Category: Orthodox

Dateline: Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Good News from the American Socialist Republic of Hawai’i.

Finally! Gov. David Igé has announced that he will allow the so-called emergency mask mandate to “sunset” on March 26. Igé made the call two weeks after all other 49 states had ceased their pandemic mandates. The fiftieth state has the dubious honor of being the very last state to lift the ridiculous requirement and end the “current emergency proclamation”. At only 1,354 dead from …or with… Covid-19, Hawai’i has the lowest death count of all fifty states. The run-of-the-mill leftists who populate the state will, of course, brag that our state ohana (family) have kept the number low by being cautious… painstakingly cautious in mitigating the spread of the disease. Normal people, however, wonder why the nation’s most politically liberal state has taken so long the liberate the populace from these cumbersome measures while the Omicron variant is no more than a common cold. If you ask me, it’s all about control. This is a one-party state. The Democrats have had a stranglehold on political power since the “revolution” of 1954. We have seen that it is the states controlled by Democrats – the “liberal” party – that have been the most oppressed by the scare tactics during the pandemic. Against conventional logic, it is the states with Republican governors who have been the most liberal during the pandemic.

But wait! There’s more news. Hawai’i’s schools will continue to require indoor masking of its pupils and employees. This, in ignorance …or defiance… of the fact that children are not affected by Covid-19. So we can see that the gradual social conditioning of our next generation continues apace. The soft oppression by the statewide department of education rules the day, as Hawai’i is the only state in the nation with a centralized school system. Children who have become accustomed to government commands will grow up to be docile adults who lack a will to defy the government and fight for their freedoms. I’m glad that I’ll be dead before these kids take over our society.

Dateline: March 5, 2022

Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Our own United States federal government and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have been itching for this proxy war with Russia for a very long time. Now they have it. They have encroached on the Russian sphere of influence by increments over the last thirty years since the toppling of the Berlin Wall ended the Cold War. They have kept NATO fresh well past its expiration date and expanded its membership to the nations of Eastern Europe, breaking their promise NOT to expand it beyond Germany. They have infiltrated the Ukrainian nation, triggered the Maidan Coup D’èta. Since 2014, they have armed the corrupt Ukrainian government and backed the slaughter by Neo-Nazis of 14,000 Ukrainians, most of whom are ethnic Russians in the southeastern Donbas. They have ignored the Minsk Agreements for a ceasefire.

It is no wonder that Mr. Putin decided that he had finally had enough. He would not tolerate the existence of such a regime on the border with Russia. He has threatened several times in the past to invade Ukraine in order to put an end to the shenanigans. With thousands of his troops amassed on the border, Putin even offered one last time to refrain from invading Ukraine if President Zelensky and his government would simply give assurances to remain a neutral country and refuse to join NATO.

Mr. Zelensky relayed the Russians’ offer to his patrons in Washington, but he was instructed to turn it down!

We can only surmise that it was our own Commander-in-Chief Joseph Biden who was directly responsible for the refusal. If so, then this war between Russia and Ukraine is HIS fault – not because of a negligence that stems from his obvious senility, but rather because it was deliberate. We have to conclude then that it was Biden’s plan all along to cause this war. And then to blame it on Putin. And to stir up the American people to support the ravaging of a country with a corrupt government…just like our own! And, by doing so, to improve his dismal poll numbers. Who knows how far this premeditated war will escalate in the near term? Let us hope that it does not expand to any of the states who are members of NATO. And let us pray to God that it never goes nuclear.

What a monstrous betrayal Mr. Biden’s administration has perpetrated on the Ukrainians… and on us Americans! They say that our president is willing “to fight the Russians to the last Ukrainian”. That may be so. Mr. Biden and the cynical warmongers of both American political parties now have blood on their hands. If the bulk of what I have written here is true, then may God have mercy on their souls on the day of reckoning!

I suppose I had it coming. When His Eminence made those subtle remarks at the National March for Life, I just couldn’t let them go unchallenged. The archbishop made an association between the Blessèd Virgin’s willing response to the Archangel Gabriel and the “autonomy of women” to abort their pregnancies. One had to read between the lines to get what he was trying to say, but it was manifestly obvious to anyone who has been paying attention. Cunning comments like that delivered by a bishop before thousands of pro-lifers have a chilling effect to say the least. Bishops are supposed to be guardians of the Faith, so such misguidance from the primate of an Orthodox Church begs the question:

Is he truly Orthodox?

