www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Political Correctness

Dear Diak,

My daddy-in-law's parish has a number of good Irish parishioners who put up with the Ukrainian liturgies .

I keep pushing for a special celebration of St Patrick, and by George, I think they're going to go through with it, blessing of the shamrock and all, next year.

And as for all that travelling by water, the Celts were famous for that, as you know.

Even Christopher Columbus went to read St Brendan's logbooks and I think he learned a thing or two about "wave management."

Alex

Father Stephanou cannot offer one political or ecclesiastical correctness,but he can offer the unwavering aleithia (trth):

What Happened to Christ?

Is He Still the Head of the Church?
by Rev. Archimandrite Fr. Eusebius Stephanou, Th.D.

Have you noticed lately? You must have, if you are alert and in touch with trends in the Orthodox Church on a national and world scale.
Certainly, this is not the time to think only of your home Church and to restrict your interest to the local religious scene. The parish Church is not some kind of self-contained, independent entity. It belongs to a national family of Churches, indeed to a global family.

What happens in other Orthodox Churches, and especially at the top echelons of Church leadership, can sooner or later affect us at home at the grass roots level, whether good or bad, positive or negative.
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We are living in an age when you need to be wide awake and ready to catch the trends in the Church and to follow the direction the winds are blowing. In an hour of apocalyptic apostasy when predictions in Bible prophecy are unfolding, any intelligent reflecting man and woman in the Church will show vigilance and alertness as to what is transpiring in the Orthodox world. It should come with the most elemental sensitivity to the things of God.

Christ in the Background


If you really have noticed, like I do, you will undoubtedly catch an unmistakable recent trend among many of our Church leaders. And that trend is simply this: in public statements, whether spoken or written, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is kept in the background, instead of the foreground. His Headship over the Church is not declared, and if it is, no one takes notice because it is mentioned in passing and parenthetically. How then can hearts and lives be touched?

Of course, loyalty, unity, fidelity, commitment and obedience are preached, indeed, quite forcefully, but not the kind that rightfully should be directed to our Lord and Savior. Rather, it is a devotion and obedience urged for the "Church," or for the diocese, archdiocese or patriarchate. When we should be saying "Christ," we say "Church" or the "archdiocese." Submission is frequently on the lips of our Church leaders, but we are not exhorted to submit obediently to Christ, but rather to the institutional Church and that usually means some high-ranking Church leader.

I believe in honoring and respecting our hierarchy, indeed submitting to their pastoral authority to the extent they themselves are submitted to the sovereign will of God for His Church. But above all others, we must honor and obey Him. "whose name is above every name, our true Head and Bishop of our souls, our Lord Jesus Christ."

We are accountable to God for doing our utmost that Jesus "may have the pre-eminence in all things" (Col. 1:18). But we need to do it spontaneously and with a passion for Jesus. It should occur as a natural overflowing of a heart that is consumed with a love for the Savior. It is the vehement longing of the soul inflamed by the Blessed Holy Spirit to glorify and exalt that Precious Name with every breath we take. That kind of craving does not come with seminary training. It comes with apostolic anointing that comes directly from Heaven.
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Obedience First to Christ
Patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and priests:

If you are truly shepherds appointed by the Lamb of God, then I respectfully urge you to decrease so He can increase, as the Forerunner and Baptist John said: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

Yes. You speak often about obedience and unity, but make it crystal clear it is obedience to the Despotes of all (the Master). Yes. Exhort the people to show loyalty to the Risen Savior, first and foremost. You do well to teach on commitment, but make certain that the people understand commitment as being directed to Him Who commands that we "love Him with all our heart and with all our mind and with all our soul and strength."
Rejoice that those entrusted to you by the Lord are running to Him, embracing Him, living and dying for Him. Let that be your joy and the joy of the people. What greater joy can one experience? "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bride groom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled" (3:29).
If you conform to this, then the people of your fold will also love you and honor you, because you will identify with them in a com mon passionate love for Christ. The more you glorify and exalt the Name of the Redeemer the more they will respect and honor you, be cause they will then unite with you in your perfect surrender to the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
Yes. Speak of unity. But not the kind that implies "agree with me and we will be united." Rather, seek that union which says, "Let us agree together with Christ," and in that awe some union we will find unity in the diocese, archdiocese and the patriarchate. Vertical unity precedes horizontal unity,just as vertical love precedes horizontal love.
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Apostolic Zeal for the Apostolic Church

Bishops, archbishops, patriarchs and theologians: I am a sinful and unworthy servant of Christ, but prompted by His quickening Spirit, I respectfully speak this word I have received from the Lord. You who occupy apostolic thrones, follow the apostolic model. Put on an apostolic mind. Seek apostolic objectives. Show apostolic zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel. Remember St. Paul who said: "Woe is me if I do not evangelize" (1 Cor. 9:16), and "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel" (1:17). The Lord desires hearts and lives to be transformed!

