Comments Posted By Geo Michalopulos
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Beck, let’s not forget The Dumping Ground either. One reason we’re in this mess is that Carp immigrants (like Greeks esp –personal knowledge) kept the episcopal-track clergy “celibate” because every large family feared they had one potential loser/sexually immature son. What are you going to do with a guy whose too sensitive to work in a coal mine or too inept to bus tables at the family diner? Sending him to seminary so he could be an “archimandrite” would at least keep him off the streets begging.
IMHO, the I have a different opinion as to the “lie” that you say the OCA was built on: the idea of a Metropolitan Council being equal (in reality, superior) to the episcopate is one major reason we’re in this mess. I’ve castigated Syossett in the past for being tone-deaf and they certainly deserve a huge share of the blame as well, but all churches need some level of central administration. It’s just that they allied themselves with the MC apparat and have pushed the boundaries of authority.
I feel that the MC/Syossett apparat is far more destructive than the demographic origin story you paint. Although true to an extent, all national origin myths have holes in them so I don’t blame the CRs for stretching the truth a little bit about their Russian-ness.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 8, 2012 @ 6:33 am
Hugs are needed.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 8, 2012 @ 6:26 am
Yeah, that makes sense. They botch an election in one diocese and to continue their ineptitude they force out the one good man in their presence. It’s only a matter of time before gay nuptials.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 10:46 pm
Helga, I understand what you’re saying, but it’s very possible that the rotting husk that is Syossett is beyond repair. This undermining of His Beatitude will cause the OCA to implode sooner or later. Because of that, I can’t in good conscience advise people from the South to go to Miami. Sure, it’s easy for me to say because I wasn’t a delegate but if I was, I would have probably cancelled my ticket on Thursday, when Nikon cancelled the Special Assembly.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 6:43 pm
Most people I know in the DOS don’t care about the calendar issue. If we could break from the tyranny of the Ineptocracy, it’s a small price to pay for Orthodoxy.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 6:39 pm
Be still, my heart! Helga, in The Lord of the Rings epic analogy of American Orthodoxy, you are “Eowen Shield-maiden”!
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 6:37 pm
It’s been thirty years for me Your Grace. Your memory is prodigious indeed. I look forward to making your acquaintance soon.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 4:29 pm
Mamie, CB, I’m hearing the same thing from others throughout the South. I know that I’d gladly eat the cost of my ticket rather than pay for lodging and food on top of that for nothing really at all. It’s really a shame. Luckily, I don’t have to make that choice.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 4:27 pm
We’re born rebels.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 12:07 pm
Hard to say. My feeling is that Traditionalists will go to the nearest ROCOR parish. If there’s no ROCOR parish nearby, a mission can be set up. The word on the street is that His Holiness Kirill is using ROCOR to get around the fact that the MP/American parishes are restricted in number. I do know for a fact that ROCOR now has a Western Rite Vicariate that has actually outrgown Antioch’s in number of parishes (or so I was told).
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 12:06 pm
Tahnk you for setting the record straight, Helga.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 11:30 am
Helga, I do with they’d come in and ride herd. If the liberal bishops win then we’ll be seeing gay marriages in the future. This will also give the GOA an out so they won’t have to confront the deep moral issues of the day.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 11:22 am
Rev. Peter Gillquist: Memory Eternal
That’s very poignant, Fr Patrick. I believe that his ministry, and the reception of his brethren into Orthodoxy by way of Antioch will be viewed as a watershed in the history of American Orthodoxy. The shame I feel because it was hierarchs of my ethnicity who turned him and them away is only moderately abated by the sure knowledge of his entry into the glory of his Father.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 7, 2012 @ 2:45 pm
A Terrible Day for the Republic
CQ, if that’s “Protestant,” then we’re not Orthodox. But if you want to suffer for my sins, go right ahead.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 8:22 pm
So what’s your answer? Raise taxes even more on the working poor? Lots of injustice in the world Antonia. All things being equal, if they’re so bad here, then why are so many people wanting to come here?
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 5:03 pm
Peter, for those who “don’t pay for it,” I have a solution: since they’re not responsible citizens, take away their right to vote and let them know that as long as they engage in risky behavior, society won’t be on the hoof for their idiocy.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 1:51 pm
Antonia, I’m in the healthcare field. I’ve actually delivered medications to nursing homes. While most have that “old people smell,” some are very nice.
Also, the vast majority of poor people in this country have access to medical care. I used to do rounds in teaching hospitals so I actually know what I’m talking about here. Does “everybody” have access? No, that’s because “everybody” doesn’t eat three squares a day, or get married, or go to school, or run the Boston Marathon. But up until now, the vast majority of indigent people had access to healthcare. That’s more than can be said for the vast majority of poor people in countries where health care is “free.”
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 1:37 pm
Carl, I couldn’t have said it better myself. You are 100% correct.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 1:32 pm
Peter, you’re better than this. Nobody has let Grandma die in this country. True, nursing homes can be a blight but that’s because we have too good of medical care as people are living longer than they did generations ago.
No indigent person goes without health care. Just go to any ER in this country and you’ll see. If things were so bad here before Obamacare, then why the heck do rich people from everywhere else come here for medical care?
