July 4th brings a very contradictory image to the eyes of those living in the United States, though most do not think it so: churches wrapped in various layers of American flags and other related paraphernalia. Truth be told, these two – the dominant ideology of individual liberty (Americanism) and the Christian Church – are at war with one another. Christians in the United States rightly want God’s blessing on themselves and their fellow citizens, but it will not (and cannot) happen by trying to reconcile these two opposing camps. The Church’s embrace of Americanism is an existential threat to her existence, the thrusting of a dagger straight into her heart.
Traditionally, a nation, tribe, people, kingdom, etc., is the outgrowth of communal devotion towards, and worship of, a divine being, which includes a deep connection with the land. Dr. Russell Kirk described it this way in ‘What Does Culture Mean?’: “Our English word culture is derived from the Latin word cultus, which to the Romans signified both tilling the soil and worshiping the divine. In the beginning, culture arises from the cult: that is, people are joined together in worship, and out of their religious association grows the organized human community.”
Orthodox Armenia provides an example of this:
‘Today, on July 1, the Armenian Church celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Holy King Trdat, Queen Ashkhen and Virgin Khosrovidukht, reminds Qahana.am.
‘The Armenian king Trdat Arshakuni was the first in the world to adopt Christianity as the state religion of his country (301). Next to his name, history also mentions the names of Queen Ashkhen and his sister, the virgin Khosrovidukht.
‘It was thanks to a dream that Khosrovidukht dreamed that St. Gregory the Illuminator was released from imprisonment in the monastery of Khor Virap and began to spread the light of Christ on the Armenian land. As Agafangelos testifies, together with the king of the Thirties, Queen Ashkhen and the Virgin Khosrovidukht go out to meet St. Gregory the Illuminator, returning from Caesarea, and receive baptism in the waters of Aratsani. In the future, they participate in the construction of the Holy Etchmiadzin.
‘The Armenian Church celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Holy King Trdat, Queen Ashkhen and Virgin Khosrovidukht on the fourth Saturday after Pentecost.’
The ideology – let us be more precise: the competing religion – that has risen to dominance in the United States overturns that order of things:
‘ . . . American society . . . is a very individualistic society and very liberal in all senses. It is strictly coeval with European modernity. It was born modern. . . .
‘The only root of American society is the modern concept of the individual. There is nothing that lies beneath the individual. There is no pre-modern dimension to it and no deep roots. . . .
‘The landscape is the living image of the country and the people that dwells there. The soil is sacred for deep identity as the most basic, vegetative level of the soul. The soil of Europe is a kind of visible, material manifestation of its culture. The German archeologist and anthropologist Leo Frobenius used to say, “Culture is the Earth manifesting itself through man.”
‘Deep identity is linked to the soil. It is the dimension of eternity, of everlasting stability and immutability.
‘ . . . From the beginning, America was a mobile, highly dynamic society of nomads moving about on the surface of a minimized, almost non-existent space. There is no such thing as American earth. There is no earth there, there is only America, the country without soil, without roots, open to all and allowing no one a place to exist – only a place to keep moving, endlessly and always, developing, progressing, and changing. It is a pure dromocratic society (Paul Virilio), a successfully realized rhizomatic smooth surface, as was dear to Gilles Deleuze.
‘Therefore, the space of America doesn’t allow roots to grow. It is an asphalt world’
Alexander Dugin, Eurasian Mission: An Introduction to Neo-Eurasianism, John B. Morgan IV edr., UK, Arktos, 2014, pgs. 118, 119-20).
A devastating switch has been made in the US. Freedom in the context of the holy Apostles and Fathers of the Orthodox Church means primarily freedom from sin. But in the new American context, it means primarily freedom from any and all authority over an individual.
This American individualistic ethos is therefore poison for the Church. It is in fact lethal to anything that savors remotely of tradition, self-sacrifice, and so on. The individual’s all-consuming, all-American ‘pursuit of happiness’ will make him reject any restraints that he believes hampers this quest of his – marriage, children, loyalty to his ancestors and to his birth place; especially traditional Christianity – embracing instead whatever brings him pleasure: in the most advanced cases, even things like murder (unborn babies inclusive), transgenderism, transhumanism, psychedelic drugs, and suicide.
This has not stopped the Western schismatics (Protestants and Roman Catholics) from trying to wrap Americanism in Christian garments. But this has only made them weaker.
Some in the Orthodox Church also do this. Abp. Elpidophoros is a serial offender. His 4th of July encyclical for 2023 is redolent with the rank odor of sycophancy:
‘The Fourth of July is a National Holiday for all Americans, no matter how or when their ancestors came to this land. Whether millennia ago, across the Bering Straits, or in ships of conquest, or ships of slavery, or even just a few weeks ago after a dangerous and arduous trek. The fact is that we are all Americans — worthy of our fellow citizens’ esteem and respect. In a time when our political discourse has deteriorated, and we hear more and more hateful rhetoric, it seems good and just to remember that this is the “Land of the Free.” And such freedom comes as a gift, and as a responsibility.
‘The Apostle Paul reminds us that our ultimate freedom is of God, and of the interior freedom that consciousness of the Spirit imbues within the human person. The basis of that freedom is love; for to love is to liberate your heart, soul, and mind from the bonds of hatred, prejudice, and envy. Being truly free requires the courage to shoulder the responsibilities of liberty. That is why our country is also called the “Home of the Brave.”
‘Not everyone takes up arms to defend our land, but everyone can take up the cause. Freedom is not guaranteed by weapons, no matter how sophisticated. Freedom is the vocation of every citizen, who values the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens. For in our democratic republic, how we treat the least of our brethren will determine the destiny of all.
‘Therefore, let us celebrate two hundred and forty-seven years of American Independence. We continue to forge a more perfect union, so that all Americans may enjoy the blessings of their life, their liberty, and the pursuit of their happiness. As Orthodox Christians, let us be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy, and in the Spirit of the Lord, commit ourselves to ensure that all our fellow citizens can partake of the goodness of this Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.
‘A very blessed and happy Fourth of July to all!’