So, why did I just post that? There are two reasons:

1. Braggadocio. I wanted to brag that I was one of those who had “spoken truth to power”. I had challenged the archbishop face to face two years ago and he was kind enough to answer my queries. Now that he has done some very controversial things, there is cause to challenge him more vigorously.
2. Confirmation. The archbishop – or his Twitter troupe of handlers – have added to the ever-mounting evidence that many leftists don’t want to engage with those who differ with them. Others have been blocked by Elpidophoros; I’m only the latest.

I’ve been on a long journey to the Faith – a journey that I had never planned on beginning. “The Hound of heaven” has led me along to this point where now I have found the true Church. Just think how disturbing it is to a convert like me who has come home and breathed a sigh of relief, only to find that there is a traitor in the house. Is it too alarmist to say such a thing?

While my daughter was growing up, she adored Audrey Hepburn for her poise and gentility. I dare say that she became much like the actress that she so emulated. Boys in particular have a deep yearning in their hearts for heroes. They have an instinctive admiration for strong and good men who will set an example for them to become as they mature. There are lots of antiheroes out there, especially in our aimless generation, and many boys emulate them for lack of better examples. They lead them to listlessness or worse.

But there are heroes to be found. Being an Anglophile, I am not ashamed to admit that one of my heroes has always been Sir Winston Churchill, the greatest Englishman of the twentieth century. Even Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated at the opening of the war in the European Theatre that perhaps Churchill was the greatest man alive.

I have been Orthodox for a few years now but I am still looking for heroes amongst the hierarchy. Abp. Elpidophoros is no hero of mine since he acts more like a corrupt politician than like a man of God. I’m sad to say that, but it appears to be true nonetheless. One man of the Faith whom I admire no end is the well-known St. Paisios of recent memory, who was not even a deacon. God grant us more humble heroes of the Faith like Paisios for us to emulate in these very disturbing times.

Canada is now officially a dictatorship. The United States is led by an empty suit. Russia’s tanks are rolling as their president takes advantage of our president’s senility. China is already at war with us in every way but the obvious one. Meanwhile, on the ecclesiastical scene, Constantinople is nipping at Moscow’s heels at every turn. The Phanar is hell-bent on dividing the Church by uniting with the Rome. To top it off, our health care bureaucracy has utterly betrayed the public that they are there to serve.

Am I overreacting? Let’s hope that some of our bishops will take up the mantle and lead the way in the midst of these unprecedented crises. Can anyone point out an American bishop who is able to meet the challenge?

Have you watched the Pandemia webinar? The webinar was presented by Orthodox Reflexions on January 10, but the recording is still available if you didn’t see it. The production featured a distinguished panel of Orthodox experts who spoke from their expertise in various fields relating to the current Covid-19 pandemic. First up was Dr. Michael Robles, who goes by his baptismal name, Paisios. Dr. Paisios is a pathologist who practices in Texas.

During his presentation at the webinar, Paisios enumerated a list of qualifications for a normal vaccine that were all missing from the mRNA so-called “vaccines” that have been injected into most arms, and continue to be foisted upon the general populace. Below are the reasons that the inoculations do not qualify as vaccines and have been received only emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Here is the doctor’s list. There have been…

No animal studies. Potential vaccines are normally tested on animals for two to four years before tests are performed on human volunteers.

No immunological studies.

No genotoxicity (chemicals that damage the cell’s DNA) studies.

No cancer studies.

No embryo studies.

No informed consent.

No exclusion criteria. Eg. pregnant women are normally excluded from trials.

No data safety monitoring board.

No end-point adjudication committee. Eg. no safety report from the FDA or the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

No respect for past vaccine failures. Eg. the polio vaccine.

No autopsy reports.

Now, doesn’t that list give you pause? We cannot avoid concluding that the mRNA vaccines were distributed worldwide with undue haste when we note that most vaccines take a full seven to fifteen years to develop and that most of them fail to qualify along the way. Let us also remember that while they were being rushed to market, the usage of cheap and effective medicines ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine was suppressed by none other than Dr. Tony Fauci.

