I realize I sound like a broken record. I also realize that I may even sound like a reactionary, every now and then. But Margaret Thatcher answered that question thusly back in 1975: “Well Sir, there’s a lot to react against“.
There is a lot to react against, isn’t there?
You all know by now that my initial take on the whole Confederate statue thing of the last five years was essentially that it was not going to be the end. Like President Trump, I predicted that they would eventually come after the statues of Northern heroes and even Abraham Lincoln. Little did I realize that they would go after the Founding Fathers, noted abolitionists, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill and Miguel de Cervantes.
And darn you, Nikki Haley, for unleashing these demons when you took down the Rebel Flag from the state capitol in South Carolina. Regardless, this is where we are. Now, for the first time, all the sophisticated liberals on CNN, who never thought these demoniacs would go this far, and the cuckservatives over at National Review Online who agreed with them because “Confederacy bad,” are welcome to eat their plate of crow. (And it doesn’t taste just like chicken.)
How many more glowing profiles are we going to see about Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt over at National Review Online now that they, too, have been thrown on the ash-heap of history? Are the “right wingers” over at NRO or The Bulwark going to risk a visit by the Red Guards of the current Cultural Revolution?
It’s all ashes, isn’t it? Your precious little “principles” are dust. Nobody in this violent environment gives a damn. You wouldn’t stand up for Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson, so now they’ve demolishing your icons, thank you very much. How does it feel? Are you happy?
Because we’re way past the hatred of all that is America. It’s about Jesus, His Mother and the saints now. It’s nothing less than iconoclasm. The theomachy that informed the Bolshevik Revolution is the same theomachy that is going on right now.
Below, you will find a very informative video from Dr Taylor Marshall in which he lays it all out on the line. I highly suggest you watch it. It not only explains the present crisis, but gets into the nuts-and-bolts of the first Iconoclastic heresy in Byzantium. (It also presents a good exposition on why the sacred images do not violate the Second Commandment):
Too much Latin(ism), George!,
Anyway, I know you mean well. Yeah, he’s right. When you can’t look to icons of the past you have abandoned any sense of tradition and are in the throes of experiential heresy. “However we react through the passions and our twisted ideology is fine.” That’s the standard if you don’t set something down. God became man so that man might become divine. It actually happened. The Cross is our weapon against the passions. It is sacrifice for the sake of holiness. Without these understandings, we either kill or die in Auschwitz or the Gulag, take your pick.
What is a mob without passions?
?Excellent info video – do Not watch television for 5 years now, so your blog is appreciated G&G. ?
Just want to say SHAME on Bishop Barron —
It was long ago I watched EWTN Catholic Bishop Robert Barron + terribly disappointed at his cowardly response to Statues torn down, especially of Christ!
Why so many clergy lacking manliness??
Here we go! Archbishop Woke wants to ‘rethink’ Jesus. And it begins…https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/06/27/archbishop-of-canterbury-urges-us-to-rethink-white-jesus/
Leave it to an Anglican, those who steal our icons yet reject our councils.
How does he know Jesus wasn’t white? I’ve read convincing arguments that 1st century Galileans were actually white (or white-passing, by modern standards). The levantine features may have come in after Arab conquests.
I’m going with the witness of the Orthodox Church’s ancient iconography. Check out the early catacomb art. People who lived at the time knew what Galileans looked like.
What I can guarantee is that Christ did not look like that stupid-faced CGI “reconstruction” (based on no data) that Popular Mechanics did in 2002.
?So ridiculous this White trashing narrative; it’s transparently seething jealousy over Whites proving to reign ‘supreme’ cause they’re behind 90% of world inventions, … it must rattle Blacks + non-Whites to look around + acknowledge practically EVERYTHING they have + make use of is courtesy of the despised White Man’s brilliant inventions:
the cars they drive; their telephone, electricity, their smartphones, computers, films, cameras, stoves, fridges, AC, airplanes, their language, their education; the great Philosophers, Scientists, Artists, Saints, medical breakthroughs — all this + more, but most of all: Whitey gave the non-White world a thing called Civilization… it’s why entire planet flocks to be near “Whitey”.
P.S.
read newly canonized Orthodox Saint Paisios biography – by Isak — Elder Paisios describes seeing Jesus face to face, he’s White.
OR read book on Near Death Experience of young boy named Todd Burpo – it’s called: Heaven Is For Real – well that young boy describes Jesus as White
and basketball
Yea basketball! ?
Sage Girl you are wrong. Even if you are factually correct, it is irrelevant. God became Man, i.e., He became human, of the dirt. That includes all human beings: women, men, children, black, white, yellow and red.
To think, imply or say anything else is a sin.
God forgive me.
The color of Jesus does not matter, nor the color of anyone we come into contact with. We ALL are the face of Jesus, and sin is colorless.
His Resurrection is all that matters.
Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe I am He, you will die in your sins.(John 8:24)
Christ is Risen! Truly Risen!
Dino,
exactly – the color of Jesus doesn’t matter but it DOES to non-Whites who want to desecrate our statues + icons — It offends they’re vanity … these are Not seekers of Truth — rest of us are simply defending Truth.
Revisionist history garbage is sinful cause it’s against the Truth — like bible says: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”
Agreed Sage,
Please read my post to George. (Bingo)And if I may add, Trump has opened America’s Pandora’s box. There is nothing left to second guess.?
Dino, agreed. Talcum X is merely trying to throw us into another distraction in order to further divide us. Therefore he is a servitor of Satan.
Bingo! George!
Now all clear minded Christians can take a deep breath, and realize all this is NOT about race, and remove all/any white guilt that is thrown at us, and that we may feel. The demons have played their hands much too quickly. Now with clear conscience we must stand for truth, and not allow typical Leftist Americana hysteria overcome us, and Force us yet again, hide for cover. They will never quit with the ‘Three card Monte’ mindf—k on America.
As usual the fake ‘new’ rules will only apply to us. We are Finally being forced to stand up and face this evil for a reason. This why why God has allowed all this to happen so quickly. Force leftist to play by their own rules first, and watch the back stepping double talk. They can start by giving up their armed security detail to defunded police states and tear down the walls to their homes, and allowing all released prisoners in their homes. Not off the backs of tax paying people of color.
Michael,
You’re right in the sense you are meaning. Christ came to deify all people regardless of race. Sage Girl does have a point in that white European civilization has been remarkably more advanced and productive than sub-Saharan African. It’s just a fact. And I’m sure it does get on blacks’ nerves. But blacks have contributed to human civilization as well. It’s a proportionality thing. Some cultures are better at certain things than others. We need not deny that. Blacks gave us blues music. For that alone they get a thumbs up from me.
