Comments Posted By Just Guessing
Displaying 1 To 30 Of 64 Comments
Sons of Job: The Canons Prohibit the Bishops from Voting at Parma
Ask about the young man from Chicago who killed himself who was preyed upon at Vlads
This one quote clearly shows that you truly don’t have any credible or reliable information. You’re making assumptions based on what you heard “out there.” You have no idea about the reality of the players involved in that situation or their histories prior to that tragic suicide. If you did, you’d not make such a sloppy statement.
Your “feds getting ready to act” statement is reminiscent of Stokoe and Wheeler who bragged about being key witnesses in a huge FBI and IRS investigation that promised to lead the perpetrators away in handcuffs. Poof.
If this is “just the beginning,” I hope your future work is more reliable.
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 31, 2012 @ 10:59 am
The difference is repentance and that he unlike the others did not continue in those things that hurt and harm his soul or of those around him.
Indeed, the difference is repentance. So you give a pass to Archbishop Job becuase “you know” he repented, and yet you hurl accusations above knowing that they didn’t?
Herein lies the problem with your approach: George defends you because Stokoe was selective. But this is not about being selective, this is about the gospel, about harming others with your words. Not one “victim” will be helped by what you’ve written – not one. If we use an Internet forum as a weapon, then we are no better than Stokoe. This is what you have done. You’re willing to take the chance that God is blessing these reckless actions and accusations you’re making. Good luck with that.
Stokoe was discredited becuase of what he did, and now you’re using the same tactic. There are better ways, but this approach will not be blessed by God, nor will it bring peace and order to the OCA.
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 31, 2012 @ 9:14 am
Stokoe thought the same thing – he just wanted to “cleanse the Church.” What a sickness self-righteousness is!
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 30, 2012 @ 7:15 pm
As much as I am not a fan of the current OCA, can someone explain to me how this hit-and-run article, replete with salacious details of the alleged sins of bishops and priests helps the situation at all? What good will come of it? Do we drag others, kicking and screaming, to repentance? Is this how it’s done now in the 21st century?
Unfortunately, the Sons of Job have shown themselves to be virtual Orthodox Jihadists, full of their smug self-righteousness. This article is neither Orthodox nor Christian. But it is, in fact, a testament to the logical end of the sick culture that the OCA has become, born from the keyboard of Mark Stokoe. When you believe that exposing the sins of others is the “light” that Christ speaks about (cf Stokoe’s “interview” to Svetlana Vais), then you’ve created a gospel of your own imagination, and you’ve fashioned a savior in your own image.
He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword (Mt 26:52). “Put your sword back in its place.”
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 30, 2012 @ 6:41 pm
File this one under “fixing the air conditioning on a car that’s hurling off a cliff.”
Pastoral Letter on the Emancipation Proclamation: One Hundred and Fifty Years Later
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 24, 2012 @ 10:51 am
The Narrative Continues to Fail
http://www.diocesecpa.org/People%20&%20Positions/supply-clergy-listing.html
The Rev. Elizabeth Mollard
235 N. Spruce Street, Elizabethtown PA 17022
Telephone: 717-367-5100 E-mail: bmollard@embarqmail.com» Posted By Just Guessing On October 21, 2012 @ 5:37 pm
It would be particularly awkward if they had observers from other jurisdictions since the “Letter of Welcome” from the Locum Tenens clearly threw down the gauntlet to the Episcopal Assembly and to all other jurisdictions, touting that they (the others) are “not the highest legislative authority within the Church.” According to Abp Nathaniel, only the OCA gathered in council is that(!). And in the case of Parma, it would even be a minority of so-called 700 parishes and institutions of the OCA we keep hearing about, since they’ll be lucky to have 150 priests there.
The OCA is an ever-diminishing sliver of Orthodox Christians in America – big words for a small church.
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 18, 2012 @ 3:33 pm
Guest Editorial: “Sons of Job” Call for New Leadership in the OCA
By the way, speaking of ROCOR being “backward,” go and check out the website of the ROCOR Eastern American Diocese at http://eadiocese.org/en.index.htm and see the amazing things they’re doing. Then compare it to the OCA website’s “Parish Life” http://oca.org/news/parish-life and photos at http://oca.org/media/photos . My my, how times have changed.
But the OCA does have the Chancellor’s Diary where we get to hear about every time they have a sexual misconduct meeting or spiritual court.
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 21, 2012 @ 1:28 pm
How do you restore someone that you’ve already fired?
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 18, 2012 @ 12:37 pm
Thanks for the chuckle! Very apropos!