Unfortunately, other, more reputable, Orthodox voices engage in this, too. For example, St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania, which wished everyone a ‘Happy Independence Day!’ in her June 30th e-mail to her bookstore subscribers. This kind of passive, inattentive imbibing of the poison of Americanism is just as deadly to the Orthodox Church in the US as the active kind.
As Dr. Clark Carlton has pointed out, on more than one occasion, the Orthodox Church cannot put down roots in the modern American culture of Big Macs, iPhones, Taylor Swift, and LeBron James. Nevertheless, there is a way she can flourish in the States. Alexander Dugin went too far in his criticism of the US: There actually is a ‘pre-modern dimension’ to them that we will find if we go back in history, before the fateful years of 1776 and 1865, to a time when there were even established churches in many of the States/colonies. The Orthodox Church can take root in the regional cultures that become more visible the further back in time we look.
The Orthodox Church can take root in the soil of New England, a people sprung from the southeast of England (East Anglia, Essex), the same people who once gave birth to wonderful Orthodox saints like St. Audrey of Ely and St. Edmund the Martyr-King, England’s original patron saint.
She can take root in the soil of Dixie, a fusion of mainly southwest English, Celtic (Irish and Scottish), and African peoples with a large addition of French and Spanish, too – a culture of Negro spirituals, an enthusiasm for agriculture, and the Shakespearean Southern accent. A region whose ancestors gave the world the extraordinary saints Columba of Iona, Alfred the Great, and many others.
She can take root in the Dutch culture of New Jersey and New York, in the Germanic and Scandinavian cultures of the Great Plains States, and in the Native American tribes, who seem to have a sense of the presence of the divine energies in Creation.
These distinct cultures are enumerated and examined in works such as The Nine Nations of North America (Garreau), Albion’s Seed (Fischer), and others.
Some of the Orthodox have recognized the reality of these regional cultures and have acted accordingly. The OCA has her Diocese of the South, for instance, and the OCA, Serbians, and Antiochians are cooperating to evangelize the upper Great Plains with the Dakotas Mission District. This is the way forward for the Orthodox Church in the US.
Drawing everything together, we will find three essential ideas that the Orthodox Church should accept: (1) The ruling ideology of American individualism must be disavowed (as contentious as it will be, this will necessarily mean the rejection of portions of the American ‘sacred canon’ (i.e. idols) – the Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers, etc.); (2) the mistaken idea that there is a single American nation, people, or culture must be abandoned; and (3) the authentic regional cultures must be expressly acknowledged and supported. If the Protestant and Roman Catholic denominations want to go on destroying themselves by promoting the idols and falsehoods of Americanism, they may do so if they wish. But there is absolutely no need for the Orthodox to join them in what amounts to a mass spiritual suicide.
This July 4th, let the only bell that rings for the Orthodox be the death knell of friendship between the Orthodox Church and Americanism.
Walt Garlington is an Orthodox Christian living in Dixieland. His writings have appeared on several web sites, and he maintains a site of his own, Confiteri: A Southern Perspective.
OR Editorial Note: Orthodox Reflections absolutely has editorial standards. We will not publish heresy, personal gossip, or lies. As a diverse group, not all of whom are even from the United States, we internally disagree on a good many things. Not everyone working on this project agrees with every aspect of every article we run. Walt offers an interesting perspective here. While not all of us agree with each of the author’s points, we all agree with at least some of them. In the spirit of free discussion and inquiry, we offer Walt’s article and many others besides.
Great topic for discussion…. Anyone who’s been Orthodox in North America for long enough knows what you are getting at in this discussion. I grew up Eastern Orthodox in PA – yes, when growing up we definitely felt “American” at school and in society, though it was glaringly obvious that the faith that we worked to practice at home and in Church was decidedly different than our friends’ faith (or lack of faith)…. our faith was not culturally American. There was something about us and how we perceived God that our Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or agnostic friends just didn’t get or understand.
As I grew older, I began to more fully grasp that the Orthodox Christian understanding that God expresses Himself in every person – and the implications of this reality – well, this approach to God and life is quite jarring for most secular/cultural Americans.
Those of us who live in North America are obviously American, in the sense that we are allowed to live in this country and are pretty much left alone, as long as we don’t cause problems and pay taxes. But these days, culturally – at least on a public level – what constitutes a “good American citizen” makes a “not very good” Orthodox Christian…. sexual “freedoms” with no limitations, individual “freedom” from all authority including God’s authority, individual “freedom” from nature in the ability to “change” one’s gender (truly insane!), the elevation of pride as a personal virtue, the perception of humility as a shameful character defect, etc.
At a very base level, cultural “Americanism” can be described as living here with minimal limitations to one’s desires, to use this country to get rich, and to use the American land to feed the passions. That is obviously so contrary to much of how Christ teaches us to live!
In most of “American Orthodox Christianity,” what we really have is “translated” Russian Orthodoxy, “translated” Greek Orthodoxy,” “translated Arab Orthodoxy”…. etc. Translated into English to help those of us who live in North America. Much as I love and respect the OCA and its love for the American land, even most of the OCA is still simply “translated” Russian Orthodoxy, “translated” for life in North America. I’m not stating that as a bad thing…. indeed, in 2023 North America, I don’t think it can be any other way. We haven’t been here long enough yet…. the Orthodox Christian cultural impact on American life remains tiny.
Probably the only exception in this continent is Alaskan Orthodoxy…. where, thanks to St Herman of Alaska and the Alaskan saints, entire native Alaskan tribes/villages maintain an Orthodox Christian worldview.
But even in the most “Americanized” Orthodox parish in the United States, a person’s nous definitely senses that “other worldly” quality when walking into an Orthodox parish building…. a noetic perception that most secular Americans must pretend does not exist.
I’ve often felt that one of the most significant things we American Orthodox Christians can offer to our fellow American citizens is to give them permission to honor the noetic part of life, to acknowledge the spiritual perceptive quality that God gives us…. so much of the secular American desert pretends that this God-given human quality does not exist.
There’s far more to life than numbing out on the latest distraction or addiction. Until more cultural pockets of America grow into Orthodox life, maybe the most important gift we have to offer to secular America is “translated” Orthodox Christianity… through which we can at least hint how to attune to the noetic part of life…. a crucial step in learning to love Christ and to live in communion with Him.