We are discrimophobic and tend to want to not see things that make us uncomfortable. My old German professor used to joke that you could tell when you were passing by car or train from France into Germany because everything got cleaner. Germans scrub the rocks lining their driveways. It’s just a cultural thing.
We can love everyone and still face reality. We just shouldn’t be mean about it or denigrate anyone’s humanity.
True, its a complex topic. In fact the black civilizations that did the best had connections with European civilizations, or ancient Egypt like Nuba did. Ancient Egyptians DNA is closer to Arab or Jewish people than modern black Africans. Thomas Sowell, thinks that the geography and climate of much of Africa lead to being slower in Civilization development. Northern Africa from Egypt to Morocco was more advance. its similar to Appalachian whites that lived in Hilly country where its harder to develop other industries besides coal.
Yes, and many inventions have also proven detrimental to the soul and made life more complicated. Inventions are a worldly achievement, not a spiritual one.
Indeed!
Misha, well said…
yes, I too like Blues music ? + acknowledge talented Blacks contributed to … that was a better time; my uncle was a musicologist + played all kinds of old time music; ? those Black artists couldn’t deal today with hostile rap Muzak .
I’ve had friends, conservative spiritual Blacks from Jamaica + Africa; let me tell ya, they’re embarrassed by American Blacks endless hostility.
It’s All thanks to Leftist propaganda — to leave our country in state of anarchy
“Even if you are factually correct… it’s a sin”
Sorry, what?
To deny that the Lord had a specific historical appearance is borderline iconoclasm. We depict Him as we do, because that’s what He looked like. So it is quite relevant and not sinful.
Wrong about what in particular?
Its a given that Jesus came for everyone – but not everyone has capacity to receive Him!
Some choose to demonically defy Him
Of course the most important thing is that God became man, and in becoming Adam he became the progenitor of the new humanity in Christ’s Blood.
But he became a particular man. We don’t “localize” icons like RCs do, giving a black Jesus to Africans, an Oriental Jesus to Asians, and a blond Jesus to Scandinavians. That would be heresy and a denial of the historic fact of the incarnation. Jesus had an ethnicity and that was part of his humanity.
That does not mean he elevated his ethnicity above others, but neither does it mean ethnicity is meaningless. God created the nations unique; if we were all meant to be the same, we would be. In fact, I would say the leftist genocidal fetish of destroying the races and bringing about a worldwide beige humanity is an affront to the creativity of God, a chiliastic ethnic tower of babel.
Sidebar: The skin color thing is kind of a canard anyway. It’s not just a different paint color, it’s a proxy for a host of matters that typically correlate with skin color. Not in every case, but the human mind and mammalian survival instinct is created to categorize.
Well said, Michael, bravo!
In other words, the real and eternal value of Man is his Soul and not the color of his thin skin!
“If you prick me, do I not bleed”
A historical horror story: the doctor who developed the method and protocols for blood transfusions, Charles Richard Drew died in a car accident. He died because he was denied a transfusion since he was black and all they had was “white” blood.
For all of the creative anachronism about the South that goes on here, that is the cruel reality of slavery and Jim Crow.
“Despite a popular myth to the contrary, once repeated on an episode (“Dear Dad… Three“) of the hit TV series M*A*S*H, Drew’s death was not the result of his having been refused a blood transfusion because of his skin color.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_R._Drew
The only ones who are promoting Jim Crow are BLM and leftist allies. Except they call them “safe spaces” today.
From wiki: “Despite a popular myth to the contrary, once repeated on an episode (“Dear Dad… Three“) of the hit TV series M*A*S*H, Drew’s death was not the result of his having been refused a blood transfusion because of his skin color. This myth spread very quickly since during his time it was very common for blacks to be refused treatment because there were not enough “Negro beds” available or the nearest hospital only serviced whites. In truth, according to one of the passengers in Drew’s car, John Ford, Drew’s injuries were so severe that virtually nothing could have been done to save him. Ford added that a blood transfusion might have actually killed Drew sooner.[
“the doctor who developed the method and protocols for blood transfusions, Charles Richard Drew”
Uh, no he didn’t, he headed some pilot program for sending US blood to the UK in 1940. Blood transfusion dates back to at least 1818, long before Dr. Drew was born 1904.
“He died because he was denied a transfusion since he was black and all they had was ‘white’ blood.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_R._Drew
Despite a popular myth to the contrary, once repeated on an episode (“Dear Dad… Three“) of the hit TV series M*A*S*H, Drew’s death was not the result of his having been refused a blood transfusion because of his skin color. […] In truth, according to one of the passengers in Drew’s car, John Ford, Drew’s injuries were so severe that virtually nothing could have been done to save him. Ford added that a blood transfusion might have actually killed Drew sooner.
[21][22][23]
“For all of the creative anachronism about the South that goes on here, that is the cruel reality of slavery and Jim Crow.”
You should stop reading and spreading revionist, Black Supremacist, blood-libels used to justify the current racist oppression of non blacks in education and employment, racially motivated “hate crimes” against whites (almost the only “hate crimes” that ever happen, but never prosecuted), and ultimately the open calls for white genocide from within the education system, all the way to the most elite universities, in the here and now.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/cambridge-university-defends-promotes-academic-after-racist-tweets-removed-twitter
An interesting point is that the Christians, Alawites and (maybe) the Druze in the Levant are generally much lighter than the Muslims out there, having probably retained much more of the original ethnic features of the region.
Assad and his family, for example, are extremely light-skinned.
Basil, irrelevant, immaterial.
Let us not forget that many of our own bishops, (the modern day Iconoclasts), mandated that Icons must not be kissed or touched because of the Chinese flu.
Eternally ignorant, or is it deliberately ignorant woksters (such as the “archbishop”) ignore the many icons such as these. Doesn’t fit their agenda.
http://www.newdesignfile.com/post_black-russian-icons-jesus_345103/
These people claim that every noteworthy person in history was black.
?Don’t forget, what Satan does best?
stir up confusion — chaos — lies
We Wuz Jesus.
It’s deliberate indeed….it’s a high jacking;
truth is, I’ve read that old icons became darker simply cause of candles ? lit under them so often they darkened .