You who exercise apostolic authority and claim apostolic succession: follow the apostles in their consuming zeal to preach the word of the Cross.

Proclaim the message of repentance and forgiveness in the blood of the Lamb, both to those in the household of faith and to those outside, to "this sinful and adulterous generation." Make the Cross your testimony to the apostate world that wants peace without Christ and His atoning death on Calvary.

Rarely, do we hear any mention of the Cross, except perhaps once a year on Good Friday and on Easter. The word "sin" is avoided. It is not considered fashionable, because we do not want to offend anyone, especially prominent figures from the secular world who surround us, political dignitaries, environmentalists and intellectuals whose favor we covet more than the favor of God.

The Gospel, sin, repentance,
forgiveness, atonement are rarely heard from the mouths of our spiritual leaders, and, if they do mention them, they do so parenthetically, like a passing thought, rather than as their primary message. Religious platitudes cannot impact hearts and lives! It is not enough for the Holy Eucharist to "declare the death of the Lord." The pulpit must also declare it. Otherwise, what is done at the Altar will be reduced to dead ritual.

We love and respect our Church leaders, but I ask them to show us how "to decrease," so Jesus can "increase" in our personal lives and in all authority. Help us see Him as the Head of the Body, His Church.

Lead us with apostolic zeal to the foot of the Cross that we may surrender to Him in contrition of heart and with tears of inner brokenness. Lead us to the throne of grace where we can find true unity and where we can discover that unity begins first with Christ and then unity among ourselves will follow naturally.

If the Greek hierarchy were to do this, Greece, for example, would be glorified among the nations. If they were to do it in Cyprus, the Turks there, its well as in Constantinople, in the Balkans and in Asia Minor would be pushed back to the far eastern region from where they originated.

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Need for One Thing

O men of high rank in the Church! Many of you care for many things, but there is need for only one thing - to proclaim the word of God for the salvation of souls and to exalt the Master and King of all before small and great and before the mighty ones upon earth - the One Who says:
I am grieved, you who are My servants, because you engage excessively in receptions, banquets, testimonial dinners, ethnic celebrations and anniversary festivities, bestowing titles and citations on the rich and mighty on earth, but despising the godly of low social standing and the meek and obscure ones. Do you not remember what I have taught you? "That which is esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of god" (Luke 16:15).
Have I not called you to die to self; to deny yourself; and to carry your cross and follow me in apostolic faithfulness? Imitate the apostles and lay your lives down in the manner of the Holy Fathers and Confessors who in the cause of the Kingdom of God Mimic the Despotes and High Priest Whose titles you bear and with which you are acclaimed in the public worship services.

Things have not changed since the turn of the first millennium. With the turn of the second millennium the cry of St. Symeon the New Theologian resounds still timely and poignant. Speak again, O Holy Father, to the Church of Christ for which you toiled, suffered and were persecuted.

"But who among us priests is concerned with the beauty of the soul of the spouse of Christ? Show me one and I would be satisfied with him! But, woe to us, at the turn of the millennium, priests, monks, bishops, and servants of Christ, because we have trodden upon the laws of our God and Savior as though they have absolutely not value!" (Hymns of Divine Love, 58).

Can you hear the warning from Heaven, fellow-Orthodox?
Let Christ be the Head of the Church!
Let the Church be the Body of Christ!
Let the Church be "subject to Christ!"
Let the Church be the Bride of Christ!
Let her demonstrate conjugal love for her Divine Spouse!

[ 06-05-2002: Message edited by: traveler ]

Dear Traveler,

May the Spirit of Christ anoint your heart and mind!

May He envelope you in the spiritual folds of the Oil of His Mercy!

May He induct you into the Life of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit through the Church of Christ!

Alex

Christ is Risen!

If this the same Fr Eusebius Stephanou who started the pentecostal heresy in the Orthodox Church in the 70s? <<I am a sinful and unworthy servant of Christ, but prompted by His quickening Spirit, I respectfully speak this word I have received from the Lord>>. It certainly sounds to me like protestant preaching. <<Remember St. Paul who said: "Woe is me if I do not evangelize" (1 Cor. 9:16), and "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel" (1:17)>>. I also notice that Fr Eusebious does not mention the ascetic path or the fact that we worship the Risen Lord.