My 2 cents anyway. Great article!
Those are good observations. Yes, the OCA pretty much replicates Russian Orthodoxy on American soil, which brings some inherent conflicts with the native (well, old school) American way of doing things.
America is the child of England, and much of British way of thinking was woven into the fabric of America including “common law.” Before Episcopalians corrupted, their influence formed most of what we have inherited in that what was good about America and drew so many immigrants especially noted those from Orthodox lands.[1]
That I did a stint as an Anglican postulant, I was taught Anglican history and how its break from the Pope was very different from continental Europe which basically burned everything to the ground—whole sale slaughtered priests, destroyed seminaries and monasteries. In England there is a very different story where everything came out clean and intact.
When Queen Elisabeth I (the first) mandated Cramner’s Book of Common Prayer, it standardized the language worldwide, launched England into being the first world superpower since Rome, and produced the greatest wealth of literature the world has ever seen.
G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis reflect this mystical side of the western church. The best book explaining the Orthodox view of salvation—in my humble (ok, ok, not so humble) opinion is “The Great Divorce”; I have listen to it probably 50 times and G.K. Chesterton’s “Orthodoxy” 25 or more.
While the Puritans were given so much credit, they were fully apostatized into Unitarianism by the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Over the first couple centuries it was Anglicanism that formed and prospered America.
At the core—if you dig deep enough to find the ancient foundations—Anglican—with its Celtic spirituality—was Orthodoxy in the boots. That little strip of water between the Island and centennial Europe allowed the Faith there to grow unmolested by Rome until the 6th century (correct me if I wrong on the century). The first Romanization happened when Pope Gregory the Great (an Orthodox Saint by the way), sent Augustin (of Canterbury) to England to evangelize the toe heads (blonds) who were visiting Roman streets. With all the Italians, blonds were very rare. They were called “Anglos” or “angels” because of the blond hair and light complexion.
When Augustin arrived in England, he found a fully functioning Church with clergy. Sending word back to Gregory, his mission became to plant more churches under Roman control and instruct the innocent faithful in more of the ways of Rome—too bad, so sad. So powerful was Celtic Christianity, it penetrated Hadrian’s wall into the most barbaric people of the epoch, the “Blue People”.
Since the Reformation, Anglicanism (if you can ever think of it as it was, not as it is now), had an obvious conflict. Under reformation, a theology was created (now known as The 39 Articles) as a knee jerk response (as much of the Reformation was). Yet, if you reverse engineer the BCP, its underlying presuppositions are for the most part Orthodox Mysteries. The BCP was derived from ancient monasteries and put in a form usable for the “common” man. Even the basics of the liturgy are there.
Another reason to use Western Rite, is the BCP and other literature was first written in the native tongue. Translated prayer books are very clumsy to read. Every “Collect” has a poetic structure as seen in Scripture totally missing in any Russian book make into English. Morning Prayer has a cohesive structure start to finish making pray a journey start to finish that resembles the liturgy (liturgy of the word, liturgy of the Sacrament), whereas the Russian translations appear to be random—correct me if I’m wrong—just prayers—good prayers—thrown together without much forethought.
The reason the American version of Anglican is “Episcopalian” was because after losing the Revolutionary war, British hierarchs (hierarchs have always done stupid stuff) refused to ordain American priests, so, American clergy came under the Scottish version of Anglican which was “Episcopalian” another jurisdiction but also under Canterbury. Seeing the error, the British hierarchs reversed the policy started ordaining Americans—so they could have their hand in the cookie jar as well—but not before the name stuck. Of course, history repeats, and American breakaway ACNA, is still under Canterbury, but not Episcoplaian. And while ACNA was formed in response to LGBT influence, it only reverses the correction by about 30 years, and in another decade—if the world lasts that long—it too will be flushed down the drain.
St Tihkon’s huge success was mostly due to large numbers of Orthodox, Uniates, disenfranchised Catholics without a Shepheard, organizing churches where ever they were. But, not being short sided in anything; he fully understood the validity and spirituality of the Western Rite. From Moscow a Western Rite BCP was tweaked and fully approved for use by his request. His vision implementation of an American Indigenous Church was unfortunately cut short, due to the Russian Revolution. That’s my prayer book, got it from St Mark’s Denver.
If there is to be an Indigenous American Orthodox Church, it would be more native if it were Western Rite. There is nothing more glorious—and exults the soul more—than a full blown pipe organ raising the rafters in a resonant frequency matched building. Those old western stone buildings were tuned for and to the organ and the other way around. With the rite pilot, it blows the hell out of demons and the cobwebs out of the heart. Nothing rocks the cosmos more than a fully stoked procession—with the cross at the front, a fully robed choir, and the bishop at the back[2]—under the majestic thunder of a pipe organ.[3] So far as I can tell, none of the current Episcopal churches use their pipe organs (but only for special occasions, maybe), nobody over there was wants to do anything that would disturb people’s demons.
That the OCA has never approved a Western Rite, demonstrates methane does, indeed, fog the brain (I’ll let you figure that one out),
BTW: the rumor mills are almost universally saying another COVID lockdown is coming in the next couple months. Notice which clergy are subject to Caesar, and which are not.
[1] Of course, we speak in terms of normalcy, which no longer exists as our government is off the rails, doing the biding of the multinational bankers in bringing the destruction of the citizenry.
[2] In Celtic Christianity—as I understand it—the bishop was always last, last in the procession in, last in the procession out, last to the food table (even when nothing was left), last to see nobody else got left behind. That was the essence of being a bishop; make sure everybody else was first. In the East, the bishop is nothing less than a rock star.
[3] The Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs was designed by the same architect-engineer as the National Cathedral in DC. Yeah, and nowhere will you hear a more heavenly thunder. It’s like being immersed in power. Obviously, the same effect is seen in the Agia. Sophia, but no pipe organ. They don’t build churches like they used to.
