Orthodox Reflections

In the West, we live in a crumbling civilization built on the foundations of the Christian Faith. Sometimes, such as at Christmas or during a national tragedy, Christianity looks as if it is still a vital and respected force. Appearances can be deceiving, however. Western societies have a new religion. At its heart is not the personal, Triune God we Christians worship, but rather a chaotic mash up of dogmas such as LGBTQ “rights”, Greenism, Transgenderism, racism, and more. It is a jealous, proselytizing political religion that has nothing but contempt for traditional Christianity and the rights of Christians. It is also dedicated to warping the minds of our children, a fact that even Woke writers are forced to admit. The education, media, and government establishments really are coming for your kids, and they don’t like anyone who interferes in the grooming process.

In the US, we are not yet subjected to arrest for offending the Woke, though that has happened in other formerly free countries. Rather, the US (with its pesky First Amendment) currently uses private companies to enforce the Woke “Orthodoxy”. While you won’t go to jail, consequences such as censorship, cancellation, loss of income, inability to advertise, and inability to hire or be hired can all be quite devastating.

As one Orthodox priest recently characterized it, they are “training us for compliance.”  Perhaps at the end of the course, the US government will replace private companies enforcing Woke dogma with a…. Ministry of Truth and accompanying Thought Police, perhaps?

For now, however, the private method of enforcement seems to be working just fine for the bishops of Woke. Which brings us to a recent example of anti-Christian censorship involving Michael Mason, an Orthodox Christian and Web entrepreneur who provides a much needed service called Free Filtering which explains itself as free internet filtering for home wi-fi based on traditional Christian values. (There are paid upgrades). Michael’s company enables parents to protect their children from Internet content related to porn, LGBTQ, abortion, Transgenderism, and other sinful perversions. If you are interested in learning more, click the banner below. A portion of any sales goes to support Orthodox Missions.

Michael’s company helps Christian parents protect their children from exposure to evil. Recently, Michael and his company were banned from a job recruiting site, UpWork, for the crime of telling the truth about what they do, and why they do it. You can’t call sexual perversion, physical mutilation of children, and baby killing evil – that is offensive! Being offensive to the Woke gets you banned. But when the Woke advocate for sins we find wretched and abhorrent, that is just being “modern”.

The Prophet Isaiah warned those who would invert reality in this way, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” – Isaiah 5:20

Below the line, we have provided Michael’s narration of the events leading to his ban, and the response he got from UpWork. For those who may not be familiar, Tech is extremely Woke. Not just the social media and entertainment companies, either. All across the board, at tech firms of almost any size, you will find an absolute dedication to all Woke Dogmas. Given the importance of technology in our lives, you should definitely pay attention to Michael’s story. You could easily be the next victim. For you, however, it could be loss of your bank accounts, ability to send / receive funds, your cellphone, your corporate Website, loss of vendors, loss of customers, or even more punishing “cancellations”.

If you think Tech censorship is only about removing posts on Social Media and suspending photo sharing accounts, you really need to think again. You have no idea what they can do to you, your family, and your business all acting under the guise of “free enterprise”. Which makes it all the more important that Christians support other Christians in business, particularly in Tech. If we don’t take care of our own, then who will be there to take care of us?

Michael’s story below.

From Michael Mason of Freefiltering:

For now, it’s private companies persecuting Christians for their religious beliefs;  soon, such persecution by governments will become much more widespread.

I originally posted this job description on a Filipino job board (onlinejobs.ph) and then decided to post it on the world’s largest freelancer hiring platform UpWork, since UpWork generally has better tools for screening applicants for work experience and success working with previous employers.

This is the description for what my company does, and the position being offered, that was part of the job posting:

FreeFiltering.org provides free internet filtering for home wi-fi based on traditional Christian values. We help families block websites devoted to evils like pornography, LGBTQ, & abortion. Our customers are primarily Catholic, Orthodox, and Evangelical parents seeking to protect their children online.

 

Users simply register a free account on our site and then make an adjustment to the DNS settings on their wi-fi router. Then, every device connected to wi-fi is filtered automatically. Some users choose to hire us to set up the filters on their router remotely. We also offer a paid Premium monthly membership that enables customers to filter mobile devices when away from home, while customizing filters for each family member.

 

FreeFiltering is seeking an expert SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Specialist to devise & implement a strategy to increase our organic traffic from major search engines like Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, & Yandex.

My account was suspended and the posting was removed. I appealed. Below is Upwork’s response to my appeal. Now, granted… when I submitted the appeal, I had not yet found the reason they had suspended my account (I never received an email notification about why my account was suspended). But, I got logged into their support ticket system and eventually saw their reason, after I submitted the appeal. Basically, they replied, sticking to their guns, saying that I was breaking this part of their terms of service: “Upwork’s Terms of Service do not allow you to use derogatory or harassing language towards others on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity, marital status, or pregnancy.”

Amazing how “your truth is your truth” until you violate one of the tenants of their secular, godless religion by stating a truth.

—OR Staff