As Alex would say, a blue/yellow flag is raised in my mind.

Yours in Christ,
Fr Serafim

While I would first offer than in my entire life, I have never been exposed to a person using the term "political correctness" as something they advocate. I have only heard it in the negative, and when doing so, using at an excuse to be impolite.

However, I am sure that persons can relate antedotal stories about theri own expiriences with "pc".

I would like some examples, if their are any, from either public figures or published statements, that give witness to inappropriate demands for " political correctness".

As a Catholic friend of mine once said, "We have words we are not supposed to say because of "political correctness" that if I said in grade school, the nun would have beat me to death."

Axios

I

The above is a joke, right?

First, Blessed Pavel Gojdic~, now this!

Stay tuned, in our next episode, Alex hears the Rusyn-nationalist biographies of Michael Strank, Andy Warhol, and Peter Bondra! With special guest star Sandra Dee, as herself. It's "Must-See TV" on RBC (the Rusyn Broadcasting Corporation).

Dear Friends,

I have a couple more slogans to throw in.

First: "A mind is like a parachute, it only functions when open." This can be blown out of proportion, to include openness to all sorts of deviance and evil. But it seems necessary to be open minded to some extent, otherwise we will not get our Christian Churches closer together.

Second: "Your mind should be open, but not so open that your brains fall out." None of us has a good enough understanding of our Creator and His Creation that we can go without learning new things, even some surprising things. Even our illustrious Patriarch Alex of Toronto and the North Woods asks questions here. Even my beloved Grandmother, who arrived in America 100 years ago, used to tell me she learned something every day of her life.

It seems to me that much political debate has degenerated into namecalling for its own sake. There is not a serious debate of the issue, but only the attempt to portray the opposing side as evil and/or threatening. Our "leaders" would rather paste labels on each other, than work on solutions to social and economic problems.

Remember, y'all: "Friends don't let friends vote ______!"


John
Pilgrim and Odd Duck

my 2 cnets worth

Political correctness is a tool of the darkness.

People are too worried about getting in trouble by hurting someone or being hurt, that they won't speak the truth.

Jesus is the truth and people can't or won't speak his name because it is politically incorrect

Yes, how dare Father Stephanou quote that arch-heretic, St. Paul. What could he have been thinking? Maybe he is a crypto-Catholic charismatic?

Father Stephanou is no more a protestant heretic than are the Catholic charismatics.


If Pater Stephanou is a heretic, why hasn't he been excommunicated or defrocked?

The EP has never accused him of heresy. Nor the GOA. One can have serious disagreements with some of his ideas and practices, but to accuse him of heresy--without proof--is unwise, in my opinion.

Salaam,

Abdur

Thanks!

I'll report back in a few months.

On-line "Christianity" can destroy the seed of faith and turn a seeker's gaze from the face of Christ. Who can endure that?

Salaam,

Abdur

PS-Take care of that leg. Remember: Soccer is played on the pitch, not in your living room.

[ 06-06-2002: Message edited by: traveler ]

Dear Abdur,

May God direct your steps and may He cover you with the Mantle of His Grace and Protection!

Alex

Dear Abdur,
I will try and reply per the thread on political correctness. Since you placed this statement by Fr Eusbesios, I could not be PC and ignore it.

I have also since discovered that this is the same person mentioned in Logos (1972). To quote: The Greek priest Fr. Eusebius Stephanou summarizes this "spirituality" (charismatic movement) by quoting a Roman Catholic priest who states that the "charismatic" movement involves "a new sense of the presence of God, a new awareness of Christ, a greater desire to pray, an ability to praise God, a new desire to read the Scriptures, the Scriptures coming alive as the Word of God, a new eagerness to have others know about Christ, a new compassion for others and a sensitiveness to their needs, a new sense of peace and joy..." And Fr. Eusebius presents the ultimate argument of the whole movement: "The tree is known by its fruits... Do these fruits demonstrate the presence of the devil or of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ? No Orthodox in his right mind who has seen the fruits of the Spirit with his own eyes can give a mistaken answer to this question" (Logos, Jan., 1972, p.13).

Now whether he was condemned for this heretical teaching I do not know. In the Orthodox Church if we hold heretical views we can be corrected without being defrocked or suspended. The statement you posted is an attack on the hierarchy - I discovered comments on this at Voitha website. Anyway I don't want to start a discussion about Fr Eusebios's spiritual health, but if you are going to post such material, I will not remain PC.

Fr Serafim

So by being anti-political correctness, we are making hurting people into a virtue?

Axios

No but tell me how being "nice" to people that are in error and not correcting them is not hurting them in the long run.

David