What’s the scoop? I heard this same funny question from the lips of one of my friends every day I’d see her at school.
“So what’s the scoop?” Trudy would say.
OK, here’s the scoop. Not an exhaustive list of what’s going on, but maybe enough to start you thinking.
Forced Vaccination/ While the media has tried to convince us that the FDA has approved COVID vaccines: (1) the FDA has not approved the Pfizer BioNTech vaccines, (2) nor any COVID vaccines for the 12- to 15-year age group, (3) nor booster doses for anyone; (4) nor licensed the Moderna and Johnson& Johnson vaccines.
They just don’t want you to know it.
The vast majority of vaccines available in the U.S., if not all, remain unlicensed EUA products and this is unlikely to change until Pfizer is granted immunity for all deaths and adverse events associated with the new name. Since the formula is purportedly the same as that of the Pfizer BioNTech, which is tied to a staggering number of injuries and deaths in VAERS, it is unlikely that the same product, under a new name, is going to be given immunity.
Here’s the scoop: When somebody orders you to get the vaccine, ask to see the vial. If it says “Comirnaty,” it’s a licensed product and you could sue for damages if something goes wrong. If it says “Pfizer-BioNTech,” it’s an experimental product, and under 21 U.S. Code 360bbb, you have the right to refuse. In the U.S., it is extrmemly unlikely you will be given Comirnaty (what a ridiculous name). They simply don’t want the liability.
Mandatory Vaccination & Masks in Schools/ Take your children out of school immediately This is not the time to say, “Oh, well. Might as well just let them do it.”
Here’s the scoop: Organize a parent meeting to take all of your kids within a class, (classroom, age group, etc.) out of school. Tell the school board that this option could turn into a more permanent solution unless they take the masks off your kids and drop the mandatory vaccination.
The costs for online training are practically free at this point and it would be great to have each family augment school with trips to local dairy farms, museums, etc. Local community centers could be used to gather kids together where one or two high school kids could be hired to watch them for credits. Summer programs are organized like this.
In addition, you could create a 30-day program around how to grow your own food. Ask the neighbors and the HOAs in your area to sponsor the program by giving you a plot of land and host a silent auction giving away paintings, poems, bakery items, etc. the kids made to purchase soil, tools, materials, etc. Assign roles, from which the children can choose, and a leader for that role to be filled by a parent. A role could be: “Form a checklist for the items that will be needed for this project.” I would donate my time as a project manager to make sure your bases are covered and teach these skills to interested students and parents to kick off similar projects. (When you show my tools to a school board they will know you are serious about continuing this project if need be!)
I’m just brainstorming here. Parents have to find ways to leverage their power with the school boards and for each child out of school, they lose money. I’m sure you could find a local doctor who could write something up about the ravages of vaccine mandates within the American family, making children sick with anxiety. A doctor’s note for each child could be attached. This is just one way of dealing with this mess. We are not helpless.
Shortages in the Supply Chain/ I shop from my bed on my tablet. If it’s food items I want, I can get Whole Foods to deliver everything for free through Amazon. I also can get movies from Amazon that Netflicks doesn’t offer and all the music I want. I have Amazon Prime for which I pay $119 a year which allows me to ship for free. I order just about everything from them. It’s great for gifts, specialty items, and even everyday stuff. George laughed at me one day when a driver hand-delivered a six-roll pack of Angel Soft toilet paper wrapped in bubble wrap.
Here’s the Scoop: Order everything, and I mean everything, from Amazon. Amazon will be the last one to go down given who they are, i.e. elite globalists with powerful connections.
I am well aware that Amazon is one of the “bad guys.” I don’t care. I’m sure real soldiers are perfectly happy using the supplies of their enemy if they can get away with it. Our enemy, in this case, is quite well resourced. Shipping is what they do and I suspect they rarely use third parties that could suddenly go on strike.
Fear & Angst/ Present the overall picture as an exciting one. This pandemic is the biggest thing that has happened to the United States since the Revolution. Our mettle is being tested. It is time to put on the armor of God and pray.
Pray with your children and with a smile on your face, showing your dependence on God so they will know God can be trusted.
If they ask (or you’re just thinking to yourself) what’s going to happen, assume it’s going to be good. God said He would protect us and I believe Him. If you’re not quite there in your thinking yet, it’s not too late to drop to your knees.
Here’s the Scoop: Make a plan. It’s the best thing you can do to squelch anxiety. Think of this as a “teachable moment” for children whether they’re yours or not. Show them how to be strong, even when you’re not feeling particularly courageous. Don’t lie to them, but make sure everything you say in their presence is solution-oriented. (They’ll grow up and look at all of life that way, God willing.) Remind them that when you become a teenager, you don’t know how to do it. When you get married, you don’t know how to do it. The same with having your first child. Life is full of “firsts” and it is all doable.
Let your children see you pray so they see evidence that God is there.
Watch the movie Life is Beautiful, directed by Roberto Benigni. It’s about the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to help his young son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, his father imagines that the Holocaust as a game and takes his son along for the ride.
Children should not be unnecessarily burdened by our troubles.