Interesting thoughts on the Western rite…. I’m not opposed to it, but it’s definitely not for me or for most Orthodox Christians. St John of Shanghai and S.F. tried to revitalize the Western rite in France when he was bishop in Western Europe with the short-lived Orthodox Church in France, which died out, not sure why. As he said, “The West’s venerable western liturgies are far older than its more modern heresies,” or something like that!
But the reality is that the ethos of Orthodox Christianity has not been lived out in the Western rite for a long time…. anyone who tries to live out Orthodox Christianity via the Western rite these days is in for a deeply lonely road. For most, it’s simply not realistic…. I’ve heard that many clergy recommend against it simply because it’s so isolating and not realistic for modern Orthodox Christians.
And I disagree on the pipe organs – I simply find them annoying and weird…. Just sayin.’ Not saying that they’re inappropriate (maybe they are, maybe they aren’t? don’t know….), but I simply think that the best church music (Slavic or Byzantine style) is a cappella.
I’ve heard that some western Orthodox Christians are fans of the Western rite because they “like what Orthodox Christians believe but not how we look.” I guess this is a cultural difference/cultural preference… Orthodox Christianity as it’s lived out by virtually all Orthodox Christians today is definitely eastern-style Christianity. I’ve had a few friends over the years who toyed with Orthodoxy but eventually decided against it because it was too “eastern and weird.” OK fine, but the eastern style of Orthodox Christianity has been its lived ethos for centuries now. Christian mysticism and beauty is certainly far more eastern than western, according to modern standards of what constitutes most “western Christianity” these days. Jesus definitely lived and taught in what would be considered today an “eastern-style” culture.
I do hope there’s a future in Western rite Orthodoxy – after all, St John of S.F approved of it — but it seems more of a niche interest now than anything truly realistic for most Orthodox Christian inquirers.
My understanding is that the OCA has never approved of the Western rite because of how unrealistic it is for lived out Orthodox Christianity in modern America. It’s so hard to be an Orthodox Christian in modern secular America, that we need all the help and support we can get…. why be even more isolated in a niche Western rite? Even the New Skete monks in upstate New York (sort of ’60s-style hippies meet Orthodox Christianity I think… former Franciscans if I’m not mistaken), when they became Orthodox decades ago, they adopted the eastern rite. They make excellent cheescakes and german shepherd puppies, from what I hear!
Western Rite is growing. In our area, the WR parish attendance is 10x since the depths of COVID. Multiple baptisms, catechism classes are having to be broken up on different days because they were getting too big, new inquirers every Sunday. Many of those coming to the parish are former Roman Catholics and Episcopalians. Often see online banter that the WR is not successful in attracting converts from Western high church backgrounds, but the reality on the ground seems to be very different. Plus, given the geography of the area, some new and potential converts are simply coming to the WR parish because it is the closest to their homes. If you grow up non-liturgical, then you don’t have a dog in that fight. Both Rites are foreign to an evangelical mindset.
Plus, WR Christmas is awesome. Though no one does Pascha like the Greeks.
ROCOR requires that all its WR priests also have the training necessary to do perform Eastern Rite as well. It not inconceivable that you may someday see signs at parishes “Western Rite Sundays at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Rite Sundays at 10:30 a.m.” At some GOARCH parishes (when you have two priests), you can see such signs for all English liturgy, followed by Greek-English on Sundays. The congregation picks one and no one gets upset about.
For what it’s worth, I am a lifelong Orthodox Christian, baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church… I served my nation in uniform for 26 years and as a government/civil servant for four more. 30 years of service to my nation. So I may be biased in my response to the article. However, my priorities have always been my God, my family, and my country, in that order. My family includes my brothers and sisters in Christ within my parish, and for a time my attention was focused on my brothers and sisters in arms.
My father was an Orthodox Christian, an immigrant to this country and he loved this country. He proudly served in its military, fighting and being wounded, twice, in Vietnam. It could be for these reasons that I have an issue with Orthodox Christians who would rather ignore (or even secretly detest) the fact that they live in the United States. You see, the reality is that my father, my wife, my children and I… we are all Americans. We are also Orthodox Christians. My brothers and sisters in Christ in my parish are also Americans. They are not Chinese Orthodox Christians. They are not North Korean Orthodox Christians. They may attend a Greek or Serbian or Antichian Orthodox Church, but they are are Americans, every last one of them. It’s not so much “either/or” as “both/and”. I can serve my God and my country; I can give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s. Why can’t I be a devout Orthodox Christian and serve my country as a loyal American?
When I read the Bible, I find multiple Centurions that served the Roman empire but also served God. When John the Baptist answered the Roman soldiers’ questions in Luke 3:14, he never encouraged them to stop serving the Roman Empire… and the when Christ was amazed at the Centurion’s faith and healed his servant in Matthew 8:5-9, he never followed up with a warning to leave the Roman Army. Check it out for yourself. Find out how many Orthodox saints were soldiers or warriors. You might be surprised.
Yes, our government is rife with corruption. Yes, our Intelligence Community and FBI are being weaponized for political reasons, and our commander in chief encourages self-mutilation of children. He also wants to surveil every financial transaction of our country’s citizens via CBDCs as corporations build a digital prison around us… and he will, and they have… but these are failures and infringements on our rights that we should unite against as Americans, pray for strength and wisdom to stop, and act together to do something about, before it’s too late. Because once we lose Liberty, it’s very, very difficult to get it back. Notice I said “Liberty”, not “freedom”.
Freedom is not Liberty. If you don’t understand the differences between the two, take 5 minutes to learn them. It is worth it, IMHO, as Christians, to fight for Liberty in our country, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, as many of our fathers and grandfathers did before us. The fact that we have Liberty in our country, even as we lose it, should encourage us to repent, ask God for forgiveness, and unite to do what we can to retain it.
Like most God-fearing masculine Orthodox men, I’m no fan of Abp. Elpi. “Freedom is the vocation of every citizen….” Excuse me, what? I think he needs to look up the difference between freedom and liberty as well. And the author of the article is absolutely right when he says Orthodoxy can, and should take root in every part of our country, because it absolutely should! By God’s Grace, it will! However, I disagree strongly with his final point, #2. “the mistaken idea that there is a single American nation, people, or culture.”
