and how filthy and impure they are would bother you more.

Thank God for Christ and His atonement. My sin although forgiven is still disgusting and abominable to me as it is to God, and I wish I could conform more closely to the standard set by Christ when it comes to things like not judging or hating others, not retaliating in word or deed, not being lazy and slothful, keeping my mind on God instead of the world, having the right attitude, and many other things. Even just avoiding cursing when angry is not easy for me because it's such a deeply ingrained habit and sometimes seems like the only way to get my point across quickly and hard enough when I am emotionally worked up. Let's say I have a hard time calming down and tend to go into a downward spiral when it comes to things like anger and depression. This is a major sin and I have to avoid anything that gets me even in that ballpark.

I have noticed how things I used to enjoy, rock music for example, can seem enjoyable now but have bad after-effects. For example I might be feeling good, and decide to lift weights while listening to Van Halen. Not some overtly satanic music like Metallica, but just hard driving, loud rock music. Then afterwards I end up depressed and low energy, irritable, generally having a bad attitude, not able to concentrate well on work, etc. Whereas if I had done the same workout while listening to Russian Orthodox chanting I would be in a much better frame of mind for the rest of the day, much more ready to deal with stress and things that bother me without getting angry. Obviously it's because the rock band is just singing about getting drunk and high, fornicating, and creating loud, obnoxious music to show off their skills in order to exalt themselves and basically have people worship them. And this is supposedly the "good life" we are supposed to be "rocking out" to. All of that is false, stupid and pointless, and has a bad effect on my soul.

In summary I get what Roosh is saying about how these seemingly little things actually make a huge difference, and not in a "purity contest" kind of way but as in, they personally bother and disgust you, and reduce your quality of life, so you want to get rid of them.

Among protestant circles, there is definitely a controversy between Lordship Salvation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordship_salvation_controversy

I think there is room of discussion on schools of thought. I'd imagine the Orthodox/Catholic resonates with Protestant Lordship Salvation thought, but I could be wrong.

We have different weaknesses or issues. For example, I never liked rock music, so it was an issue with you but has never been one with me.
I wish I am to a point to feel utterly disgusted and hating sin, and I'm really not sure what is wrong on my case. Either I have done a good self-deception job that everything is moderated in such a way there are no after-effects with just the right amount of checkmarks here and there so that I don't get a conscience hit, or I'm just not spiritually mature enough. My case feels more trecherous because you can't see any after-effects and all the issues seem all too natural. (ie watching movies, secular as well as Hillsong music videos, etc..)

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My mother is the strongest in faith in this family. She too has noticed some things that eat away at her faith and I'm going to include it here because if it happens to the best of us, it can happen to anyone:
1) Consuming teas (I introduced her to that).
2) Watching too many religious videos, even if well intentioned, can still be a distraction from praying and reading the Bible on your own.
3) She likes eating dates, or taking warm water

Right now I'm listing neutral things that can impair faith. My mom don't care or wants to listen to any secular music, movies, and even documentaries are a waste of time.

She had changed at least the first two, and even the third so she's really getting even more closer to the Lord. Even in her example we can see there is always room for improvement. The Lord even offered her passage to heaven but she elected to stay on Earth to take care of the family and see us through. That's allot of assurance and I thanked her for making that decision. Perhaps people on here will get such heavenly visions as we abstain from wordly desires and the flesh. My mother says that the Lord told her that we are missing out on Jesus when we keep giving into the flesh/world/carnal desires.

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