Our Bishops/ You were not there when we needed you. We know you were not moving in lockstep. Some of you were not moving at all. Though the State has no authority over the Church, you allowed the State to prolong the pandemic to unreasonable lengths. You promoted washing our sacred icons in disinfectant and introduced plastic spoons to keep people well, which undermines the very power of the Gifts. You frightened our children and alienated our young families. You failed to protect us from the enemy. You ran and hid under your bed covers. You allowed a group of self-appointed theologians (academics) to lead us away from the Church’s teaching. You wrongly suggested it was like St. Mary of Egypt who chose to live a holy life in the desert when God had not asked even the least of us to live a life separate from the Church. You changed the Church and Her teachings out of fear for yourselves. While our best priests were called into question for wanting to fulfill their obligations to the Body, you holed up in your apartments with your cooks, maids, deacons, and worldly comforts. Priests who risked their lives by going through the back doors of hospitals to give the Gifts to the dying enraged you. That they entered our homes to anoint us, enraged you even more. You let people bang on the doors of the Church, begging to be allowed in. To appease the State, which is not required of any of you, you put the teachings of the Church last. You could have said no. You could have been the leaders God had hoped you’d be, but you were a disappointment, leaving some of us to wonder if you even know God. If just one of you had gotten on your knees and asked the Holy Spirit what to do, this could have been a magnificent moment for the Church.
It was not.
So here’s the scoop: Aside from ROCOR, only the Serbians and Georgians held their ground. The GOA, OCA, and AOCNA failed us. AOCNA, because she did what she did in secret. Imagine how it made the rest of us feel when we hear one priest after another saying, “We didn’t close our doors. We kept the Church the same! Our metropolitan just told us to be quiet about it,” (which you weren’t). This same hierarch publically expressed his concern that the rest of us were breaking the 6th Commandment because we failed to be disciples to our masks. I suspect they all know now what we knew then; masks don’t work. We’re not the sinners our hierarch made us out to be.
Moving forward, it might be a good idea for our hierarchs to repent and for us to forgive them. We should have a plan for situations like this: “Come let us reason together. . .” Each step must be compared to the teachings of the Church and only if something promotes the teaching of the Church should it be allowed.
There are worst things than death, which is inevitable. Living without the Church is one of them.
Armor of God/ 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:10-18
So here’s the scoop: You know what to do.
Mrs. M
Good plans — and yes, the bishops’ reaction was a failed opportunity. A different strategy could have converted millions. I really believe that. Sad.
As a tangent, I’m glad you brought up Life Is Beautiful. I really like that movie — it’s charming, funny, moving, and so very human. While not being overtly religious (aside from a Jewish horse!), it is an astounding rejection of evil. There may be heartless Nazis out there who may find it too sentimental, but it’s one of my favorites. If you don’t cry at the record or the tank scene, you just might be a sociopath.
I like your characterization that it is a “rejection of evil.” It is indeed that and that’s what we’ve got to do for each other and especially for our kids.
Joseph A. “A different strategy could have converted millions. I really believe that.”
Bringing a big crowd like on Palm Sunday? A real conversion requires a profound change, not another “revival”. Sorry.
I’m gonna go with Joseph on this one. “Millions” doesn’t necessarily mean having bigger churches or fuller churches but more churches.
Problem is that the true conversion to Orthodoxy requires a DEEP change. If you bring a multitude in a superficial way, this multitude will bring their mentality with them and might derail segments of Orthodox diaspora.
They will be very assertive and self assured, looking down on cradle Orthodox as being quaint and too ethnic.
Martin,
While I agree with you that true conversion to Orthodoxy requires a DEEP change, that change is a process that requires a beginning.
I am reminded of the mass conversion (about 3000 souls) on the day of Pentecost. It was a beginning, but it took them years to be cleansed of notions about the law of Moses, circumcision…
Conversion is a long process that, frankly, never ends. And no matter where I am (or think I am) in that process I am loathe to deny anyone an opportunity to begin.
Actually believing that death is destroyed in Christ and we need no longer live in fear of death is the Gospel. Real belief in the Gospel (and not just another ideology) is not a superficial conversion.
And that, I believe, is the point being made here – that a massive opportunity to preach the Gospel (both to ourselves and as a witness to the world) was squandered by showing the world what is apparently the truth about us more than we would care to admit -that we, in actual fact, do not believe what we proclaim on Pascha. We, in fact, fear death just as much as those whom we hypocritically call “unbelievers.”
Brian “Actually believing that death is destroyed in Christ and we need no longer live in fear of death is the Gospel.”
Actually, Gospel might be something else. Good News (Evangelia) is that God is not only noble and just, but above all He is merciful and kind.
One can believe in immortality and see it as harsh, cold and dark.
Basil “As if most of the Orthodox diaspora has the right mentality”
I don’t know, but why do I feel sometimes on Monomakhos as visiting right wing Republican club, with a parochial mindset, American centered?
Sigh… Why do you insist on twisting my words?
Have you never sung…?
Need I go on? “harsh, cold and dark?” Seriously?
I agree, Brian.
RE: “I don’t know, but why do I feel sometimes on Monomakhos as visiting right wing Republican club, with a parochial mindset, American centered?”
Because this is not the place for you, perhaps?
If I may add, it’s not because of the GOP or conservatism per se. Speaking for myself, we’re beyond that at this point. It’s simply about patriotism, realism, and traditionalism. Whoever –and for whatever reason–helps further this narrative, I’ll take as an ally. (And that means that RINOs and cucks like Romney need not look for $uccor from me.)
