www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West "Orthodoxy and Me" by Ron Dreher

Here is the conversion story of Ron Dreher. He is best known as "The Crunchy Con." He converted to Orthodoxy:

http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/crunchycon/2006/10/orthodoxy-and-me.html

Very painful reading indeed.
CS

I think of OCA priest Father John Garvey and his article on the Convert mentality of some in Orthodoxy. This is indeed wisdom:


http://www.dneoca.org/articles/typology0197.html

Wow some of those comments (both directed at this person and Orthodoxy in general) are just downright nasty.

Andrew

This is something that I fear as I am about to begin the process of converting to Orthodoxy myself. It is difficult but I harbor no ill will toward Roman and Byzantine Catholics. I also do not intend to adopt the attitude some some converts adopt (holier than thou, more orthodox than the orthodox). I don't know much about this person who just converted. I do suspect that people usually carry their general attitude and personality over with them when they convert from one church to another.

I think about my own decision and the possibility that one day, one of my children will come to me and say, "Dad, I have decided to return to the Melkites," or "Dad, I believe in my heart that luther was right and I am becoming an evangelical." I must confess that I will not tell them not to. I will suggest to them all of the things that I think they should consider. But I will respect whatever decision they make as long as it is informed and based on a sound conscience. Peace in Christ,

Joe

Dear Ilian,

Take a browse through orthodox websites, and you'll find the same sort of thing.

Not that tu quoque excuses it.

This is a very well-mannered part of the internet, thanks to the moderators.

Does he have a "story" of his 1993 conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism?

It would be interesting to know if his anti-Catholic rhetoric was already nascent at that time.

On the other side, there is an anecdotal account (in a Catholic Forum) of another Protestant converting to Orthodoxy at the same period of time and stayed more than 12 years hopping from one jurisdiction to another. He and his entire family are now in the process of coming home to the Catholic Church, without any rancor or vitriol thrown the way of the Orthodox or Orthodoxy!

The journey of (Fr.) Alvin Kimel (Episcopalian) is of the same vein as the immediately preceding example. The "Pontificator" presented his own conversion to the Catholic Church over Orthodoxy with honor and dignity and with a rational explication from his personal dilemma, without the "I, Me, and Myself" self-centered broadcast characterizing many a convert to the other side of the divide.

Converts do come in all stripes!

Amado

Where is Father Alvin Kimel's conversion account to be found, Amado? I recall he used to post here a few years ago prior to conversion. I don't know when the conversion happened.
CS

The "Pontificator" converted in July last year (2005), memorializing his journey at:

http://catholica.pontifications.net/?page_id=956

Amado

It was a long, boring read about his converting because of the sex abuse scandals and some people at his Catholic church not liking his gung-ho attitude (which he does not intend to take with him to Orthodoxy). He says the people were nice to him at the Orthodox church and they felt like they could be little-o orthodox without being criticized, and they could get valid sacraments. He also feels like he has changed teams to another underdog which will require much of his personal effort to restore.

If I were Orthodox, this wouldn't be a conversion story I'd want to be touting. I am hoping that the public story was in response to those issues he thought readers would raise and that there was a personal conversion to the theology and spirituality of the east along with it.

I also thought it pretty not nice the way he went on about the man who brought this to public attention. For Dreher to spend years publicizing and playing off his Catholicism, to not mention for many months that he had officially left Catholicism is dubious, to say the least. He says it is OK because for the last couple months he hasn't explicitly said that he is Catholic. (Hello! You've said it over and over again for years. What will people assume about your affiliation if you aren't saying it has changed?) Plus, other people made public comments about Dreher's Orthodoxy previous to the public "outing" he discussed, and those people say so in his comments box.

I don't have a problem with his converting. I don't think it was worth 5000+ words about the sex scandals and his hatred of the guy who brought it to public attention, though. I do pray that his family have many happy and healthy years, and that they grow to love and serve the Lord ever more in their newly embraced faith.

Thanks for all these links. I had not heard about Rod Dreher's latest conversion but it was interesting to read his rather strained reasoning.

Father Garvey's essay was quite enjoyable and very accurate. It reminded me of a passage in one of my favorite novels, "Maggie-Now" by Betty Smith (author of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"). Maggie's husband doesn't understand how she knows that their next-door neighbor is a convert to the Catholic Church.

Maggie explains that every time they see each other, the neighbor goes on and on about how wonderful Mass was that morning and how much she gets out of receiving the Sacraments and praying the Rosary. "Maybe she just likes to talk about things more than you do," suggests her husband. No, Maggie says, because when the neighbor comes out of her house with wet hair, she just says, "Well, I washed my hair today" and doesn't go on and on about how wonderful it felt to put shampoo on her hair and rinse it out!

Dear Pseudo-Athanasius,

Thanks for the kind words on behalf of myself and my fellow moderators.

It is nice for our hard work to be acknowledged sometimes.

In Christ,
Alice, Moderator

So he hopped around from one jurisidiction to another in Orthodoxy before now becoming Catholic??? BEWARE!!

What Ilian said. I don't agree with Dreher on some issues but he doesn't talk the church thing into the ground in his blog and definitely doesn't deserve the treatment he's getting in his com-box and some blogs.

'I'm sorry to hear that and hope you come back' is legit. The ad hominems are not.

Wondering's description isn't entirely true IMO. What that person did, 'outing' him, sucks. Dreher has the right to say so and didn't give it more space than it deserved.

I won't get into truth claims.

The man has converted twice, staying in one place over a decade. I'd say that's stable. So it wouldn't be fair to say or adopt a tone of 'What's he converted to now? How long's this gonna last?'

Good point, Brian, but at least this person isn't being a pillock about it now. (Nor is Dreher IMO.)

I don't find Mr. Dreher's conversion difficult at all, his decision is between God, himself and his family and here's blessings and prayers for him to be a righteous man and journalist.

Thank God for his reporting of abuse that certain bishops hid and pretended not to know about. Hopefully he will not be any less vigourous at his new spiritual home.

As an Eastern Catholic I find myself always straddling four toes in Orthodoxy and a foot+2toes in Catholicism. I can appreciate both, but if the Spirit leads me toward Syriac Orthodoxy, thanks be to God - if I am to remain Malankara Catholic, thanks be to God. If both Churches solve their separations, many thanks be to God.

I didn't see much vitriol from Mr. Dreher's blog, infact with the things he knew and hoops some bishops made him jump through to preserve their power, hides, and money it is a blessing Mr. Dreher had any faith left in any Church at all. I hope he finds what he needs, and that he is still writing his thoughts however controversial.