Listen to the first twenty minutes of Tucker Carlson’s presentation tonight and tell me that the SARS Covid-2 coronavirus did not emerge from the viral research laboratory in Wuhan. And then explain to me why the president of the United States and the Congress of the United States and the American mass media discount the need to investigate the origin of the virus. Apparently it’s not important that we know how large grants bestowed by Tony Fauci’s NIAID helped fund the devilish research that led to the deaths of so many people and the lockdowns that destroyed our economies. Tell me how the pandemic is over and that we all need to ignore the story and move along. That, while the same laboratory is confecting a new monkeypox virus to present to the world. Covid came from the Wuhan laboratory and it turned the world upside down, but apparently that isn’t a story that still needs investigating. Right. Watch Tucker Carlson explain why it is necessary to get to the bottom of what may be the crime of the century.
Are we Americans so naive? Do we have such short memories?
Abp. Elpidophoros gave his keynote address on the Fourth of July at the Clergy/Laity Congress in New York. He spoke on the centennial of the organization of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Having listened to the archbishop’s keynote address, I am reminded of three things about the GOA, of which I myself was a part until the end of 2021.
Archbishop Elpidophoros holding forth at the Clergy/Laity Congress
The archdiocese is still, even today, an EPARCHY. In other words, it is a colony of a Byzantine Empire in the imaginations of the leadership. The presupposition is that primary fealty is still due Constantinople, a whole century since the GOA’s organization. How can such imperialistic thinking jive with the American spirit of independence, celebrating its 246 birthday on the day of the archbishop’s address?
The ethos of the archdiocese is still, even today, HELLENIC and therefore narrowly ethnic. The archbishop placed emphasis on GREEK classical and theological education, with the hope for linguistic instruction. Although that mentality works to preserve the particular legacy of the GOA, it lacks a broader vision for the evangelization of all of our American people. Unless they see boatloads of Greek immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, there is little hope for the sustainability for such a narrow mindset. If Orthodoxy is to survive and thrive in these united States, our leaders just have to drop the emphasis on ethnic legacies and focus on the essentials.
MONEY is never not mentioned. The archdiocese is always asking for money, or thanking people for money, whether it’s for the Hellenic College and Holy Cross seminary, or for St. Nicholas’ Shrine, or for the Clergy Pension Fund or for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, GOA’s hand is never withdrawn. This is a subtle indication of a Greek preoccupation with money, a decline in stewardship giving and of fiscal malfeasance at high levels. God hasten the day when the Church can once again say with St. Peter the Apostle, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
Oh, Magoo, Abp. Elpidophoros is about to scandalize the Church yet again. How long are the rank and file of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese going to tolerate the unilateral actions of this man? And of even greater importance: How long will the hierarchs of the other Orthodox jurisdictions in our country remain in full Eucharistic communion with Arch. Elpidophoros?
The issue is the elevation of one archimandrite named Alexander Belya to the episcopate. Belya was expelled by the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia for forging documents. Important diplomatic documents. And, like our illustrious president, he has a close relative who has been accused of criminality. In Belya’s case it is his ne’er-do-well brother, who apparently dealt in human trafficking.
Alexander Belya is the one on the right.
Details are readily available to the curious. Those aside, the point that I am trying to make is this: that there is a taint to this Monk Belya and his family. In a surprising move, the primates of the other jurisdictions besides the Greeks have written to Abp. Elpidophoros to lodge a formal complaint, saying that they cannot support the consecration of this scoundrel. Abp. Joseph of the Antiochian Archdiocese is the bishop who penned the letter for the other primates. Elpidophoros, for his part, has fired back, expressing his sadness and surprise. He makes an indirect accusation that Joseph is upsetting the unity of the Orthodox in America. Well, if that ain’t a case of the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is.
On the contrary, your Eminence E., it is the announcement that you made that you would elevate Mr. Belya to the bishopric in the GOA that is disturbing Church unity, already fraught by some of your previous ill-advised actions. Is there any need to enumerate them, sir?
It’s clear for all to see now that there is a shroud of doubt that surrounds this Belya character. This may not be the best time to consecrate him a bishop. When in doubt, take a time out. Orthodox bishops are not renowned for swinging into action anyway, so why rush the ordination? It’s not as though you were double-parked on a busy street in Manhattan. Give it some time. Hear your brother bishops out before you take this precipitous action, unless you are hell bent on eviscerating your already-questionable credibility.
Years ago, the brilliant legislature of the State of Hawai’i passed a law allowing people to use the public lavatories designed for members of the opposite sex. The governor signed it. This was the same Gov. David Igè who had trouble finding the password to his Twitter account during a supposèd missile attack by North Korea. Many people like me will breathe a sigh of relief at his retirement at the end of this year. Before the ink was dry on the new law, I decided to give it a test. I went to the state marina and asked the clerk behind the counter what she would do if I asked her for the key to the ladies’ room. She said she could not refuse to give it to me.
Author and speaker Matt Walsh has produced a documentary called What is a Woman? (You’ll find a link at the bottom of this post.) In order to do his research, Walsh flies around the country; he even flies to Kenya to find out how tribal people would respond to such a simple question. It’s a statement of the insanity of the perverted thinking of the age that he had trouble finding anyone who could give him a straight answer, especially among those experts who promote the transsexualism agenda. He didn’t have any trouble with the Kenyans, of course!
What is a blogpost like this doing on an Orthodox weblog? Well, the spiritual minutiae of Orthodoxy are worthy topics, but you have to lay those aside and grab a bucket when your house is on fire. We Orthodox have to address these moral issues before it’s too late.
Every boy needs a father. Without a father, a boy has no way of knowing how to become the man he was meant to be. Due to the dissolution of our culture and the destruction of so many families, boys who have no father will seek a surrogate father elsewhere. It’s the way they are wired. Fr. Hans has a God-given talent for helping young men to straighten up their lives and become real men by getting in touch with the God who is their Father. Check out the Brotherhood of St. Paisios.
Handwritings on the Wall 