History is under attack — I remember reading a great Sufi mystic had said:
“ In this world, the Truth is not allowed”
Well, there changing names. The Democrats of Orange County want to get rid of John Wayne Airport because he said some racist statements in the early 1970’s. They want the airport to be called Orange County. Its not just statues, but one of people’s favorite western actor. Its similar to if the right want against John Wayne because he was a heavy drinker. Everyone has to be perfect.
No, not perfect. Just not white.
If it could be scientifically proven that Jesus was white, he would be gone too. For now they’re just stopping at white depictions of Jesus.
“For now they’re just stopping at white depictions of Jesus.”
They won’t stop at that, Christianity will be found to irredeemably white and inherently racist, so it must be suppressed. The only acceptable “Jesus” will be the Muslim one, and anyone wanting to continue honoring “Jesus” in a legal way will be told to convert to Islam.
I give the name “Orange” County Airport a lifespan of three days before protests begin, and they are forced to change the signs once again. The county itself will have to be renamed. Too many associations.
The left’s problem is with the Jesus paintings or statues that were more white European. We all know that Jesus was a little darker since he was Jewish but not a black man like some in the left believe. The problem is that many statues or paintings or icons or Jesus are based upon the culture. In Europe Jesus is lighter in Sweden than Greece in this representations. The left doesn’t get tis.
Cynthia- part of the problem is many Americans especially the amero-blacks and even the clown of Canterbury have no clue that most middleeasterners are white!. For example I have family from Cyprus which is a middle eastern country in fact the only one that did not adopt the language of their conquerers (Arabic and later Turkish). People argue with them that middleeasterners are not white not realizing they are arguing with true middleeasterners because their white!. On YouTube there is a channel called AssyrianEasternOrthodox. There is Aramaic chant with members of a choir of Iran. (The members are the Assyrians brought into the ROC before the revolution . Not only are they white one is a Persian redhead!. Just like Malcolm X they think the white race ends in Italy! Regardless we recognize the image of Christ in his icon . Does not matter if it’s Baroque influenced or Byzantine or Coptic or Ethiopian all who see these icons recognize the one and same Christ
A lot of people are emotionally cowered because of slavery and segregation. We MUST get over that. It poisons everything.
Look, here’s how it really is underneath all the bs:
If you measure intelligence, honestly, you will find a racial hierarchy. Asians chime in at about 104 average IQ. Whites at 100. Latinos in the mid-90’s. Blacks in the mid 80’s. This is from the Bell Curve study which has really never been refuted.
What does that mean?
It does NOT mean that any given white is more intelligent than any given black or person of another race. We are talking about averages here.
What it does mean is that in the historical development of the races, in terms of technology and intellectual achievement, whites have excelled. It is the difference between modern America and Central Africa.
Now, I love black people. And latinos. And asians. It’s not about dignity but about relative accomplishment and the results of that. We should reaffirm the dignity of all people. But that does not change their respective capabilities in aggregate.
It’s a dicey, difficult issue because reality and idealism collide. And we’re dealing with human beings whose sense of self worth is a precious, even holy, matter. But we have to be real about it even though it is difficult.
Love is all important. But love should not be dishonest.
The thing is that blacks could not have done what we have done here in America in Central Africa. It was beyond them. That’s not racist, that’s factual, historical reality. And for many, it’s a hard pill to swallow. But that’s the real “conversation” we should be having here in America with blacks.
On the other hand’ we could not have done what we did here without Indian math and science transmitted through Arabs. As a historian, and a teacher who is very skeptical of the value of IQ tests, I would argue that Europe achieved what it achieved because it was a small place with a lot of competition between nascent nation states and access to the cultural heritage of India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. European States were driven to excel in technology because to fail to do so meant that your neighbor would likely absorb you. This intense competition with access to so much math and a knowledge from preceding cultures led to tho single greatest volkenwandering ever seen as Europeans settled the Western Hemisphere, Siberia, The Russian Far East, Southern Africa, and Australia. This competition didn’t create genetically smarter people, it created cultures that valued education and knowledge more than others. Asians score high because the tigermom is a stereotype for a good reason.
?Surprise! AB Elpi stood up for a Greek Orthodox man killed by police…
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Will Cover George Zapantis Funeral Expenses
The National Herald Archive
Archbishop Elpidophoros during the Orthros Service at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral San Francisco, California. (Photo by GOA/ Kostas Petrakos)
28/6/2020
Matina Demeli
NEW YORK- His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America has directed the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to cover the expenses of the late, 29-year-old, George Zapantis. Mr. Zapantis died last week of cardiac arrest induced by excessive force used by NYPD officers, who tasered him twice, responding to the home of Mr. Zapantis due to reports of a sword being wielded.
In addition to covering the expenses, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros will also, personally, preside over funeral proceeds which will take place on Monday morning at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Whitestone, New York.
ARCHIVE – USA – GENERAL NEWS
As COVID-19 Cases Surge in US, Rural Areas Seeing Increases as Well
Αssociated Press
A Disney employee carries a Mickey Mouse doll during a drive-by protest to demand a safe reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic Saturday, June 27, 2020, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
28/6/2020
Αssociated Press
For many states and counties in the U.S., the dark days of the coronavirus pandemic in April unfolded on their television screens, not on their doorsteps. But now, some places that appeared to have avoided the worst are seeing surges of infections, as worries shift from major cities to rural areas.
While much of the focus of concerns that the United States is entering a dangerous new phase has been on big Sunbelt states that are reporting thousands of new cases a day — like Texas and Florida — the worrying trend is also happening in places like Kansas, where livestock outnumber people.
In early June, Kansas looked to be bringing its outbreak under control, but its daily reported case numbers have more than doubled in recent weeks. On June 5, the seven-day average for daily new cases hovered at around 96; by Friday, that figure was 211. As cases rise, the U.S. Army commander at Fort Riley in the state’s northeast ordered his soldiers to stay out of a popular nearby restaurant and bar district after 10 p.m.
Idaho and Oklahoma have seen similarly large percentage increases over the same three-week period, albeit from low starting points. In Oklahoma, the seven-day average for daily new cases climbed from about 81 to 376; Idaho’s jumped from around 40 to 160.
Many rural counties in states including California, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Texas and Florida have seen their confirmed cases more than double in a week, from June 19 to Friday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Lassen County, California, went from just nine cases to 172, and Hot Spring County, Arkansas, went from 46 cases to 415; both spikes were attributed to outbreaks at prisons. Cases in McDonald County, Missouri, more than tripled after Tyson Foods conducted facility-wide testing at a chicken plant there.