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 18, 2012 @ 12:35 pm
Nothing makes sense to you? Let’s look at this point by point.
*The editorial contains factual errors. FACT
*SOJ, like Syosset, see the problems of the OCA primarily in terms of sexual misconduct. FACT
*The obsession with sexual misconduct has become the OCA’s albatross. FACT
*The Orthodox internet community feeds this fascination. FACT
*George has, of late, published articles which have been increasingly off the mark. FACTKeep your insults to yourself, Protodeacon.
» Posted By Just Guessing On October 13, 2012 @ 2:45 pm
And let’s not forget Michelle’s “All this for a damn flag?” comment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJgWMI0hch8
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 22, 2012 @ 5:38 pm
More Narrative Fail: The OCL Weighs In
If anyone’s looking for a fun game this weekend, I’m proposing an OCA version of the ever-popular “Hi Bob!” drinking game.
Here’s how it’s played: Have your favorite adult beverage ready for all the participants. Then, take turns reading aloud from the OCA Chancellor’s Diary. Every time the word misconduct is said, drink up! After only a few day’s entries, hilarity will ensue!
Enjoy!
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 21, 2012 @ 2:16 pm
Gotta Give Credit Where Credit is Due
Thank you, Lord Save, for these lucid thoughts. I hope that everyone will have the opportunity to read them.
I agree that the story of the OCA has become tragic. Like any dysfunctional family, they’re clearly in denial. When we think of what the OCA could have been as opposed to what it is, it gives one pause. Maybe what is most tragic is that this all seems akin to a desperate person seeking the “right’ spouse. The desperation is sad and pathetic, and the seeker never seems to get it quite right. Everyone can only look on and hope that someday they do find that right match, but knowing deep down they probably never will, because the appropriate time has already passed for marriage. No matter who gets this white hat, it’s a bit too late for a fulfilling marriage. We probably need to come to understand why God is withholding His blessing and hardening the heart of the OCA’s leaders.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 20, 2012 @ 7:44 pm
An Open Letter to the Orthodox Church in America
That’s absolutely NOT true. Holy Resurrection has very good attendance, and two liturgies on Sunday.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 21, 2012 @ 8:52 pm
Feel free to take credit for the “failure” of your misguided website. I prefer to give credit to the mercy and sovereignty of God, because He will not be mocked. Pride goes before a fall.
And please stop writing as though you’re scripting for some bad version of West Side Story. Honestly, no one needs to insult you or your friends.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 21, 2012 @ 8:52 am
Phil, it’s not 1970 anymore and it’s time you face today’s reality. It’s a demonstrable fact that you’re absolutely wrong by every known measure.
Let’s take some of the largest American cities as an example. Chicago: The ethnic Orthodox churches are filled to overflowing (Greek, ROCOR, Antiochian, Serbian, etc). The majority of the OCA churches in Chicago are half empty except for St Joseph’s. Los Angeles? The same story. Houston? New York? Washington? All the same. What’s the average population of a parish in the OCA east of the Mississsippi? 60-70 people, that’s it (and that’s probably generous). And what about institutions and programs? The OCA’s institutions and programs are paltry in comparison to the Greeks and the Antiochians. Where’s the OCA’s Antiochian Villiage? Where’s the OCA’s college? What about media ministries? Educational material? If it wasn’t for St Vladimir’s Seminary (and let’s face it, SVS is OCA in name only, and absolutely was NOT built by OCA money alone), what exactly could the OCA point to as an accomplishment in the last five to ten years? A multiplicity of investigations and firings is an accomplisment? Hiring a sex czar is an accomplisment? A declining population of support? Where is the accomplisment today? 1970 – yes, no doubt. Today – an unmitigated disaster.
You need to get your head out of the sand and start to see the reality of this situation. People are clearly on to the shenanigans in the OCA, and they’re tired of it. I’m not drinking your koolaid. The OCA is going this path completely alone, and it’s leading right off a cliff.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 20, 2012 @ 3:06 pm
The inclusion of a politically motivated petition to continue to demonize Met Jonah during the Divine Services is no surprise. Priests would do well to use the 2008 petitions (excellent advice from Helga).