During the Cold War, my father always called this country the greatest in the world. With freedoms and Liberty and a chance to make something of yourself, he was able to pull himself out of a cultural morass he never would have been able to in the streets of Europe or Russia. I think he’d be very disappointed and frustrated with our country today, but I think he’d still try to improve it.
Bottom line, my brother in Christ, when the Chinese horde hits our country’s space systems, banking infrastructure, and uses AI enabled drones to storm our shores to kill every last one of us, you better believe we’re all Americans. Because as much as we may see the flaws in our own country and maybe not like American individuality compared to our Orthodox ethos, when it comes to life and death at the hands of godless communists, my neighbor is most certainly my American brother or sister in arms.
Humbly,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Digital Warrior
Greetings DW! I really like your way of thinking here. Essentially, you live by covenant, which sets a list of priorities in obligations. In this, life becomes a lot simpler. Our Lord put it this way: love your neighbor. Who is my neighbor? Our countrymen, of course. Those in the same boat we are. That so many Orthodox came here, says a lot, or they would have stayed rite where they were.
Additionally, I think its important for every son of immigration, to know his roots. My ancestors (on my dad’s side) were Germans who first emigrated to Russia under Catherine the Great’s invitation to foreigners to help modernize and settle the vast regions of a massive nation struggling to keep up with the west. Due to her appetite for industrialization, Germans were preferred. In that journey to Russia, the parents of two young boys never finished the trek. Among many other German immigrants, the orphans (Jacob and John) were raised by other familes in the steps of Russia.My lineage goes through one of those two boys, whose lives hung on the benevolence of like minded people searching out the will of God, looking for a better existence.
During the Russian Revolution, all of the remaining immigrants were rounded up and sent to the gulags, never to be heard from again.
In 1880, my great grandfather settled in Western Kansas under the farmstead provisions. Having spend time in the steps of Russia, these Germans quickly adapted to dry land farming foreign to Germany where the rain fall is much higher. Kansas was a perfect fit.
Folks here are very, very different than in big cities. Farming and ranching rule the day, everything revolves around that. Out here mother nature is very fickle and every planting is a crap shoot; if the hail doesn’t take it, then the drought will; yet, no body quits, ever. Doing anything else is unconscionable, not an option. And over years, it all works out. And nobody would ever think of doing anything else. When it all goes to hell in a handbasket, these will survive, that’s just what they do, as they raise another generation hard core survivalists who just get it done one way or another.
As providence would have it, this year I find myself moving to Western Kansas, the land of my forefathers, where my father grew up. In wonderment of that event, I can only relate it to the nativity where each had to return to their heritage town, for Mary and Joseph, it was Bethlehem. Something big is about to happen.
The German name I bear is a very strange spelling, something I have had to explain my whole life when giving my name, “it is spelled……..” Now, I am surrounded by that name carried by people I have never met, and everybody in this small town knows the correct spelling and pronunciation; all of a sudden, I am impressed with the legacy my forefathers planted. When this whole agronoumus culture was established in Western Kansas, Eastern Colorado, Southern Nebraska, my ancestors were on the ground floor.
Have you heard of the Cathedral of the Plains in Victoria, Kansas, JL? Your story reminds me of the Volga Germans, who have a similar story: https://www.volgagermans.org/origins There is a statue of the Volga German Family across the street from the Cathedral of the Plains. http://www.kansastravel.org/cathedralofheplains.htm
I would really love to have a conversation with you about this. I do not believe either yours, or the authors perspectives are mutually exclusive. I also believe it is necessary for us to advance this conversation on America the state and the nations within it. Please reach out to me at bennieramone@gmail.com. I would be honoured to discuss this with you. Thank you and your father truely for your service. God bless you.
Thank you Mr. Garlington for this outstanding article.
(Dear Priest, Dear Bishop, I am reaching out to you; I am not your adversary, you are your own worst enemy)
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)
The word “his” does not appear in the Greek (italicized in KJV) but was added by translators because they thought it inferred.
It should read, “called according to [a unique] purpose” (the John Lee translation). What does that mean? Everyone called into the Faith comes with some purpose—some role to play— to fulfill before reposing. Nobody is called into the Faith to do nothing, such a person does not exist laity or clergy. Yet, too many go through life in the Church unfulfilled. This unfulfilment can become the habitation of demons, because the searching out of purpose goes into the wrong places.
Let’s let Orthodox paradigms cut to the chase. To desire to govern, or to build, or to manage, to have authority, is not evil (ok, track with me on this). St Paul put it this way:
“Faithful is the saying, if a man seeketh the office of a bishop he desireth a good work” (1 Timothy 3:1)
To be called to exert authority is nothing to be ashamed of, but only when achieved by other-than-God means. Stop doing the end-around maneuver, lay all matters before the Lord. Do nothing until you can say, “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” before making any moves.
The problem comes, when it becomes “looking for love in all the wrong places”. All evil is a misuse of what God created good (St Augustin of Hippo and others). In other words, evil has no standing of its own, but relies fully on the good, without good there can be no evil. This is based in the Orthodox existential vision of the cosmos.
Summarily, no bishop can make an evil use of his bishopric, unless God had genuinely endowed him to be a real bishop.
Hello (I could put some names here), your desire to have effect, to make things happen, and to solve problems is God’s calling and design for your life. If you love to fish, then fish for men; but do it in the power of the Holy Ghost, not by means of the flesh. In other words, you are only [trying] fulfilling what God designed you to be. But the problem is going to the occult to get it. King Saul was ordained by God through the prophet to be king, but when he took his decision making process to a witch—to the occult—, it all went sideways. This bishop is after the order of Saul and not after the order of David, who waited on God for everything.
It was always God’s design for Adam and Eve to be “gods”; theosis. That desire—inherent instinct— was co-opted by Satan, to do an end-around God in the fulfillment of God’s endowments, which is a counterfeit.
God gives you (puts there) the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4) Binocular-ly (John Lee interpretation), “God gives [puts there] the desire, so He can fulfill that desire” This is how God works in all of us. Of course, every desire must be proven; time is the test.
