Orthodox Reflections

On April 19th, Nicholas of Orthodox Reflections was honored to sit down with Michael Sisco to discuss the topics covered in the article – Why the US National Security State’s Orthodox Christian Obsession?

Click here for the full show

One of the topics Nicholas and Michael discussed was the incessant “labeling” that goes on so in our society. Orthodox Reflections asks everyone to take that part quite seriously. Based on research, here are some labels that the 3 letter agencies (NSA, FBI, CIA, etc.) look for in assessing who could be a “potential terrorist” (which makes you worthy of surveillance, questioning, and perhaps detention):

• Anti-Gay
• Anti-Immigrant
• Anti-Muslim
• Racist
• Anyone that “is frustrated with mainstream ideologies”
• Right-wing extremist
• Anti-globalist
• Conspiracy Theorist
• Religious Fundamentalist
• Anti-abortion activist
• Christian Nationalist
• Neo-confederate
• White Supremacist

Right-wing Religious Extremists

None of those labels have precise definitions. That is intentional. For a lot of reasons (money, social control, distraction from various failures), the US National Security State is “Woke” – a phrase best understood as referring to a political religion. The labels in the list above all essentially mean “heretic”. We all remember what happens to heretics in societies run by Inquisitors:

Reason and logical consistency have no place in any discussion with the Woke. Woke is all about faith in the dogmas alone. Abortion is dogma. Transgenderism is dogma. COVIDism is dogma. Climate Change is dogma. An unborn baby is not a baby, because the dogma says so. Transwomen are women, because the dogma says so. Masks work with no negative impacts and untested mRNA jabs are safe and effective, because the dogma says so. Green energy is good, even if it destroys our civilization while causing a myriad of environmental problems, because the dogma says so. In any disagreement with the Woke, you will inevitably be called a “racist”, “anti-Semite”, “xenophobe”, “anti-woman”, “Nazi”, “Neo-confederate”, “transphobe”, “Christian Nationalist”, “White Supremacist”, “hater”, “homophobe”, or some combination of the above plus even more.

 

You might say to yourself, and anyone who will listen, that none of those labels actually apply to you. There you would be wrong. Woke is an anti-rational, pseudo-mystical political religion against which no argument is allowed. Rejecting Woke dogma is heresy. All of the typical insults from “Nazi” to “racist” (regardless of their true meanings) should be understood as synonyms for the word heretic. What you actually believe is of no consequence to the Woke Inquisition. You have fallen short of the True Faith, which is enough to warrant your excommunication from society and eternal damnation. You do not have the right to be wrong. Prepare for cancellation and re-education.

The actual Orthodox Church is not, and will never be, a “political” organization. This is from the article discussed in the podcast:

The moral teachings of the Orthodox Church were never meant to be part of the political processes of a malfunctioning, oligarchic state. The Orthodox Church is here to bring humanity face-to-face with the Living God, not to win elections. The Church builds saints, not activists, and Orthodox saints are not known for surrendering to fear.

Regardless of how we see ourselves, modern society, and an increasingly vocal and powerful group of officials and academics within Orthodoxy, see our moral teachings as extremist political positions. 

Two “Orthodox” examples are below.

Aristomenis Papadimitriou is the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Director of Archives & Research and also lists “Scholarship & Teaching at Fordham University” on his bio.

From a Greek Orthodox perspective, those are very official credentials. Artistomenis is not just some random guy on the Internet. In a conversation on X with Nicholas concerning LGBTQ and abortion, this is what Aristomenis had to say:

From his perspective, abortion and the spread of LGBTQ through our society are political questions only, and as such are totally outside the purview of the Orthodox Church. According to Aristomenis, and more than a few others who have “official” titles in our beloved Church, taking a public stand against baby murder, or against LGBTQ propaganda in schools, are examples of engaging in right-wing politics. Politics of the variety associated with extremist “converts”, and not good “cradle” Orthodox Greek boys like himself.

One more example. Aristotle Papanikolaou is a Professor of Theology, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, Co-Founding Director, Orthodox Christian Studies Center. He is often seen at Greek Archdiocese events with Archbishop Elpidophoros. Consider him “officially” endorsed all the way to the top of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Recently, the Orthodox Christian Studies Center released a video in which “Orthodox” academic Ashley Purpura said Christ is queer, gay marriages should be blessed, and sodomy is a path to Theosis. (Click here and scroll toward the bottom of this article to watch the video.) During a discussion on the topic of “extremism” on X, Fr. John Whiteford called Aristotle out on that video, in which Aristotle had even appeared in by the way, and this was the response:

Fr. John Whiteford is a canonical priest of the Orthodox Church in good standing. Does that matter to Aristotle? As you can see by the stream of invectives in his response, absolutely not. Fr. John is the wrong kind of priest (ROCOR), with the wrong kind of ideas (sodomy is a sin). Seeing the labels Aristotle applied to Fr. John, and comparing them to the list at the top of this article, it appears that:

1. Aristotle would gladly report Fr. John to a 3-letter agency as a “potential terrorist”, and may already have
2. There is more than a possibility that a 3-letter agency would take such a report seriously, and may already have
3. Aristotle, Aristomenis, and more like them are committed Globalists who want to redefine the moral teachings of the Orthodox Church as extremist political positions in the “culture war”
4. Aristotle, Aristomenis, and more like them would gladly testify against Fr. John, or any of their other “enemies”, to facilitate their goal of making the Orthodox Church into the Episcopal Church with better liturgies.

Fr. John has already been the subject of a “hit piece” (covered here) that also featured negative “labeling” of Michael Sisco. As Fr John Whiteford pointed out in a recent article, the Orthodox subversives are getting bolder and bolder. Our contention is that boldness is driven by the Fordhamites and other subversives being funded by, aligned with, and integrated into the blob. Linking all of us to “potential terrorist” labels is not just some harmless verbal tic of frustrated academics. Allegations that are repeated enough times, across enough different platforms, by enough different authors, become “truth”.

Pray. Repent. Cling to your families and communities. And if it really does come down to a worst case scenario, don’t talk to police.

Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America