Missouri itself is seeing a worrying trend, and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas ordered employees and patrons of businesses to wear masks, when 6 feet (about 2 meters) of separation isn’t possible.
“Case numbers in Kansas City continue to rise, and we are taking all steps we can to ensure public health and safety,” the Democrat said Friday.
Across the state line, Kansas City, Kansas, and the county it’s in also decided to order masks be worn in public starting Tuesday.
But many politicians, even those in place with spiking cases, have been hesitant to issue such orders, as subject has become a political lightning rod, with Democrats more likely than Republicans to use them.
The daily number of confirmed infections in the U.S. surged to an all-time high of 45,300 on Friday, eclipsing the high of 40,000 set the previous day, according to Johns Hopkins.
The biggest spikes have been seen in the West and South. On Saturday, as officials announced that Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Florida would not include a planned bus tour, state health officials reported more than 9,500 new cases. That total eclipsed the previous day’s by more than 600.
Florida and Texas have both recently pulled back on their reopening plans in response to increasing cases. Nevada, meanwhile, reported Saturday that there were nearly 1,100 new confirmed cases in one day, a total that is nearly double the state’s previous single-day record.
While the rise in the U.S. partly reflects expanded testing, experts say there is ample evidence the scourge is making a comeback, including rising deaths and hospitalizations in parts of the country and higher percentages of virus tests coming back positive.
Deaths are running at about 600 per day, down from a peak of around 2,200 in mid-April. Some experts have expressed doubt that deaths will return to that level because of advances in treatment and because many infections are happening in younger adults, who are more likely than older ones to survive.
The virus is blamed for about 125,000 deaths and nearly 2.5 million confirmed infections in the U.S., by Johns Hopkins’ count. But health officials believe the true number of infections is about 10 times higher. Worldwide, the virus has claimed close to a half-million lives with nearly 10 million cases.
The resurgence in the U.S. has drawn concern from abroad. The European Union seems almost certain to bar Americans in the short term from entering the bloc, which is currently drawing up new travel rules, EU diplomats confirmed Saturday.
But the U.S. is not alone. German Chancellor Angela Merkel cautioned Saturday that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over. India reported more than 18,000 new cases, pushing its cumulative total over the half-million mark, the fourth highest globally behind the U.S., Brazil and Russia.
“The risk posed by the virus is still serious,” Merkel said. “It’s easy to forget because Germany has gotten through the crisis well so far, but that doesn’t mean we are protected.”
Elsewhere, Egypt and Britain said they would ease virus controls, while China and South Korea battled smaller outbreaks in their capitals.
Britain was expected to scrap a 14-day quarantine requirement for people returning from abroad in a bid to make summer vacation travel possible. Only travelers from “red” zones, places with a high level of COVID-19, will be told to self-isolate.
Egypt on Saturday lifted many restrictions put in place against the coronavirus pandemic, reopening cafes, clubs, gyms and theaters after more than three months of closure, despite a continued upward trend in new infections.
Authorities in other countries were taking a more cautious approach, with the Indian city of Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, announcing a new two-week lockdown starting Monday, with night curfews and weekend lockdowns in the rest of the state.
China saw an uptick in cases, one day after authorities said they expect an outbreak in Beijing to be brought under control in the near future. The National Health Commission reported 17 new cases in the nation’s capital, the most in a week, among 21 nationwide.
South Korea, where a resurgence in the past month threatens to erase the country’s earlier success, reported 51 new cases, including 35 in the Seoul metropolitan area.
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Iconoclasm comes in many forms. The ultimate iconoclasm is the desire to destroy and defame the image of God, i.e., humans. I believe it was someone here who observed that the masks of COVID create shame because they require us to hide our faces from each other. Shame leads to anger.
Several forms of iconoclasm: unisexism, racism of any type; animal rights; the whole cancel culture indeed the entire nihilistic demonic desire to destroy, denigrate and dispose of other human beings.
It is the spirit of the age. Declaring you are against the iconoclasm of those you ideologically opposed does
not mean you and I are not guilty of the same heretical, anti-Christian way of thinking.
As Solzhenitsyn warned: ideology is the new mask of iconoclasm.
It is not enough to decry the iconoclasm of the “other” when we fall into the same sin. As Solzhenitsyn also wrote in The Gulag Archipelago “The line dividing good and evil cuts through every human heart.”
If we are not willing to follow Jesus call: “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” then all is for naught no matter who wins politically. The demonic wins.
The current political climate is demonic no matter which “side” one chooses. We are becoming like ravening beasts in search of our prey.
God help us because politics will not.
So I say to myself and ALL who are tempted by the chimera that politics, any politics, will change or help: repent. Reject the devil’s offer of power and control as Jesus did: “Get thee behind me Satan!”
Perhaps this kind comes out only by prayer and fasting? How can I hope to do good in polity if I cannot even say no to a piece of food, an unkind thought, or judgement others?
The spirit of the age denies our God and the His Incarnation thus mocking the efficacy of corporate spiritual discipline.
Where are the calls from our hierarchy for prayer, fasting and alms giving without reference to race or ethic origin especially in our forced separation?
Where has my own heart been but looking only to protect myself?
May God forgive me, the sinner and shower each of you and all with mercy, grace and peace.
“The current political climate is demonic no matter which “side” one chooses.”
One “side” is unmistakenly Marxist. This cannot be ignored.
Misha, no it cannot and we should be prepared but that does not mean that there is any actual relief or protection in the other “side”. The secular mind hates those who follow God, especially those who love Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Therefore we should also prepare to be persecuted by government in any case. It may come more quickly if the demonocrats win but it will come. The readiness is all. Mostly it hurts my heart that so many here who I know to be fine and faithful people are giving up their peace to political and ideological passions that bring no lasting fruit.
God forgive is all.
“…that does not mean that there is any actual relief or protection in the other “side”.”
I take solace in the fact that the other “side” did not take God out of their political platform by a verbal vote. And they still defend the life of the child in the womb. It is not all black and white, Michael. Even though we do not live of this world…we still live in this world. Both sides are certainly secularized, but one “side” still has a semblance of morality…and the other “side” is Antichrist.
That’s certainly true.
Michael Bauman:
your so naive — be a Realist — that “side” ? Sir, it’s plain as day that “side” that’s burning down the town, looting stores, calling out for police to be murdered IS courtesy of Liberal Left agenda … wake up.