By predestination/providence (according to the capacity to receive per St Dionysius), you were meant to wield authority, make a difference; its in the dominion mandate of creation. But becoming frustrated with the process, or feeling inept or forsaken by God, you revert to ulterior methods of achieving God’s purposes in your life. Parsing it, the instinct to be in authority, God put that there, but, not waiting for God’s plans to develop, you reverted to other mechanisms to achieve that instinctive destiny rather than being patient and allowing God’s plans to work out the manifestation of your purpose.
When Abraham could not wait, he created Ismael, a seed not according to God’s promise which had to go when the true heir showed up in God’s timing.
Photini was driven by a desire to unite with a man, to be a wife; how is that wrong? It’s not. You would think after the first 5 one would have been good enough to keep—this was God’s created purpose for her. God put that there, it was not evil. Yet, looking for love in all the wrong places, that desire was never fulfilled until she finally met the 7th (number of completion) Man, who was Christ. Bingo! The mission of her life was consummated and many were converted. No other man was ever needed in her life. Every person is created with the instinct to search out, “who am I, what am I here for?”
Ok, now let’s bring it home. (Jumping a few cars in my train of thought) Priests and bishops cannot let individuals among the laity have their purpose [good work] because they themselves have never become fulfilled in their own calling and work. They stifle because they are stifled. That is, not to exercise authority in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Many laity are gifted with gifts of the Holy Spirit, yet, that goes unfulfilled because clergy never enter into being a father, because they are never fulfilled in their own calling. A true father never asks where does this gifting fit in, he always makes room for, creates a space for, whatever gifting God has sent him in that person. No young couple with child says, ok, we have no room for this new baby so, let’s just leave him at the hospital, but that’s what Orthodox priests/bishops do all the time. A true father, makes room for whatever Providence brings, because in providence there is provision.
One cannot father, unless he is first fathered. A father’s job is to pinpoint the gifts and callings placed by God in that person, and ensure it comes to full fruition. But, what we have is stifle, stifle, stifle. It’s the sheep’s job to bear sheep, not the shepherd’s.
What you are missing dear priest, dear bishop, is the Father’s heart (and the power of the Holy Spirit to work wonders). When that comes, every evil self-serving, self-preserving motive dissolves in a fiery hot love that cannot be quenched. Seeing through the Father’s eyes, the passion for humanity goes full ballistic. Every mountain of pride is made flat with the sea, no cost is too great, no mission too hard. Like a woman without child, he cries day and night, I will bear children or die. And when you search it out with tears, you will be overhauled, shaken to the very core of your being. This is the baptism of Fire, the Baptist spoke about, the fire cast upon the earth.
Bottom line: every created thing must be redeemed—including your instinct to govern—, brought back under God’s control out of Man’s control. For that to happen, it must go through the process of death, burial, and resurrection. When Abraham placed God’s promised son on the altar and lifted the knife, Isaac was solidified in eternity as a patriarch. Until you lay it on the altar, it will never be “of God”.
What marked King David as being the Old Testament architype of Christ, (Christ is the son of David—and the other way around) was his ability to wait on God’s timing. Read the Psalms and note how many times he says to wait on God….to fulfil the promises He had made. And, the waiting was not finding other things to do, but rather, doing nothing until….God responds. Just ask Joikim how that works.
Great article. Chirsitanity (in particular, Orthodox Chrisianity), or the hyper-individualism of the US? Which shall it be? The Devil’s false dichotomy presents us with two (evil) choices: the far-out ever more extreme and crazy leftism or “progressivism” that has most recently brought us transgenderism, or the mis-named “conservativsm” that is not comfortable with a complete surrender to the foregoing all at once, but surrenders on the installment plan, over a period of time. Truly, those who stay faithful to their God, faith, tradition, church, family, and land are few indeed – like the seven thousand that did not bow the knee to Ba’al. But it is they who shall inherit the earth and the kingdom.
I think the author is correct in pointing out that in earlier times, the different regional cultures were less hyper-individualistic and were more solidly rooted. The communities I admire the most today are those of the Amish and the Old Order Mennonites, who have kept that way of love and life that the overwhelming majority of the rest of us gradually drifted away from, becoming assimilated to the domination anti-Christian hyper-individualist cult (worship of the self) and culture of the US. I greatly fear that we Orthodox are among those who have basically assimilated, either all at once (the so-called “progressives”) or at a slower pace (the more conservative). Do we Orthodox here in the US have any real un-assimilated communities of love and tradition as strongly rooted and fluorishing as the Amish and Old Order Mennonites? Where in the US can one find them? By God’s grace we must get to work and restore that which has been lost, at whatever sustainable pace that we can.
With all due respect—from the beginning I smelled something fishy—, this article is a red herring, a real whopper.
Our forbearers proved beyond any shadow of doubt, the Gospel can take root in ANY culture because the GOSPEL is the POWER of GOD unto salvation to the Jew and the Greek. (even Jews?-in light of recent posts)
Do you really think American nationalism is more a hindrance than nationalism was in ancient Rome, or ancient Greece? American individualism actually waters down nationalism compared to ancient Rome and Greece, whose nationalism was far more tribal. In fact, truth be told, Greek nationalism is more of a hindrance in American Orthodoxy, because it never becomes indigenous to America as it did in Greece and Rome. That they cannot get away from it proves my point.
Think about this: In the first 300 years, the Gospel—by extension the Church—so penetrated the highly nationalistic Roman Culture by the time of St Constantine, it was near majority of the population. Study the record for yourself. While we glorify the martyrs (ritely so), by far the vast majority of Christians thrived and the documents prove it: Letter to Diognetus. Protestants hate St Constantine because he established liturgical worship as the norm—which to “Evangelicals” looks pagan (pagans stole it, because it works even when flipped upside down, uses it for evil[1]). Protestants claim Constantine’s conversion to Christianity was faked for political reasons. This would be a clear a demonstration, Christians were Rome’s moral majority. The Orthodox claim his conversion was genuine, and I say, both are rite. (yes, two things can be true at the same time).