At this point, I’d vote for Sen Kristen Synema (D-AZ) who is a lesbian and an atheist for president. Right now, she (and Sen Joe Manchin) are the only things standing in the way of Biden’s Bolshevism.
Good point. she lives in a purple state and I prefer her over Biden as well. Her biggest problem is in the dems in her state in the dem primary Maanchi state is different and has moved to the right but unlike the other poor states West Virginia is not getting a high ratinf for doign business like Kentucky next door.
Martin, you’re correct. I don’t think any of us are talking about “superficial” conversions. Personally, that’s not in the cards any time soon. One of the good things about 2020 –the year of COVID, George Floyd riots, rigged elections, etc–is that being superficial about anything is no longer in the cards.
We are all straight up clear-eyed now. About everything. All we’re now talking about on this blog regarding this, that or the other thing is about the degree of the evil that exists in the world –and the best tactics to preserve ourselves and our families.
As if most of the Orthodox diaspora has the right mentality.
Weren’t you the guy who claimed that the Church shouldn’t ordain converts or something?
I do agree that had the bishops not caved then many would have converted. People seek stability and our bishops fails us on that.
BUT many people are still converting in spite of all of that, which is truly a miracle from God. My former parish has more catechumens than they have ever had. This isn’t an isolated incident and I’ve seen other people post such things. In spite on the boondogle of the bishops, people are seeking Orthodoxy.
Precisely, Petros. The Government changes. Fauci changes.
The FDA changes. The CDC changes – etcetcetc…
The world is changing, constantly changing
There is no stability in it.
Against this, what does the Church have to offer;
if not the unchanging Liturgy and worship of our Lord.
The ‘Churches’ that want to stay ‘relevant’, to ‘keep up with the times’,
are the ones that are emptying like a bucket with a hole in the bottom.
People need some anchor of stability in their lives.
If the Church will not provide it, where is it to be found?
I would push back on Amazon. Using them for everything will only hasten the demise of local stores and corral everyone into one easily-controlled space. When things really get bad, Amazon will just cancel the accounts of deplorables and literally starve them out.
No, support local shops and small regional chains first, only use Amazon as a last resort. The military hardware analogy isn’t great, because one army stealing the resources of another is a direct transfer of power from the bad guys to the good guys. But buying product from the enemy has the exact opposite effect, and doubly so—the good guy gives to the bad guy at the expense of another good guy. And then the bad guy also uses the cash to extend its psyop campaign (streaming services).
If you can’t get something from a local shop, your first question shouldn’t be “where can I get it?” but “do I really need it?”
Obviously we all have to do what we have to do, but I would not buy from Amazon if there is any other way to avoid it. Life is hell for Amazon workers and drivers, and I’d love to see the whole website crash and burn. I certainly wouldn’t spend a penny on any corporation’s psyop media streaming services. Their gay and tranny propaganda is what moved me to cancel all Amazon related accounts last year. I discovered there’s a lot of things I can live without.
I have to agree with Antiochene Son on this one. I buy from Amazon as little as possible. I especially appreciate the point about the need for supporting local, smaller businesses. This coof thing has been especially hard on them, while Amazon has thrived. They need less money, not more.
I buy from sellers.
Life is fairly hellish for Amazon sellers as well. (I speak from experience – my company sold product on Amazon for several years until it became more trouble than it was worth.) Amazon Marketplace sellers are forced to meet Amazon’s corporate standards without the infrastructure to support it, which means they are eating the difference in a lot of ways they have a harder time absorbing than Jeff Bezos.
And of course Amazon takes a hefty cut for themselves, for the privilege of submitting to the abuse, and then create gay propaganda with the funds.
It’s good that people are starting small businesses and Amazon is a way to get eyeballs on your products, but I still say it’s better to support the brick and mortar in your own town, and only buy from Amazon or other big online retailers if you truly need something you can’t get anywhere else. I’ve always been critical of Christians who go halfway around the world to build houses for poor people when they ignore homeless people in their own town. Same principle – local first.
about ebay?
Ebay gives me that “Minnie Pearl” feeling with the price tag hanging from her hat. I’m afraid if I look at an item too long, the owner is going to suddenly appear and make me a deal I can’t refuse.
I don’t want to know how many people like them or where they live. When they point out all the flaws before I see them, I’m kind of insulted and disappointed because I would have bought the thing.
It’s too much pressure. I buy the stuff just to get it over with.
I will sometimes use “Amazon” but only as one of the ways to research a product I am interested in, but I will do everything I can to avoid purchasing from or even through Amazon. You can often find out enough about the “seller” to find that seller’s own website which makes it possible to purchase directly from the seller without contributing to Amazon’s political, social, and cultural agenda.
Love it all! Beautiful! Excellent advice!
My dear, you have not pulled any punches! Very well said!
I would wholly support taking kids out of school and forming a co-op with other homeschool families. It seems like any resistance to school boards constitutes as terrorism. Threating to pull your kid out or organizing parents will just give them more cause to call the FBI. Talk about taxation without representation-these corrupt dumas are increasing my property taxes and I can’t have a say otherwise.
Cut to the chase and pull your children out while you can- before it’s mandated that homeschooling is illegal and “dangerous”.