Yea we know Jesus came for “Everyone” — BUT Not everyone receives Him!Many reject Jesus + choose Satan — and Satan is leader of Leftist party…
Sage Girl, but it has literally nothing to do with race despite the racial trappings of white vs black. The ‘race’ component is a trap which you not only fall into but run into with great abandon.
If everyone received Him, there would be no Cross.
So, how are we to treat our enemies in light of the Cross even without Jesus’ explicit instruction to love them?
“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?
Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?
…
The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If…if…We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation…. We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.” ― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn , The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
Chris, thank you for the ‘Paul Harvey’ moment–giving us the “rest of the story”.
Here is another: I watched a Protestant faith based movie “Grace of God” last night with my wife. It was extremely heavy handed, based on bad theology with barely adequate acting and direction. Entirely forgettable except for one thing at the very end. The theme was about being a thief and seeking Jesus forgiveness and redemption through Him. At the very end, however, the pastor character concentrated on the Eighth Commandment: Thou shalt not steal. He read it and then said that the commandment not only prohibited the taking of things, ideas and time big and small but also affirmed private property. That is where the movie ended.
God blesses private property even as He commands us to give it away and use it for others and to Him as an offering. It is quite literally part of us not to be violated.
But, I suppose many here already knew that.
Iconoclasm has always manifested in property crimes. Certainly it is the bed rock of Marxism that there is no such thing. Yet even in Marxist countries, there are laws against stealing. Interesting.
Speaking of iconoclasm, Mississippi Republicans are tripping over one another in the race to be the biggest cuckhold, as they advance a bill to remove the venerable Star Spangled Cross of St. Andrew from their state flag.
Some years ago Georgia succumbed to the same mental deficiency and redesigned their state flag, but in a massive troll, they managed to replace the Confederate Battle Flag with the First National Confederate Flag, which apparently is fine. So not all Confederate flags are naughty, just the scary “X” one from the Dukes of Hazzard.
LOL. There is nothing at all wrong with the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Well, it’s over. The Mississippi legislature passed a bill (on the Sabbath day of rest!) immediately canceling the state flag and the governor said he would sign it, so it’s done. Farewell Confederate flag, 1861-2020.
Cucks all around. These are the people who want to be reelected to save America. The can’t even save a flag. Conservatives conserve nothing.
I’m gonna speak up, once, about the Confederate flag.
The Old South was a mini-civilization. The fact that it was bottomed on slavery is problematic for those descended from slaves, but not necessarily for whites. By mini-civilization, I mean that Southern society was educated and chivalrous. It was a way of life that, though not as pristine as the depictions which have survived, was a deeply graceful and natural expression of Americana.
Slavery came naturally to white Americans in that it was a system inherited from the British and for the most part morally unexceptional during the period of the Founding and first half of the nineteenth century. Blacks had been either captured or bought from their own people who also practiced slavery and brought here for agricultural labor. The system was predicated on biblical slavery. Under the Law of Moses, foreign slaves were enslaved for life, Hebrew slaves only served a term of years. White servitude was called “indentured servitude” and was also practiced, mostly as types of apprenticeships.
St. John Chrysostom saw slavery as a positive good for both master and servant. Among the Fathers, only St. Gregory of Nyssa objected to involuntary servitude, hardly a catholic consensus.
And Southern people were careful to trace their ideas about slavery and race to the bible as well. I heard as much growing up from my older Baptist relatives.
I write this not to justify the re-imposition of slavery. Perish the thought. We have enough problems already. As society moved from agrarian to industrial, slavery became obsolete. That is actually how it passed, all illusions to the contrary notwithstanding. Most Northern whites did not have any higher opinion of blacks than did Southerners.
The Confederate flag is not reminiscing about slavery or asserting white supremacy, although it has been used for that purpose. The Confederate flag is nostalgia for a noble society which passed into the annals yet left virtues in its wake. Duty, honor, service, chivalry, nationalism, piety, etc. That is what the battle flag represents to Southern whites.
It is a shame that they are being cowered into removing it. It will not be the last thing the mob demands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM
“As society moved from agrarian to industrial, slavery became obsolete.”
No, slavery just became different.
A great song. A great saga.
??Ya know GM,
tried to attach old Confederate flag here, but it’s not to be seen in list on my iPhone 11 —
but they DO include Gay rainbow ? flag .
Ugh, bad enough gays have contaminated English Language by destroying the happy word “gay” – it’s no longer about joyfulness but abomination — even symbol of a rainbow is sullied
Dear Sage-Girl ~
I too love the rainbow and refuse to let the recent meaning #2 obliterate our meaning number 1! Which was from the earliest days, right??? So we definitely have the Biblical high ground on all counts! Plus they are just beautiful. So please don’t let anyone spoil it for you; join me in reclaiming the rainbow’s original significance, intent, purity, and beauty. I use ? ? ?✨ to denote most joyously the Art of God!
?☦️
Nicole
Oh jolly good Nicole! ??
Onwards, we shall preserve our Rainbow image pure + pristine … + the Rainbow word, forever undefiled
The rainbow is a sign that God will never again send a flood upon the earth. Saint Peter reminds us in his epistle that next time it will be fire. That’s what the rainbow flag means to me. I like to remind the queers of that when they get uppity.
I went to the June 28 Sunday evening Vigil before the Saints Peter & Paul feast day at St Seraphim in Dallas this evening. Just as the Priest got to the Gospel reading, there was a terrible noise outside, l thought there was a car crash and screaming! I patiently waited for the Gospel reading to finish, and then peeked out the front door with a couple of others, and saw thousands of protesters marching down Wycliff street in front of the church, waving rainbow flags and BLM signs, and screaming angry obscenities! The Deacon locked the church doors and the service continued. They continued marching down the street, going west, and did not stop to attack the church itself, but it was a very uncomfortable moment. The parking lot was blocked by the crowd in the street and I was reminded of the many stories of martyrs attacked in the middle of a church service by a mob of barbarians.Thank God it stayed peaceful and they went on their way, but I’ve seen too many videos lately of these protests turning into rioting and violence – and specifically targeting churches and images of saints and heroes!In this video you can see the protesters going West down Wycliff Avenue in front of St Seraphim church at the 1:50:00 mark. The camera guy doesn’t show the church however, he has is back to it and pointing at the street. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=2644146395852214&ref=watch_permalink
Oh, my gosh! How terrifying.
Whoa. I guess we can chalk this one up to being a “mostly peaceful” protest?