Long before Constantine converted a nation, the Gospel had reached the halls of the Caesars— his own mother was Christian before he was—, infiltrated the Roman army—Cornelius, see St Tertullian’s discussion on “Sacramentum”[2]—, and every aspect of Roman life. It had penetrated beyond Hadrian’s wall into what is now Scotland. Hadrian built that wall because the “Blue People” (Hello Brave Heart) were far more barbaric than what any Roman legion could handle; Hadrian’s wall was a full admittance of defeat by a Caesar, but it was never a defeat for the Gospel—the Gospel penetrated the most pagan and barbaric culture of that epoch, and “conquered what the Roman army could not”.[3]
Here is what I have been saying: as long as the Church preaches the Church, she will continue to be inept at making true converts. But when she preaches the Gospel as St Paul did—with power—, then the Church will grow. Jesus never preached the Church, He preached the Kingdom with power and the Church was the byproduct of setting people free from their sins, and getting them to live by kingdom principles e.g. the beatitudes. To preach the Church is to preach ourselves, and not Christ. Additionally, to preach the fathers is to not preach Christ. And no Church father would have us do that. Its not about bringing people to the fathers, or the Church, but to Christ and the Church will follow: it’s about first things first. We fail because we put the cart before the horse.
To accept the premises of this article is to accept defeat without so much as a single battle. What this article does, is it lets us off the hook. Stop making excuses. You cannot change what you tolerate. If Orthodox cannot take root in America, it is our fault, not the cultures. We are powerless because, spiritually we are gutless.
The problem has nothing to do with the Orthodox Church “taking root” anywhere. The problem is the Orthodox Church fails to preach the Gospel with power, as our forefathers did. One Scripture defines the sum total,–or the root—of all Orthodox impotence:
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away (2 Timothy 3: 5).
This is why people leave the Orthodox church and go to Charismania, because Charismania has more power to heal the sick—like the apostles/fathers did—, and get answered prayers in time of need. By the way, the Russians have a huge Charismatic church in Russia and America. If you do not believe it, google map 9880 Jackson Blvd Sacramento—Charismatic Russian/Slavic church—and 9000 Jackson Blvd—an Orthodox church, just blocks away. Examine the footprint of the buildings with the satellite setting. People want something that works for them and the Gospel works, Pentecostalism works but is devoid of liturgy— the constitutional rhythms of the cosmos. When we stop preaching Orthodoxy and return to preaching Christ in power, growth will never be a problem and a new jurisdiction will arise out of the ashes, and the big uglies will leave to find more habitable realms.
Around a decade ago—probably more—, I attended a Benny Hinn crusade in Phoenix Arizona. In all such crusades, hometown pastors are always given seating right there on the stage behind Hinn. On the front row was an Orthodox Bishop. I remember the garb, I remember the staff. Who he was I have no clue, but in rows of clergymen, he had been seated on the front row. Ironically, Hinn mentioned that in his world travels he frequented an Orthodox monastery—I forget which— in the middle east; one of the most ancient and renowned. It was his place to refresh in God, he went there to pray and seek God.[4]
That is at least one endorsement that says Orthodoxy and Holy Spirit gifts of power are compatible. It is my opinion, that because we—the spiritual children— have pushed miracles out of the Church—off the table—, that men like Hinn thrive. As God’s children, we keep pushing the bread (casting out demons healing the sick) off the table only to be gobbled up by “dogs”— spiritual gentiles.[5] People are starving, they want food, and they need to be fed. Jesus’ words are clear. Casting out demons is the groceries we have left pushed off the table and made it out of reach for those who need it most. God in His great love for people has created work-arounds. People go outside the Church to find healing because we are bereft of works of the Holy Spirit, reducing His role in the Church to a single feast day once a year. But we deny Him, because we refuse what He came to do, endue with power to be witnesses to the Gospel, witnesses to the Truth that Christ has risen from the dead and goes about His business through gifts activated in the folks, not just the clergy.
Charismatics think Liturgy and the gifts of the Spirit are incompatible (Charismatic Catholics proved that wrong), and the Orthodox thinks exactly the same thing. But in the beginning, it was not so. The problem is we have made them incompatible, thinking the choice is either or, when in reality, the motif of Orthodoxy was always both/and: fully God-fully Man, Triune Singularity of God, the Holy Mysteries are defined as enigmas, the co-habitation of opposites. Russian Charismatics miss their rooted liturgy which defined them for centuries, and the Orthodox have no power to heal the sick, cast out demons, or get much in the way of answered prayer. How about we reconcile the two, and put the power of the Gospel back into the Church.
One of major driving factors that drove me to Orthodoxy is the understanding that the closer you get to the origination of the Church, do you find its truest expression. If we go back, the record is clear, the early Church Fathers demonstrated the power of the Gospel, and not just the liturgy that was from Adam.
Over the centuries, Orthodoxy has narrowed its focus into the essentials–the skeleton–but leaves off the rest–the flesh (e.g. home based prayer meetings). This is primarily due to the invention of the clock, that church time is only from 9:30 to noon–including the agape meal–on Sunday. Industrialiaztion has compartmentalized everything make everything a choice of either/or. But we can have the cake and eat it too…That’s what Orthodoxy is.
If Orthodoxy is to survive, it must embrace all of its past—including Holy Spirit gifts of power—and not just the praxis.
Bottom line: we have not because we ask not; we have not because we tarry not to be endued again.
[1] Even paganism, Satanism, the occult work by covenant principles;
[2] The word “sacrament” is derived from the Roman oath of military service (sacramentum). Liturgy is an oath of covenant.
[3] Paraphrased quote of Anglican author/historian not recalled.
[4] I am not endorsing Hinn, only making a point. He like many others, seems to have corrupted over time.
[5] Matthew 15:21
So, as well as continually attacking the Orthodox Church, John Lee has now moved on to telling us to become Charismatics, because Orthodox can’t heal the sick or even have their prayers answered. Never read the lives of saints or contemporary elders?
There’s a line between fair criticism and apostasy/heresy. Someone should re-consider giving this false prophet a podium.