Next up in the OCA? Rainbow Sunday.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 20, 2012 @ 10:43 am
I think the actual title was, “We Are Their Legacy,” a aptly presumptuous title, to be sure, but I think you captured the intent in your version. And yes, Dn Eric Wheeler was on the contributor list, along with M Stankovich and Fr Robert Arida. I think there was another contributor too. It flopped faster than a marriage to Elizabeth Taylor.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 20, 2012 @ 10:38 am
I believe there are very clear signals coming from the EA that the OCA’s days of self-preservation are numbered. Bishop Alexander (apparently) gave a breathless defense of the OCA’s dying autocephaly to the Assembly which was politely ingored. The conclusion is that Bishop Alexander was being not-so-subtly introduced as the OCA’s next-best-hope to save the autocephaly as the favored candiate for Metropolitan by Fr Leonid Kishkovsky, et al. Though there is internal disunity on the Synod on who will wear the White Hat next, the autocephaly has become the golden calf that must protected, and Bp Alexander is supposedly the man who has the “chops” to do it.
To me, it reeks of misplaced desperation. Saving the OCA’s autocephaly at this point will simply make them the next footnote below Aftimios Ofiesh’s American Orthodox Catholic Church.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 20, 2012 @ 10:09 am
Wasn’t Dn Eric Wheeler the one who said, “the church will have to be destroyed in order to be reborn”? Sounds like a risky and unbiblical plan. When do we get out of the destruction phase?
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 20, 2012 @ 9:36 am
Scandal in Chicago: the Initial Story is No Longer “Operative”
It seems the Ministry of Truth at Syosset is revising history again. The timeline tells the story, and it begins on 8/28. One need only ask any Dean in DOM about the initial communication which was intentionally vague. But the back story was that Bp Matthias was on leave for not handling a complaint of misconduct NOT involving him (ask anyone in the Cleveland area what and who it involves, it’s fairly common knowledge). George posted this only after he talked to Fr Eric, which is what Fr Eric confirmed. The revelation of the allegations of misconduct against Bp Matthias personally was a much later story. George misled no one – that’s Syosset’s job. Don’t shoot the messenger.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 7, 2012 @ 8:58 am
What I want to know is, why should I care what Fr Jillion’s prefers? Shouldn’t I care rather about upholding the Traditional governance of the Church?
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 6, 2012 @ 5:46 pm
Think about this predicament: Under normal circumstances, priests and people would, with hearts full of gratitude, offer a beloved bishop to be the Metropolitan.
But in the current crisis that is the OCA, priests and people who truly love their bishop will NOT want to let go of him, since he is a safe harbor in this storm. And priests and people who do not feel love for their bishop will be all too happy to vote him OUT of their diocese by becoming Metropolitan.
What an incredible mess this will be.
I am of the opinion that there are only be two logical choices. Votes should be cast either for Metropolitan Jonah or “No Confidence.” Nothing else really makes sense.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 6, 2012 @ 5:35 pm
And Now for a Word from One of the “DC Nuns”
Phil says that the EA is the bigger threat to Orthodoxy in North America. What he really means is, it’s the biggest threat to the OCA. Let’s be clear about this: Whatever threat exists to the now shortened-future of the OCA exists becuase of the incompentence of the bishops and Metropolitan Council of the last five-or-so years. The EA is simply observing the chaos and concluding, rightly, that the OCA is a radpid imploding, irrelevant vestige of an implausible (though at times, laudible) vision long since dead. Don’t blame the EA, blame these so-called ‘leaders’ (Synod and Metropolitan Council) who have led the OCA to this precipice, but then blame everyone except themselves.
Ask yourself this: Would anything change in the parishes if the OCA in its current form simply vanished, but the parishes remained under a different jurisdiction? Answer: No. In fact, they would be freed from the shackles of this pathetic organization.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 11, 2012 @ 11:31 am
It’s a very good point. There’s no reason why he would be barred from attending the council. Someone should make sure he registers and gets there.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 10, 2012 @ 1:48 pm
You don’t need a mountain of evidence, because these “leaders” are not interested in evidence, in facts. They’re motivated by their desire for political intrigue and fanning the flames of chaos.
The answer is simple (he said, yet again): Vote Met Jonah back in. This would send a very powerful signal to these bishops. They can certainly choose to ignore it. But the message would be sent and it would be codified forever in history.
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 9, 2012 @ 7:52 pm
gulp, gulp, gulp (drinking the koolaid)
» Posted By Just Guessing On September 1, 2012 @ 12:24 pm
They wanted transparency, now they got it.
» Posted By Just Guessing On August 31, 2012 @ 6:26 pm
«« Back To Stats PageI would only disagree with one point, Nikos. If a situation involves a bishop, clearly that bishop cannot in any way handle the situation himself. At that point the Holy Synod (or another bishop appointed by them) must lead the investigation into the matter. No person involved in an accusation can be involved in the investigation.
» Posted By Just Guessing On August 30, 2012 @ 3:10 pm
Recent Comments