If “America’s doctor” and chief medical advisor to the president had permitted the nation’s physicians to practice medicine freely, as is their due, they could have repurposed these two off-patent medicines early in the onset of each infection with Covid-19 and saved countless lives. But No! again. Fauci was more interested in using his permanent office at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to micromanage the nation’s response to the pandemic. He was dead set on holding all treatments at bay while he rushed his pseudo-vaccines to the federal government for universal distribution. Cavalierly ignoring the obstacles that would normally have been in place, Fauci used the lavish funding from congressional appropriation bills, making billions of dollars for his cronies in the pharmaceutical industry and research universities. Our children and grandchildren will be paying for this boondoggle for generations to come.

February the second falls in a year numbered 2022. So, 2/2/22 is the date when we again celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, along with the Purification of the Virgin Mary. In the West it’s called Candlemas. This date may come to mind whenever the sacramental Churching of Women is performed in our parishes forty days after the birth of a child. Children don’t contract Covid-19, thank God. Let’s remember that when Big Brother turns up the heat and threatens to vaccinate our children – or our grandchildren – with these faux vaccines.

by Nicholas. Originally published at Orthodox Reflections

 JANUARY 28, 2022  Abortion, American Life, Greek Archdiocese, Jurisdictions, OCA

Archbishop Elpidophoros attended the annual March for Life Rally and provided an introduction and a prayer. As is often the case, the Archbishop mixed in seemingly Orthodox thoughts with a heaping helping of progressive indoctrination. Here’s the main part of what he said.

For most Orthodox Christians, the first part is not controversial. Except that it’s phrased interestingly, isn’t it? The Archbishop does not call for a ban on abortion. He points out that all are made in the image and likeness of God, and so children are worthy of our protection. How are we supposed to protect them? The Archbishop doesn’t say. That part is left vague. If you want to read it as a call to legally protect the unborn, you certainly can. Given the context of the March for Life, that would be a rational supposition. But you don’t have to assume that at all. The paragraph ends with a kind of “it takes a village” sentiment that could mean anything.

Weak sauce really. But even so, whatever pro-life sentiments the Archbishop expresses in the first paragraph are quickly undone in the second when he says, “At the same time, we also affirm our respect for the autonomy of women.” After that paragraph he followed up with, “We march not for coercion.” You can find all remarks here. I’m going to ignore the fluff in the second paragraph about the Most Holy Theotokos and Our Lord Jesus Christ. Archbishop Elpidophoros, or his speech writer, only put that in to make it all seem more “Orthodox.”

For anyone having paid attention to the abortion debates over the past 40 years, what the Archbishop is saying is crystal clear. It is yet another version of “personally opposed to abortion” but “support a women’s right to choose.” If the Archbishop had been completely honest, he would have expressed himself thusly, “As a Christian, I am personally morally opposed to abortion. We should take steps to help women and children through social programs and, hopefully, that will reduce demand for abortions. But we can’t coerce women into childbearing against their wills. We must trust women to make their own decisions and we must respect their bodily autonomy.”

Pro-lifers are not the only ones to interpret his speech this way. The GOARCH Press Office triumphantly retweeted a pro-abortion interpretation of the Archbishop’s words:

Clearly, GOARCH is not ashamed of the clear implications of what the Archbishop had to say. Nor are they concerned about any kind of backlash for being so openly pro-baby murder. So what gives?

Promoting Revolution Within the Form – The academics and hierarchs running GOARCH are clearly on a longish-term mission to transform the Orthodox Church into a prettier version of The Episcopal Church. A goal similar to what Pope Francis is busy pursuing in the Roman Church. Critical to this goal is slowly, but continuously, making the Faithful more and more comfortable with progressive concepts. Like a spoonful of sugar, mix in just enough genuine Orthodoxy to make the progressive medicine easier to swallow. Have a hierarchical liturgy in an Episcopal Church all decked out in a rainbow flag, but don’t endorse gay rights in the Church. Too far, too fast. Instead, let the imagery subtly do its job and talk about how open and loving Orthodox Christians are:

As Orthodox Christians, we are not about exclusivity, but about authenticity. We say with the Lord Jesus Christ, “whoever is not against us is for us!” [*] We openly embrace those who differ from us, not to manifest any compromise, but to extend to others the love and acceptance of Christ.

The frog that boils slowly doesn’t even realize it is danger. Until too late.