Gail,
AR-15’s are looking pretty handy these days. Even a 5 foot women can stand up to any man not matter how large. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/29/watch-st-louis-couple-uses-ar-15-pistol-to-defend-home-from-protesters/Notice not one of those “protesters”(rioters), got in their face?
I wouldn’t know, Dino. I am not a gun person.
Dino, don’t let her fool you. I took her to the gun range and she acquitted herself quite well.
Granted, not many are really a “gun person” until they need to be, and Gail seems like she could hold her own, if she had to. Only good from all this looting without police protection, is gun rights are here to stay.
On a separate note; and I could be wrong, but I heard that couple was identified by the mob police, doxed, and made to make a fear based apology/support statement to/for BLM. Crazy and dangerous days we live in.
I never understood why Americans must always become hysterical, and overblown in reaction to whatever the new movement, cause, or fear we face as a collective nation. We always seem to shoot ourselves in the foot, and then when a new hysteria comes, it’s as if the previous crisis never happen, yet our Government seem to print out 10 trillion dollars with each “crisis”. Are you not seeing a trend here, with one spending “crisis” after another? A bit cynical but I am starting to get on board with Mr. Nolte:https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/22/nolte-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-deficit-spending/
Also as to trusting our government, and “experts”:https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&cx=partner-pub-9229289037503472:6795176714&q=https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/07/nolte-dr-fauci-either-liar-fraud/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjolvyJkKjqAhUIQ80KHVYLBJo4CBAWMAB6BAgDEAE&usg=AOvVaw0DDi8HRurnUmYHiwfCCTWO
https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2019/09/20/nolte-climate-experts-are-0-41-with-their-doomsday-predictions/
Interestingly, we are now finding out that this couple are liberal BLM supporters.
I think they might change their mind now, though.
Yes, people need to learn that virtue signaling is not going to save them.
After the hair-raising prologue of your post, I clicked on the video with some trepidation. Is that the correct video? I skipped around it including at the time indicated and couldn’t anything that would raise the old heart rate, much less trigger an adrenaline rush. Glance out the window and turn up the volume on the television for a couple minutes, perhaps.
It’s funny Dino, last year if I had said that bishops would be closing churches and we’d be cowering in our homes, people would have thought we were insane.
You’re right: silver lining is gun rights are secure for another generation. This is nothing less than a national trauma on a par with the Great Depression, with equally lasting psychic effects.
Guns? Yeah: so what?
George,
Not really another silver lining, but after 2020 “crisis” we of this generation and century, now know first hand what many last century of our grandparents generation knew or if not, found out the hard way; When the s–t hits the fan, don’t put all your chips on clergy, and be very careful what thoughts, and plans you share with them. Many Christians in the Soviet Union, and Turkey learned this lesson the hard way. Both sides of my grandparents learned this lesson in the Soviet Union, and Turkey. The Monasteries will be our last refuge spiritually, but push come to shove, all we have is family, and God to trust in.
Forgive me, Flavius, but this extremely offensive video is nowhere to be found. Rest assured that I will keep on trying.
check it now.
Some of these recent comments (white folk created civilization, white folk created most things, and the like) to me, are very disturbing. Why? Cuz it has nothing to do with the gospel we’re called to live and preach. Some of you can debate about which race or culture is the best. Been there, seen that. I’m not interested in revisiting it here or anywhere else. Surely there must be a church that doesn’t place one race over another due to current social situations, or a church that doesn’t put ethnicity before all else. Sigh…
No one is debating which race or culture is best and in framing the discussion this way, you are obfuscating the issues by attributing everything you deem negative as “church,” meaning our Church. Not amused.
wwc, you are obfuscating. This is not an alt.right blog and speaking for myself, I’m not a racialist. I am an amateur historian however. The civilization which birthed this country was Europe. That’s all.
All the racism is on the BLM side. It is in fact a complete repudiation of what MLK taught, isn’t it? If Arb Elpi wants to stand with these anti-Christian jokers, that’s on him. We have critiqued this stance because he doesn’t see the anti-Christianity of Marxism nor the iconoclasm which is engulfing our cities.
Please read Philhellene’s comment about the mob that assembled outside of St Seraphim’s Cathedral last night during Vespers.
So, was it the baby carriages, the lady handing out water, or the rainbow flags that made your knees buckle? You remind me of Lindsey Graham when he has a case of the vapors! You can dish it out but boy, you sure can’t take it. Move to Russia if you’re so Putin happy… except he put out hits on American GIs. Inconvenient….
What exactly are you talking about? I was responding to a post by referencing a comment that Philhellene said about the massive protest march that was taking place on Wycliffe Ave, right outside St Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas. I saw nothing in Philhellene’s statement about the things you are talking about.
References to the contrary, please.
P.S. as for the now completely discredited story regarding the alleged bounties put on the heads of American soldiers by Putin, you will be disappointed with that hoax as well. For the record, only two (2) American soldiers have been killed this year in Afghanistan. I’d say that the if true, the Russkies are not getting their money’s worth.
P.S.S. there is another possibility however that better explains the monies coming from Russia into Afghan banks, and that is dependent upon the fact that Afghanistan is the largest producer of poppy seed in the world. That’s where we get opium from in case you didn’t know.
Referring to the video you both referenced … I actually watched it. If that kind of a peaceful, legal demonstration of Constitutional rights sends you shivering into the basement, you need some psych help. But this site seems to love riling folks up with fear and bitter nostalgia about what you think you’ve lost because America has changed in ways you regret.
p.s. Just because Trump thinks it’s a hoax, don’t be so sure — wouldn’t that be a kick in the gut if he ignored it or just plain disbelieved it and it turns out to be true.
What exactly are you talking about? I was responding to a post by referencing a comment that Philhellene said about the massive protest march that was taking place on Wycliffe Ave, right outside St Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas. I saw nothing in Philhellene’s statement about the things you are talking about.
References to the contrary, please.
God forbid citizens exercise their constitutional rights…. “did not stop to attack the church?????” Take a breath and calm down…. And take your “remnant theology” of Christians as an oppressed minority under the heel of the coming antichrist back into a pre-millennial rapture community where it belongs….
Philhellene in (his?) own words….
“there was a terrible noise outside, l thought there was a car crash and screaming! I patiently waited for the Gospel reading to finish, and then peeked out the front door with a couple of others, and saw thousands of protesters marching down Wycliff street in front of the church, waving rainbow flags and BLM signs, and screaming angry obscenities! The Deacon locked the church doors and the service continued. They continued marching down the street, going west, and did not stop to attack the church itself, but it was a very uncomfortable moment. The parking lot was blocked by the crowd in the street and I was reminded of the many stories of martyrs attacked in the middle of a church service by a mob of barbarians.”