Also I see no point in fighting The Bezos empire but I’d try to build more relationships with local companies. I’ve been dealing with more local shops and it’s refreshing to hear we are all on the same page with how the world is going. If a city/town council tries to start some B.S. they start to perk up with local businesses threatening to leave.
Xenophon: I agree with you about homeschooling (while it is still legal). In Germany, I was shocked to find out several years ago that homeschooling is verbotten. Evangelical families are having a time of it because of this. Having said that, I wouldn’t impose my own libertarian beliefs on another country. Regardless, the best option on many levels would be to see a massive surge in homeschooling across the nation. This will make it difficult for the Leviathan state to illegalize it.
BTW, I am not for homeschooling or against local schooling only. I am against mandatory anything. That includes government schooling.
Speaking of harsh laws, or as it were, no laws at all, this from Roos V’s website:
“The case in the NSW Supreme Court concluded today and the judge declared that the government has done nothing wrong in its handling of the plandemic, owing to how Australia has no bill of rights, which means no [freedom of speech], freedom of movement, [or] bodily integrity, etc. How terrible. The lawyer heading up this case against the devil’s government said that, unless something changes, the court ruling has effectively established limitless powers for premiers who could, conceivably, order the forced execution of, say, all blue eyed babies – [potential] powers previously never really brought out into the open like this…..Nevertheless, the lawyer – Tony Nikolic, who could be a good Serbian boy – stated that the judge’s decision was not surprising and that he and his ever growing team of supporters, including other high quality lawyers and barristers, had learned a lot from the case and could apply those lessons into the future, including all the way up to the high court.”
We’ve done just that in Texas.
It’s called homeschooling? Hello?
It’s NOT a big deal. It’s so easy. It’s so fun! It doesn’t require anything except living and then documenting what you all did together. (If you need a name for it, some people call it unschooling, but it just happens to be an extremely effective way to raise an autodidact. Just ask me. 🙂 )
Yes, a cooperative is nice, but that isn’t a requirement. The only thing you really need to be careful of is what your state requires of homeschoolers.
RE: “Yes, a cooperative is nice, but that isn’t a requirement.” In this case, it is. Having a lot of kids walk out of their classroom until their school removes the mandates is different than homeschooling.
For sure it’s more effective if a whole group of parents walk out on strike, as it were. I just meant that once you get down to the nubbies of educating at home, a cooperative effort — where one parent teaches science while another offers something else — is not a requirement to actually accomplish educating your kids.
(I’m just so excited that these parents might actually get to experience how much fun and how exciting and how satisfying it is to homeschool…)
Ronda, as good as it is to educate your own children, an extra side-effect would be if your local property taxes went down as well.
Both are goals to be strived for. The beast has to be starved.
I lost you, George.
I am absolutely excited about having my local property taxes go down. I’m not sure what I’m saying that is giving the impression that I am not gung ho about these ideas. But I can’t help being excited for people who are doing this because having your children at home with you creates real family life that is central, instead of having family life occur around the edges of our job and school schedules as is the typical way that American Christians end up living, and saying so is not an indictment of anyone.
If preserving our families is the goal, I can’t think of a better way to do it than to have your family with you instead of out there somewhere, at the very mercy of the beast.
Neither George nor I said anything negative about homeschooling. Homeschooling is great.
Ronda, I am for all types of common sense educational modalities. Especially homeschooling. It is.just that it’s not for everybody.
Although I do think that those who think they’re not up to it might pleasantly surprised themselves.
Well, I apologize for not expressing myself very well.
My own experience is not really the point, although I do go on and on about it. So pardon me for being so effusive and nauseating.
But I’m trying to talk about something larger than that. I am definitely talking about educating children. And up until now, no, it wasn’t for everyone. But it seems to me that fighting so that your kids don’t have to be masked and vaxxed but where you have to fight Critical Race theory and all that other devilish stuff is not really worth it?
Is that really worth fighting for? If you want a cooperative effort to fight back, then why not create an Orthodox Christian schooling cooperative that is permanent? Where you can actually do what I am trying to describe: making your church and family life absolutely central. If we are going to survive what is coming, I don’t see how else we’ll be able to do it.
As a single mom and full time caregiver of a disabled adult child with only one other child who lives with me to help care for her sister, we have no way to care for our disabled person except to rely on this godless government that may very well tell me I have to get vaxxed in order for the county to continue to pay us to do this. I have no other option because THERE IS NO ORTHODOX COMMUNITY that is designed to be truly cooperative.
Why aren’t we talking about that? I wish that Rod Dreher’s idea could be created now instead of everybody fighting to hold on to something that is decaying from the inside.
Rhonda, no one said you were being effusive and nauseating.
Children are not getting enough oxygen through those masks and they are threatening to inject them with something that some scientists say kills more people than it saves and they don’t care what parents have to say about it. If I had young children, I would want to get them out of harm’s way.
We’ve seen the American version of “homeschooling” during the lockdowns and child abuse and suicides shot up. But if we could keep those masks off them and make sure they don’t get jabbed with poison, I think that would be a lot for right now.
Oh my gosh, Gail. Good Lord. I know when I’m being effusive and nauseating. I don’t need you to confirm it.
I am agreeing with you completely, and I think you know it. I ABHOR forcing kids to wear masks. And I would NEVER allow my child to be shot up with these poisons.