Why do half the graduates of Pakistani medical schools find their way here to practice medicine? Just recently, a doctor friend of mine who teaches surgery told me about two new students he has who are from Greece. Mind you, I don’t live on the coasts or in a megalopolis like Houston with its massive healthcare system or Baltimore which has the famous Johns-Hopkins medical school. And yet these Greeks found their way to Oklahoma. (This raises another point about the depletion of Greek professionals from Greece, how many went to the priority schools like UConn, Johns-Hopkins, UCLA, Boston General, etc?)
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 8:17 am
No, only Southerners are racists. Northerners who go out of their way to send their kids to “good schools” (a euphemism for non-black/hispanic) subsidized by high property taxes and worship and/or socialize only with other melanin-impaired people are not racists. Don’t you see the difference?
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 8:07 am
Stephen, the forced taking of monies to do “good” (however that’s define) is not charity or philanthropy by definition. Anymore than the torture of parishioners to confess sins is “confession” or the torture of pagans to be baptized “evangelism.”
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 7:20 am
You’re right, Isa. The fault lies in what the Supreme Court did 209 years ago in Marbury vs. Madison, in which they created out of thin air the right to “judicial review.” It was Jefferson’s great mistake to not challenge it at the time. Since then, SCOTUS has short-circuited the democratic process making things infinitely worse: Dred Scott, Plessy vs Ferguson, Roe v Wade vs Wade, and now this. Among others. Because of this, mischief is cooked into the books now.
Judicial Review is nowhere found in Article III of the Constitution or anywhere for that matter.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On July 6, 2012 @ 7:16 am
As Will said, it’s federal. I’m a huge believer in States’ Rights. If the people of the State of Massachusetts through their elected representatives decide that school should be year-round, that’s their right. If they do something stupid like hike the state income tax by 100%, then New Hampshire will benefit.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On June 30, 2012 @ 10:13 pm
Ivan, all of what you say is true. Taxes can be repealed, however in reality they almost never are. That is what vexes so many people. The Federal income tax was modest at one time. FICA was only 1% of a man’s wages, etc. The nature of government is to metastasize, especially when more and more people have their snouts in the trough.
The only tax that was repealed was the national income tax that the Congress enacted in 1862 to pay for the War Between the States. The Supreme Court (!) struck it down about 12 years later or so.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On June 30, 2012 @ 10:09 pm
Very good point, Michael. The State is a good in and of itself as it was mandated by God. But it was never to be understood to be anything more than the restrainer of evil. It’s beneficience lies in a negative –to prevent anarchy. For this reason the “king does not hold the sword in vain.” The State sometimes must punish malefactors even to the point of death. As such, it is uniquely incapable of doing positive things. Those belong to the Church. By that I mean especially the acts of mercy (feeding the poor, clothing the naked, healing the sick, educating the young, etc.)
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God those that are God’s.”
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On June 30, 2012 @ 12:18 am
very good point, Peter. I’m not happy with the Patriot Act but its enaction was within the boundaries of the Congress, to secure the border, provide for the common defense, etc. It may have (in reality, it does) have unintended consequences and it may very well be viewed as a way of growing the State, but it still was within the parameters of the constitutionally-ennumerated powers given to the Congress.
The ACA however mandated each citizen purchase a product, which is something that is not only unconstitutional but unprecedented in history (at least to my knowledge). To be sure, Congress has the right to enact a tax and Roberts pulled their fat out of the fire by making them fess up that this is a tax, but he was still too clever by half.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On June 30, 2012 @ 12:13 am
Chris, you also can’t forget that one of the most offending public-sector unions is the state prison worker’s union. Those guys got California by the short-and-curlies. They’re so much into it for themselves that they are against prison reform and decriminilizating marijuana. The more people in prison, the better for them.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On June 29, 2012 @ 5:38 pm
Chris, Peter, let’s not forget, that once the income tax was paid, the US passed over the line in which the people realized that they could vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. Aristotle pegged it 2300 years ago in his study of the various Greek polities. That was about the timeline that a Scottish philospher (Alexander something or other) said that around the 7th generation from the founding of a state, the people start losing their pride and feel no shame in holding their hand out.
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On June 29, 2012 @ 5:34 pm
Good point, Carl. Still, if Roberts was going to be consistent in calling it a tax, he should have invalidated it on the grounds that this legislation did not originate in the House..
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On June 29, 2012 @ 1:37 pm
«« Back To Stats PageDiogenes, if this such a good deal, then why has Obama and the Congress exempted themselves from it? How come Muslims, Amish, Mennonites, and Hassidic Jews exempted from taking part in it?
Everytime I hear people say “it’s good for everyone,” I answer thusly: “government schools.” That was supposed to be “free” and mandatory but nobody in their right mind or unless they have no choice sends their kids to public schools any more. Instead, they go out of their way to move to white suburbs where the public schools are still fairly decent. The rest send them to private schools or home-school.
FYI, just 20 years ago, homeschooling was illegal in almost all 50 states. now it’s legal in all 50 states. How did that happen?
» Posted By Geo Michalopulos On June 29, 2012 @ 8:06 am
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