” And take your ‘remnant theology’ of Christians as an oppressed minority under the heel of the coming antichrist back into a pre-millennial rapture community where it belongs….”
I think you have a problem with the book of Revelation in general. What Orthodox sources are you reading that don’t have “Christians as an oppressed minority under the heels of the coming antichrist”?
Monosnowflake :
Those degenerate Rainbow flags do not belong in an Orthodox country like Russia.
Why don’t you move to Siberia, try selling your drivel there?
Just because we’re Orthodox Christians, it doesn’t mean that we can’t discuss these things. These are real and (increasingly) relevant subjects, as well as of historical interest. Just as long as we don’t fetishize, idolize, or absolutize such issues, then it’s not a problem.
The Gospel says nothing about sports, but I recall at least one baseball thread on this blog. Let’s not piety police one another.
wwcaterson, it is not the Church. Not at all. That is exactly my point. Gail is right. Your conclusion is wrong.
Thanks for everyone’s input regarding my last post. I will reconsider. Until then, I’m bowing out of the blog for now. Godspeed, everyone! (And I mean that!)
When anyone is disturbed or saddened under the pretext of a good and soul-profiting matter, and is angered against his neighbor, it is evident that this is not according to God: for everything that is of God is peaceful and useful and leads a man to humility and to judging himself.
St. Barsanuphus, the Great
Source: Website of Holy Apostles Orthodox Christian Church, Bixby, OK.
The latest UK madness
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8473935/St-Albans-Cathedral-places-painting-Supper-black-Jesus-altar.html
So when will they be advocating depicting a “Black Jesus” as the bloody, scourged corpse of a dead Jew, hanging on the Cross? After all, this event — the crucifixion and the conquering of death — was the end of History and the salvation of all mankind. It’s what our Christian faith is based on.
Interesting that no one is clamoring for “Black Jesus” to be depicted as this bloody, dead Jew on the Cross. Shows that so much of what passes for “Christianity” is not “Christianity” at all. It is the evil one masquerading as “good.” If the focus is not on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, then it is not Christianity at all.
As a wise priest told me once — and I am eternally grateful for this wisdom — “the ONLY way to approach God is through the Cross.” Sham Christians supporting “BLM” most certainly do not believe that the only way to approach God is through the Cross.
FTS,
allow me to highlight your words:
“If the focus is not on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, then it is not Christianity at all.”
Ioannis:
better said! ? Thank you
Scotland is falling…
Here is an opinion piece from today’s Glasgow Herald:
‘Agenda: Proposed new law could make JK Rowling a criminal’
By Lois McLatchie
‘SHE has come under social fire for defending biological sex in a tweet. If she continues to engage in such “wrongthink”, then under proposed changes to the law she could face imprisonment.
Her written words have always caused a global stir. But this time, it’s for entirely different reasons.
JK Rowling recently tweeted criticism of the use of the phrase “people who menstruate” instead of “women”. She then expanded her position, writing:
“I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.”
But is it hateful to say so? What does the law say?
Article 3 of the proposed Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, currently sitting before Parliament, could move such debates into the criminal realm. The Bill criminalises the communication of “abusive material” that can be deemed as likely to “stir up hate” – intended or not – against persons based on age, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, and variations in sex characteristics. Notably, “sex” has not yet been labelled a protected category among those proposed – a surprising omission, considering only last year, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon proudly heralded Scotland “a feminist place to be”.
Intended or not, did Rowling stir up hate? Plenty of critics claim a loud “yes”. The problem with terms such as “stirring up hate” is that it is entirely subjective, and in order to defend oneself, one would need to prove that their speech had been reasonable. While Rowling reiterated that she loves and values the lives of people who identify as transgender, the Twitter mob – including a constellation of Harry Potter stars – condemned her defence of biological sex as offensive, effectively drawing the conclusion that her Tweets and subsequent essay were “abusive materials”. A judge could side with her accusers under the proposed law, making her potentially liable to up to seven years imprisonment.
If Rowling placed her “abusive material” into a stage play, the performer, along with their director, would be liable for penalty under Article 4 of the Bill. Those who possessed and shared her “inflammatory material” could be charged under Article 5. Suspicion that such material exists in one’s home could justify a police warrant for “forced entry, search and seizure of the contraband” under Article 6.
True, the bill’s supporters claim that it only targets extreme instances of abuse. Yet, there is nothing to chart out the grey area of what is “hateful” and what is not.
In our cultural climate, debates over concepts like sex, womanhood, and feminism are likely to grow. However, such debates should never be settled by silencing an opponent and threatening them with imprisonment, at least not in a democratic society.
The dominant values of the day must stand the test of free and fair debate, lest an ideology become doctrinal and its accusers punished as “blasphemers”. Rowling must not be prosecuted for an opinion, a belief, a tweet. And if the law changes, she might be.’
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18552926.agenda-proposed-new-law-make-jk-rowling-criminal/
And if Rowling goes down for this,
Christians won’t be far behind…
It’s worse than that, the statue of King Robert the Bruce has been vandalized with paint by BLMers and the idiots who run the Scottish national board are bending over backwards to apologize to the vandals.
Brenden, democracy cannot protect against mob rule. Once rationality departs and virtue and character then only autocracy can restore order.
This is not mob rule. This a modern Malleus Maleficarum for the defining of witchcraft and for the prosecution of witches. We will, of course, need a new Witchfinder General; since Vincent Price is no longer available for the part.
I nominate Tucker Carlson for this position also.
You can’t cuck the Tuck as they say.
Err… Tucker is a good guy, I think.
The Witchfinder General, as played by Vincent Price,
was not the hero in the film. He was the villain (as Vincent usually was).
He was based on a real-life unsavoury character named Matthew Hopkirk.
Look him up on Wikipedia. His modus operandi was very similar to what is happening today with the heresy-hunters of BLM Alphabet Soup.
PS: The Salem Witch Trials used some of Hopkirk’s methods.
I also recommend the Arthur Miller play: “The Crucible” or even the much more gentle and funny play “The Lady’s Not For Burning” for insight into the method and madness of those who would hunt witches and the ideologically impure. The activity is soul crushing and often leads to madness. In real life as in fiction.
The line from The Crucible that has always stuck in my craw: PROCTOR: A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face. And it
is my face and yours, Danforth. For them that quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud. God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!