Why won’t you answer my main question? I think we need to be doing the Benedict Option right now…. Something like the Catacombs.
Hahahahha!
We ARE putting in place communities needed for doing the Benedict option right now! The Piedmont monastery is breaking ground and we work with a group called in Showlo AZ (not so hot up there) called Homesteaders Haven.
What’s your main question?
Gail, other than the monastery in Piedmont and the community being built in Show Low, do you know of any complete list of intentional Orthodox communities being started?
I believe there is one being started in Montana as well
No, I don’t. What they need is some people to have the cash to buy the lots and build.
Sorry Gail, for some reason I am not able to reply directly to this message.
I am working on making my next move, probably by 12/22, out of a major city to somewhere closer to a monastery. Luckily there are plenty of options and my job is in pretty high demand everywhere so God Willing it’ll happen. Just need to settle on a location.
I had really liked St. Peter’s Monastery in Montana, but, it’s under the OCA and I’m worried they’ll shut down again. The monastery in Piedmont is also an option.
Does Ancient Faith Radio have a vaccine conflict of interest? https://russian-faith.com/news-persecution/does-ancient-faith-radio-have-vaccine-conflict-interest-n6098
Why couldn’t our bishops have been like this bishop?
https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2021/10/14/military-archbishop-supports-religious-exemptions-from-vaccine-mandates.
AXIOS to Archbishop Timothy Broglio!
“Even if an individual’s decision seems erroneous
or inconsistent to others, conscience does not lose its dignity,” Broglio said, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court has itself ruled that “religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection.”
What’s not to like?
This conscience matter is key, as my conscience may differ from another’s without necessarily making either of us “sinful” in an objective sense. It is clearly something our episcopate is blind to even though scripture and Tradition are permeated with the clear principal that one ought never violate one’s conscience before God.
Funny that “causing a weaker brother to stumble” is only ever used to browbeat people who have traditionally formed consciences.
Our bishops are taking pages from Pope Francis’ playbook (browbeating normal believers in the name of tolerance, crying out in pain as they strike you) and that is very troubling.
George, Brendan, and Brian, I concur with your kudos to the Roman Catholic Military Archbishop for the U.S. armed forces for insisting on freedom of conscience and religious liberty regarding the COVID-19 vaccines. That is a necessary and important procedural victory for our Roman Catholic friends.
However, Broglio does not go far enough. He falls in line with the Vatican’s utilitarian fallacy of the utilization of products derived from aborted preborn baby cells or cell lines as morally licit owing to (1) the distance in time from the original abortions in the 1970s and 1980s that made the current COVID-19 vaccines possible and (2) the purported end or intent of saving lives in the present. He concedes the more vital substantive argument without a fight:
“While the Vatican’s doctrinal office has ruled that it is morally permissible for Catholics to receive the vaccines, this does not inhibit individual Catholics from determining otherwise in their cases, he asserted.”
Broglio’s staunch defense of conscience and religious liberty may or may not pass muster with the U.S. armed forces, which, like the rest of the branches and components of the federal government, seem determined to fight the requests for religious exemptions tooth and nail every step of the way.
Compare our own Orthodox hierarch, ROCOR Bishop George (Schaefer) of Canberra, Vicar Bishop of the Australian & New Zealand Diocese., whose statement to his flock on August 5, 2021, included this bold, unambiguous, courageous, pastoral (in the best sense of that often abused term) appeal:
“There are some Orthodox hierarchs who condone taking the vaccines, even though they contain fetal cells, or are derived from fetal cells, thereby being a direct product of abortion. In good conscience, as an Orthodox Christian, I cannot agree with this view and cannot condone it. However, considering that there are some Orthodox hierarchs who do allow these vaccines, and considering the great fear campaign that is being waged by the governments and the media, I can understand if people do decide to get vaccinated. People also need to know that many of those who are getting vaccinated are dying or experiencing severe side effects. We must be aware of what we are doing. Whatever our personal choice is in this matter, we must still live as Orthodox Christians, loving and encouraging one another, being an example of Christian love and piety both to those in our Church communities and to others. Let us re-focus our priorities and focus more on our own spiritual life, not just on preserving our physical life in this sinful world, so when the time comes that God summons us to the next life, we may be able to give a good account of our life here on earth, time in which we should be repenting and preparing ourselves spiritually for eternity. We should remember that whether we get sick from the virus or not is up to God, and when and how we die is up to God, not determined by a virus. Let us ask God to give us repentance, the “vaccine” for eternity, as Metropolitan Onouphry of Kiev has expressed it, so that we will be able to live and die as good Orthodox Christians.”
https://www.rocor.org.au/news10/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Epistle-English-5-August-2021.pdf
Bishop George followed that missive with a public letter on September 15, 2021, to the government leaders of the New South Wales and Victorian state jurisdictions in Australia on behalf of his own flock and residents of those two states. Here is the pertinent paragraph:
“Vaccine passports will create an unethical two-tiered society and we strongly condemn this proposed measure. The Church CANNOT enforce such discriminatory measures in our parishes and refuse entry to anybody who seeks to attend without the proposed vaccine passport, or any other certificate, as this would lead to discriminatory outcomes and would violate the Church’s teachings and canons.
“In our multicultural and multi-faith society, these proposed measures, which are divisive, coercive and discriminatory, echo the trials experienced by many before they fled persecution and now call Australia home.