Or you have Nicholas Anton from GOARCH proclaim that racism is incompatible with Orthodoxy, and then in the same speech almost imperceptibly endorse Critical Race Theory concepts that amount to anti-White racism. Archbishop Elpidophoros has done the same thing in his talks about the need to combat “systemic racism.” Also remember that the Archbishop has a horrible record concerning the experimental COVID jabs that only exist through the immoral use of aborted fetal cells. He justified these horrific betrayals on moral grounds (thereby weakening our anti-abortion witness in the U.S.):

• He endorsed the jabs, even opening clinics in parishes
• He gave an award to the Pfizer CEO (among others)
• He actively betrayed his own people who were seeking religious exemptions from the jabs by declaring there were none possible for Orthodox Christians.
• He is fine with mandates, even at the Greek seminary.

There are many more examples besides these. The subtle alteration of Orthodoxy in a progressive direction is not an accident. It is not because a foreign-born hierarch is being manipulated by academics or just doesn’t understand the implications of what he is saying. This is a deliberate plan to keep the outer trappings of Orthodoxy the same, while fundamentally altering the Faith.

Nothing to See Here –  For this to work, people who would oppose the transformation of Orthodoxy must be encouraged not to notice. Orthodox Christians want to believe the best about others, especially about hierarchs. Who wants to believe an Archbishop of the Church is actively undermining the faith? No one, actually. So as long as the statements / actions are somewhat vague, then many well-meaning Orthodox Christians will defend the Archbishop and GOARCH. The squabbling among the Faithful provides cover for the revolutionaries.

Remember we kind of skipped over the point about the Theotokos in the second paragraph? Right now there is a fierce debate on Twitter as to whether or not the Theotokos is a perfect model of how to respond to a pregnancy. The most important part, that the paragraph is an endorsement of a woman’s right to choose abortion, is completely lost in the noise and confusion. That verbiage was not included by accident.

Rallying the Elect – While vagaries provide cover to keep the normie Orthodox from stampeding, the progressives recognize when they are being encouraged. The pro-abortion activist who celebrated the Archbishop’s words recognized immediately what he was saying. The revolution needs support from an active minority, just as much as it needs the acquiescence of the Faithful majority. If you ever doubt your understanding of something said or done, check out the blogs, social media, and forums for progressive “Orthodox.” All doubt will be removed. Stick around and read them for awhile. The goal is that when you are the minority, what you read there will be what is published on the official jurisdictional sites.

Don’t Expect the Other Bishops to Speak up – More than one Orthodox Christian has asked, “If this was a purposefully vague endorsement of abortion on demand, why didn’t any of the other bishops there say anything?” Because that is not how the game is played in the United States. It really isn’t. Bishops and clergy, especially across jurisdictional lines, hold their criticism of each other. This is frustrating for the Faithful, because we are looking for men to step up and defend the truth. That may happen at some point. But for now, his brother bishops will not reign in Elpidophoros. Bishops may get cashiered for legit crimes (sex abuse, embezzlement), but not for being politically progressive to the detriment of the Faith.

This is not Just GOARCH – There are individuals trying to redefine the Orthodox Faith in many, perhaps all, jurisdictions. If you have the time, watch this lecture by Fr. John Jillions of the OCA as he attacks “fundamentalism”,  and promotes the “Catholicity” of the Church as requiring us to listen to academics who reject the moral teachings of the Orthodox Faith.

In closing, let us note that after his performance at the March for Life, Archbishop Elpidophoros paid a call on the Ukrainian ambassador to pledge his undying support.

The war in the Ukraine is a civil war between Ukrainians. It began as a result of the U.S.-backed coup that brought neo-Nazis to power. Progressives, like those that infest and surround GOARCH, constantly decry nationalism and fascism, unless it is in Ukraine. Neo-Nazis and ultranationalist murderers are just fine there, as long as they inconvenience Russia while slaughtering Ukrainian civilians with U.S.-provided weapons. What kind of Orthodox Faith is this that puts itself at the service of murder and oppression? 

There is an ongoing peace process to end the war, and there have been two agreements, both of which the Kiev Government has refused to follow. At the encouragement of the U.S., by the way. The United States and the Patriarch of Constantinople, through their actions, have contributed to the horror of this conflict. It is time to stop interfering and allow the sides to settle their differences in a peaceful manner.  Blessed are the peacemakers, after all.

For additional takes on the Archbishop’s words at the March for Life, see these links:

They Just Can’t Help Themselves, Can They?

Parsing the Archbishop’s Words

PRO-LIFE SOCIETY RESPONDS TO GOARCH MARCH FOR LIFE SPEECH AND TWEETS

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