Let’s start with defining the “Orthodox Church”–help me out here, I am trying to understand the paradigm with which you think. Is Elpi the Orthodox Church? Is the Ep, the Orthodox Church? Is St Tihkon’s Pfizer infomercials the Orthodox Church? Is forced masking of toddlers the Orthodox Church? Is conducting services along side the Episcopalians the Orthodox Church? Is kissing the Roman Catholic Pope’s face (and butt) the Orthodox Church?
Is St Paul the Orthodox Church, he spoke in tongues “more than you all.” (1 Corinthian 14:18). That bishop that sat on the front row of a Benny Hinn crusade, is he the Orthodox Church? How about all of the Orthodox parishioners that also attended that crusade the Orthodox Church? Is St Peter the Orthodox Church, who preached on the day of Pentecost when hundreds spoke in tongues? Help me out hear, Help me understand your point of view.
If I am attacking the “Orthodox Church”, what of, what is “Orthodox” has suffered any damage as a result of what I have written. Have any “Orthodox ” buildings been harmed? Please, pray tell, what do you mean?
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“ Is Elpi the Orthodox Church? Is the Ep, the Orthodox Church? Is St Tihkon’s Pfizer infomercials the Orthodox Church? Is forced masking of toddlers the Orthodox Church? Is conducting services along side the Episcopalians the Orthodox Church? Is kissing the Roman Catholic Pope’s face (and butt) the Orthodox Church?”
None of that is, which is why we criticize such behavior. There are good clergy and good bishops in the Orthodox Church. The upper echelons of the Patriarchate of Constantinople are a huge problem for us, and we will end up dealing with it one way or the other. Which could involve full-blown schism. The OCA has issues also, which we are not shy about discussing. Abbot Tryphon has been talking about the OCA issues on the West Coast quite openly. He is already looking ahead to his repose, and is holding nothing back.
John Lee, you may have taken too much emotional damage over COVID. Your comments don’t seem to have a good perspective recently. You probably are not aware of how your comments are coming across. We publish them because we don’t like censorship, but they are close to the line in some cases.
Speaking in tongues is a gift granted for missionary activity and it still manifests in the modern world among the Orthodox. It is not the babbling of the Pentecostals. In the first part of the 20th century, they tried to claim they were speaking foreign languages. When research indicated that nothing was actually a human tongue, they switched to claiming it is a heavenly language. It isn’t any kind of language, and those who grew up in the Charismatic movement know that it is nothing but delusion.
We don’t support praying with the heterodox. We don’t support ecumenism. We run articles about all that. Just please keep some perspective in your comments.
When reading my comment, please keep in mind I was responding directly to Greg S. who called me a “false prophet”. If, indeed, I am “attacking” the Orthodox Church, then I need him to articulate for me exactly what he has in mind, that to him is the “Orthodox Church” that I am attacking. Tossing words, names, and terms around without definitions is the norm for deceptions. Most of Orthodox Christians cannot explain what it is, and how it functions.
Here is what I mean by deceptions; some have said, I–John Lee–is NOT an Orthodox Christian by the comments I have made. However, Orthodox Christianity is a covenant. I got in by covenant intiation and until the appropreate bishop enacts another covenant action–excommunication– to undo the first covenant action, I will be an Orthodox Christian. (some can only hope)
Here is a huge way deception works, how many are deceived. As soon as something has a name, it has a standing all its own even if it does not exist. Take the medical term COPD; like Asthma, nobody has ever figured how what its cause is. but they only know how to deminish its symbtoms, people are told to live with it. But, by giving it a name, it is normalized, and cha–ching–ching, a cash flow starts where somebody pays to be medicated for the rest of their lives. As for me, not accepting that my symptoms were normal, cured it totally with detox. I also used to have hayfever, I also used to have prostate problems all cured 100% by working cures outside the medical establishment.
By changing medical definitions, and seeing symtoms as a body reaction to clear toxins, I have not had so much as a cold since 2018 or before. I can honestly tell the world, I will never have cancer. That is not an over reach of my faith in God’s healing power (I do believe in that), it is because the riddle of cancer for me has been solved. Historically cancer has been cured no less than a dozen times, all things related to detox. Chemo, is somebody’s cash cow, and therefore deceptions rule supreme in its treatment. To cure a patient, is to lose a customer. No businessman motivate by profit wants that.
At 68, I can still do 25 pull ups, 40 pushups while holding my breath, ride a bike for hours. Does that mean I am better than you, or anybody else? No, it just means I am better than I used to be, I have been obedient to the Holy Spirit in enough things related to my health to have solved problems.Does it mean I have better genetics? No. Things in my health turned around when I received from God through various means, the rite info to assist my body heal itself. At the same time, I have a lot to learn, and I learn almost daily.
The only reason I brag, is other people are suffering under the deceptions that only modern medicine can cure chronic disease, it does not because by design; there is no financial motivation to do so.
Do viruses exist? No, they do not. Do vaccines cure disease? Actually, they are a major cause of disease. (on bitchute, search Dr. Sam Bailey). While many would argue that point, it is they that are constantly sick, and I am not. They are being lied to by their doctors (they also are deceived), and the true nature of their ailment is never worked on. Sorry, I babble too much. I just know a lot of stuff that could help a lot of folks, but no body cares to listen; they would rather just go get a shot and go on with life in the matrix.
To understand the level of the modern American thinking at the street level one has to watch the four-part BBC documentary the “Century of the Self.” The propaganda, in force, done for almost a century is bearing now unwanted fruits.
It is true that Orthodoxy is growing with people looking to enrich their lives, before morally collapsing under the pressure of their peers.
Orthodoxy in the US is not going to be a big wave, reverting the general damage in the society, but will be a oasis here and there. The most important thing is, if we will have enough well prepared, faithful priests, good confessors, who can make a difference in the life of the parishes.
On the other hand, the expression of a strong ethnicity, is going to be a drawback. Going, as an example from my life, to a Greek church and not being a Greek, means being an outsider, overlooked, and just somebody as good as his donations. In turn, I observed the O.C.A. churches having more success with converts.
We recently got an earful on Social Media from attendees at certain Greek parishes in the Chicago area, and some in the South, that are using 100% English in services and are getting dozens of catechumens. It really does come down to being Orthodox in faith and practice.