“We pray and implore that you – our elected leaders – are made aware of the terrible consequences of such an unethical measure. History is the best teacher on where such courses of action have led to in the past.”
https://www.rocor.org.au/news10/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Open-letter-passport-Sept21.pdf
Now that two-pronged prophetic moral witness by a Spirit-guided Orthodox bishop is truly worthy of “AXIOS, AXIOS, AXIOS!”
Agreed, Father, in every respect.
“Behold now, what is so good or so pleasant! As for brothers to dwell together in unity?
– Psalms 132:1 (LXX)
“See syne, how gude an’ how braw
for friens to bide weel thegither!”
[The Psalms: Frae Hebrew intil Scottis:
P. Hately Waddell; Edinburgh, 1871]
I know Pete was a Prod and the number is Latin (CXXXIII)
and it’s from the (Masoretic) Hebrew rather than the LXX;
but (being a Scot) it does have a certain ring in my ear… 🙂
I also agree with you completely, Fr Alexander.
It’s just that the quote from Broglio’s statement to which I refer
seems to me to be a very good point from which to start.
Or like this group of Protestant pastors:
https://news.yahoo.com/u-pastors-advocacy-groups-mobilize-100430520.html
We just commemorated the New Hieromartyr Peter of Krutitsa, who was martyred by the Soviets after 12 years of terrible persecutions. Few Orthodox bishops today can measure up. Most have willingly agreed to be tools of the State.
Fairly certain that the New Hieromartyr Peter of Krutitsa is the patron saint of Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America (ROCOR). I believe I heard him say that, or someone told me that St Peter of Krutitsa is his patron saint.
Abp Peter of Chicago, at least, is quite familiar with Orthodox persecution and martyrdom, particularly that kind suffered by Orthodox under communists in the 20th century. He grew up in that Russian expatriate community in California where more or less all of them were fleeing persecution and martyrdom.
Tragic, but not unexpected, that this persecution is soon to be our state here in America. America as a culture gave up on God a long time ago. Now we’re seeing the fruits of such stupidity.
Hey George, a thought:
If someone had their doctor write them a prescription for Comirnaty specifically, and specified no generics or substitutions, am I correct in thinking that the distributing pharmacy would be required to honor that, and therefore you’d have a kind of “placemarker” at least until distribution actually happens? A person would be able to show their work that they “tried” to get the vaccine but “have to wait.” Like a medical exemption but not. I haven’t really seen this suggested anywhere but I’m wondering if it might be one way to “comply.” While there may be doctors not wanting to write exemptions, I don’t know why a doctor would hesitate to write an Rx for a vaccine that has been approved by the FDA and is supposedly “available.”
The reason I’d give to a doctor would be that I don’t do well with generics and the fillers used…but again, if it’s the “same drug” and the person requests it, I feel like most providers could be convinced to humor them.
I live in Texas, and several pharmacies here refused to fill my prescription for ivermectin for COVID prophylaxis. Texas has an arcane law that allows some pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions if it “violates their conscience.” Funny that this pharmacist refusal more or less never happened until ivermectin for COVID treatment and prevention became a shameful thing, according to mainstream American stupidity.
It’s not that these pharmacists are bad people – they are not. But rather, given the hysterical climate surrounding ivermectin and our insane popular culture, they were concerned about being censured by the state board of licensing.
If one goes to Japan, India, or to countless other countries not in Western Europe, Canada/USA, or Australia/NZ, ivermectin is part of their standard COVID treatment protocols. Ivermectin was key in wiping out COVID in India over this past summer. Funny how we never hear about that….
Fortunately there are mail-order compounding pharmacies near Austin and Houston that are willing to fill ivermectin scripts. Wonder how much more it will take for me to decide that I’ve had it with the crazy secular West and move to someplace sane, like Hungary or even Russia?
I actually like the idea of a pharmacist being allowed to not fill, for instance, a prescription for a drug intended to induce an abortion or even for birth control if it violates their conscience, which I’m sure is what that law was intended for.
That said, I can understand your frustration and that is very annoying. I’m glad you were able to get your prescription filled somehow.
The reason I think my idea would work at least in theory is that it gives the appearance of compliance and ends with you telling the pharmacist “oh no! Well, let me know when you get it in stock!” Which….I could be wrong but I don’t see Comernity going on the shelves for awhile. At which point you’ve bought some time and hopefully some lawsuits are on the books against mandates or you’ve given your employer the pharmacists note about what happened and they are satisfied that you will get it and its forgotten. I mostly just bring this up as a potential time-buying method with low confrontation for people who can’t afford to lose their job.
A well-known Orthodox priest – one who, by the way, advised obedience to our bishops – described the reaction to COVID by both our bishops and our public health officials as “incompetent” (and not surprising so). He is right.
At the heart of this incompetence on the episcopal and other clerical levels was a direct practical denial of the very core of the Faith – that Death is overcome and we need not fear it.
Every failure of administration in this crisis stems from this single core practical denial of the Faith. When they could have and should have been preaching the Gospel that death is destroyed, they not only succumbed to the fear of death themselves but encouraged others to succumb to it as well.
So yes, it was an astounding and shameful missed opportunity and a very revealing one as well. Moreover, the prudence that times like these obviously require cannot rightly be called prudence when such ‘prudence’ (so-called) strikes at the very core of the Faith.
“described the reaction to COVID by….officials as “incompetent”…”
I was reminded a while back that, in Orwell’s 1984, the incompetence was intentional, designed to demoralise people. And when we consider how intelligent and capable a lot of these incompetents are in 2020, 2021 and counting (both forwards and backwards), we can only agree that the consistent stream of massive yet avoidable mistakes could only be intentional.
I’m not saying this applies to all the incompetents, just to enough of them, and in whatever sphere they may be.
“At the heart of this incompetence on the episcopal and other clerical levels was a direct practical denial of the very core of the Faith”
And at the heart of this incompetence at the secular level was a direct practical denial of the very core of the faith. Per a great meme I saw recently:
“FOLLOW THE SCIENCE
What, Kary Mullis, the inventor of the PCR test who said that it wasn’t to be used as it’s being used?
No, not that
How about Dr Robert Malone, the inventor of mRNA technology, who warns against taking the shots?
No, not that
Then how about Dr Peter McCullough, the most quoted doctor in all America?
No, not that either
Now I’m beginning to see how this works”
If the intention is to destroy the system,
causing systemic incompetence seems a quick way to bring that about.
Incompetence and the Protestant work ethic. I was brought up in the Episcopal Church so I can only speak for that background. But it would seem to me that if a person was brought up on that work ethic, it would be almost inconceivable to imagine that someone would try to destroy you by deliberately being incompetent.
Deliberately stabbing you in the back. Or as a friend said to me, Why do they want to do evil?
And so the wool has been pulled over our eyes.. But it is now beginning to slip off. Hopefully we can keep up the momentum. Pray, pray, pray. “God is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year. God is working his purpose out, and the time is drawing near. Nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that shall surely be, When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.
Arthur Campbell Ainger 1894
The key here is to stay close to God. The next three years are going to very difficult. At my job, I have a religious exemption for not taking the shot. They are actively looking for a way to reject my exemption. I expect to be fired by Christmas…after 25 years. The most difficult thing will be losing health Insurance for me and my family.
I am right there with you, Mikhail. I submitted my religious accommodation request 10 days ago and have since heard nothing.
But whatever happens God is with us and will not abandon us. Somehow, this will work for our good.
Maybe we’re better off without insurance in this horrible system;
“Elder Savvas Achilleos of Athens said: “The Antichrist will take the throne though ‘health’.” He also said: “The Antichrist will take over the cathedral of medicine. He will take all medicine under his power and will turn them into poison. Those who take this medicine will be poisoned and eventually die.”
It would be so great if doctors just left the system and we hired them like people used to do.
Lisa B.,
I am (sadly) inclined to agree. Such doctors exist in increasing numbers, BTW. Their practices are known as “concierge” medicine. The risk, of course is in needing to be hospitalized. At one time, when I was much, much younger such policies were available and used to be known as “major Medical” policies. But thanks to His imperial Lordship Obama these policies are now illegal.
You just have to love the government. They are always here to help us by depriving us of choices.
I believe it was Ronald Reagan who said:
“The most frightening words in the English language are –
‘Hello. I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you’.”
“At my job, I have a religious exemption for not taking the shot. They are actively looking for a way to reject my exemption.”
Since so many nominally Orthodox bishops have been undermining an Orthodox religious exemption, I’d advise everyone to switch to something simple like:
I, [Name Here], declare religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, I attest to having sincerely held personal religious beliefs which will not permit me to abide by this mandate. Additionally, I am not willing to describe these personal religious beliefs for the reasonable fear that if others have knowledge of them it may engender discrimination against me and/or my family. I also expect this letter to remain confidential, and its contents to only be known to those for whom there is an express need.
Well written – and well thought out.
Mikhail-
My husband, a civil engineer, had an “essential” job in the mining industry. The mines virtually shut down, his employer lost work, and laid off people due to the effects of Covid on their business bottom line. When looking for health insurance to replace COBRA (boy was that expensive!) we were denied access to ACA plans (we had no income) and pushed over to the state sponsored insurance who effectively denied us (we made too much income already for the year) and the catastrophic policies available would cause financial catastrophe for us due to their rates. We wound up joining the medical sharing plan of Samaritan Ministries. I haven’t had to use it, and I’m concerned about hospital costs should we need a visit. However I’m also looking to improve my health myself and family more than ever before, pray for others in their trials more, and seriously try to look to God to supply all our needs. Some days are scary…we still have two kids at home. My husband is now self employed and God has amply supplied all our financial needs. We may have severely lean times ahead, but that will not mean God has left us. I hope you will have courage in this time ahead as you navigate what appear to be hard choices all around.
Thank you KMaria,
There will be difficult days ahead for sure. I would not fret too much about health insurance if it were not for the fact that my wife has many health issues and takes many different meds. But we trust in God wherever He may lead us.
KMaria, during the last couple of years of sporadic employment, I too was on Samaritan Ministries healthshare program. I highly recommend it. The secret to it is that you tell whatever healthcare provider you go to that you’re on it and usually this makes many inclined to give you a discount since you’re paying up-front.
KMaria, my family lost our health insurance in 2012 due to the requirements imposed on insurance covderage by Obamacare. I was not interested in signing up for Obamacare because although they insisted abortions were not paid for, they were, so we signed up for Samaritan and we have been there ever since.
In late 2017, I fell down a flight of 14 steps. I ended up in the ER with head injuries and came away with thousands of dollars of medical expenses. I paid only $300, and my fellow Samaritans paid all the rest.
Even if I were to have a medical event that costs as much as $250,000, I will still only have to pay the first $300. I can’t think of a good reason to go back to the old way of doing things.
Bishop George sounds like my kinda bishop. AXIOS!
Having said that let us also applaud Archbishop Broglio’s procedural victory.
The DEVOLUTION of covid vaccine efficacy
https://www.brighteon.com/3ea4b0ea-be58-405e-ba9b-1c684d97b5d8
[Video – 02:11]
Class… 🙂
“Highly effective.” Ha! All the lies. But the SCIENCE…oh the Science! Yes, we were all supposed to believe the science! They were just so sure about the science! They just “knew” – and still know – almost NOTHING! And still the lies about their “science” continue even though the ‘science’ now proves they knew NOTHING – or next to nothing. They lied – pure and simple, and yet they just keep on lying.
And what is the latest ‘scientific’ narrative?
That booster shots will work? The ‘science’ proves it, after all. But wait! No, that is NOT the new narrative. But what is the new narrative?
That booster shots will keep you from contracting COVID? No not quite.
That booster shots will stop the spread? No not that either.
No, the new ‘scientific’ narrative is that they will “reduce” hospitalizations.
Trust the science!
TRU$T THE $CIENE
Speaking of ‘scientific’ narratives that refuse to die and create an alternate, non-existent ‘”reality” infused with self-satisfied smugness…
https://youtu.be/GukIoZ8d3Ew
Enjoy… or (for those of you who, like me, are on the verge of losing a 40-year career as a model employee over manifest lies) cry if you must. But hey, I can honestly say that this is first time in my life that I can recall actually having to suffer in a significant way for the truth and my Faith, so I will rejoice…and laugh.
Perfect! 🙂
Wow. I do recall now hearing something about an Orthodox community being created in Arizona. I think Fr. John Peck mentioned it. Are there requirements for being part of that community?
Report: HUNDREDS of Congressmen, Families, Staffers Received
Successful Ivermectin, Preventative Covid Care – Never Told Public!
https://www.newswars.com/report-hundreds-of-congressmen-families-staffers-received-successful-ivermectin-preventative-covid-care-never-told-public/
Dr Pierre Kory MD MPA:
” Fun fact: Between 100-200 United States Congress Members (plus many of their staffers & family members) with COVID.. were treated by a colleague over the past 15 months with ivermectin & the I-MASK+ protocol at http://flccc.net. None have gone to hospital. Just sayin’ “
K. Bogdanos: “The ban on the litany of St. Demetriou
is clearly a sign of discrimination against Christians “
https://www-pronews-gr.translate.goog/elliniki-politiki/1026088_k-mpogdanos-i-apagoreysi-tis-litaneias-toy-ag-dimitrioy-einai-xekathara?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui
‘ Konstantinos Bogdanos expressed his own view on the Muslim religious procession and gathering of illegal immigrants … emphasizing that it is discrimination against Christians.
Specifically, he stressed: “In Athens, another large Muslim religious procession and gathering was allowed. Therefore, according to the principle of equality, the announced ban on the participation of believers in the litany of St. Demetrius in Thessaloniki is a clear discrimination against Christians.” ‘
The war against Christ proceeds apace…
Video: Data Analyst proves Covid-19 Deaths increased
dramatically AFTER the Vaccine roll-out in over 40 countries
https://theexpose.uk/2021/10/18/covid-19-deaths-increased-dramatically-after-the-vaccine-roll-out-in-over-40-countries/
[Video – 01:
‘A quantitative data analyst has compiled data from Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center and published a video showing a dramatic spike in alleged Covid-19 deaths after the introduction of the experimental Covid-19 injections in over forty different countries.
Back in February we highlighted how care home deaths allegedly due to Covid-19 had increased by 240% between January 10th and January 29th 2021, despite 95% of all care home residents having been vaccinated by January 27th. … ‘
Statistics may lie.
Raw numbers, not so much…
Sorry…
[Video – 01:57]
Interview with Archbishop Vigano:
“Vaccine Victims are Sacrificed at the Altar of Moloch”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/10/no_author/archbishop-vigano-vaccine-victims-are-sacrificed-at-the-altar-of-moloch/
[Video – 01:26:02]
We need Orthodox bishops to speak like this…
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I don’t know who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
Well, lookie here:
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2021/11/04/italy-reduces-covid-19-deaths-by-a-whopping-97-n1529706
Here’s the nub of it: Italy, which was Ground Zero last year for the ‘Rona, has now DRASTICALLY reduced the number of deaths due to the virus.
I guess we can file this under “Someone owes Gail another apology”. Hysteria is not a good way to run a society.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/italian-institute-health-drastically-reduces-its-official-covid-death-toll-number
Turns out Italy (and everyone else, no doubt) has been radically overreporting Covid deaths.
It was all a hoax folks. Every last bit of it. China flu, not particularly dangerous unless you are old (like the regular flu) gets blown out of all proportion to facilitate political objectives, development of a police state and BigPharma payday.
Pure unadulterated bs.