Only repentance can over come the lies and the obsfucations with which we are faced.
Do we have the strength and the courage even in the face of death or the simple courage not to be swayed from the truth:
PROCTOR: And Giles?
ELIZABETH: Giles is dead.
PROCTOR: (He looks at her incredulously.) When were he hanged?
ELIZABETH: (Quietly, factually.) He were not hanged. He would not answer ay or nay to his indictment; for if he denied the charge they‘d hang him surely, and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died Christian under the law. (He nods.)
PROCTOR: (Not looking at her.) Then how does he die?
ELIZABETH: (Gently.) …They press him, John.
PROCTOR: (Looking at her.) Press?
ELIZABETH: Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead ay or nay. (With a tender smile for the old man.) They say he give them but two words. ―More weight, he says. And died.
PROCTOR: (Nodding, smiling grimly in admiration.) More weight!
It’s ironic, Michael, isn’t it? The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller as a rebuke to McCarthyism, I believe. And yet the inquisitorial spirit has now fully landed in the precincts of the Left.
George you are correct. So was The Lady’s Not For Burning. However, I remember watching old movies of the Soviet show trials under Stalin when I was growing up. McCarthy was nothing compared to those. Even then The Crucible was actually more relevant to the Communist approach than McCarthy.
All I can say is “More weight”. God save us.
The answer in The Lady is, however, love and virtue and acknowledgement of beauty. Even though “the world’s not changed”. Plus it is written by an Englishman in iambic pentameter:
Jennet: What do you see out there?
Thomas: I see a sky so gentle, but five stars are ventured on it. I can see the sky’s pale belly glowing, growing big, soon to deliver the moon. And the snail trail of the sun; a glittering smear where it crawled with it’s shell into the hills. A darkening land, sunken into prayer lucidly in dew drops of one syllable. Nunc dimittis I see twilight madame.
Unfortunately my character did not have any of the good lines as he was the grumpy old mayor of the town with bad allergies (type casting).
Well, the witches are open about their affiliation these days, so no need for quackery. Nomination still stands. Burn them all.
All have fallen to the Third Temptation of Christ. The ravening of mobs is always used as a precursor to dictatorship and many will welcome even a Godless evil dictatorship in place of the destruction, gear and rampant immorality of the mob. Just ask Basil and his Hitler was not evil video.
What’s especially hurtful is that two of the young actors who J K Rowling made famous (Daniel Radcliffe being one), came out with the long knives for Mrs Rowling when she stood up for the concept of biological sex.
They went all high and mighty on her and scolded her for believing that only people with two X chromosomes are real women.
The Left continues to eat its own.
George, they are just participating in the massive show trials of our age: “Are you now, or have you ever been a racist or a supporter of binary sexuality?”
If you do not answer correctly and demonstrate your loyalty to the party you will suffer the consequences and be purged.
God save us from the demonic destruction.
To be honest, I didn’t see this one coming:
https://pjmedia.com/culture/tyler-o-neil/2020/07/06/statue-honoring-frederick-douglass-in-his-home-city-toppled-on-anniversary-of-his-famous-speech-n608041
I guess in hell the demons have no choice but to devour each other.
If this doesn’t prove who is and who is not behind this, I don’t know what does.
His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie’s statue got pulled down somewhere, too.
A great man and a real hero. Why? This is simply about destruction now and has little to do with George Floyd (who?).
They want to end civilization period. If someone has the skill to make a statue or to behold it and contemplate its prototype, they are a threat to the program.
They have gone way too far, but let’s hope there is a backlash because I’m not sure there will be.
African Catholic Cardinal Criticizes Black Lives Matter Movement for Dismantling Civilization
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/african-cardinal-criticizes-black-lives-matter-movement-for-dismantling-civilization
Hoping some Orthodox hierarchs have been this specific. Please share if you are aware…
Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil has boldly condemned BLM and excommunicated any members.
YouTube makes it impossible to share community posts but you can find it on this channel under the Community tab: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvV_LZGJbXjSN2Jx31YYF1Q
A black African bishop under Alexandria has also condemned BLM, although I haven’t seen the statement itself.
Thank you Antiochene Son. I subscribe to the channel but never before checked the Community tab. He is masterful, incisive. Axios! Now for a hierarch here!
The Spokesman of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, His High-Eminence, Orthodox Metropolitan of Boryspil Anthony has condemned the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
“The Western world continues to make concessions to certain minorities that consider themselves disadvantaged, moving away from the truth in Christ. For a society mired in unhealthy tolerance, real tolerance, justice and equality are not important, but only new rights and privileges are needed. Reading news from the Western world, you catch yourself thinking that the world has gone mad, and at the same time you are surprised at a truly devilish substitution of concepts. Probably no one will dispute the fact that racism is evil. And it is thanks to the Christian ideas of mercy, the value of each human life, love for one’s neighbour that phenomena such as segregation, the rise of one people at the expense of another is minimized in many countries of the world. But look at what the struggle for racial equality has become today in the United States of America. Now this is, in fact, the same declaration of racial superiority, with the only difference being that the black race has become the superior race. News columns are full of messages – the white kneel before the black, black people can violate quarantine, black students are exempted from exams, etc. Gangs are robbing shops and private houses with impunity, killing and crippling people amid demands to remove the police, which has already stepped back from what is happening. Activists are already demanding to remove the image of Archangel Michael trampling Satan, because Satan is traditionally depicted in black, which, in their opinion, is a manifestation of racism. And the most radical so-called fighters for justice have already raised a hand at the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, in their opinion, personifies racism with one fact of his being white. The religious leaders of the Western world did not defend their own shrines, but they try to make awkward curtsies to activists, saying that Christ was not completely white in his earthly life. If we look back over the past decades, we will see that such curtsies from religious leaders to various minorities who consider themselves disadvantaged are committed regularly. And few people know that the more such concessions, the further those who concede move away from the truth in Christ. Make concessions to the so-called “representatives of non-traditional orientation” – and you will not be able to call sin a sin. For a modern society mired in unhealthy tolerance, priorities are shifted. For them, true tolerance, justice, and equality, which are possible only in Christ, are not important. They only need new rights and privileges. In Christianity it has long been common to hate sin but love and pity the sinner, but now, under the guise of leniency to the sinner, they are trying to instill leniency to sin. We shouldn’t dismiss that – they say this is happening in the USA and Western Europe, but this is impossible in our country. Alas, all this is already starting to happen here. And now you should be courageous enough to call a spade a spade, without regard to the society poisoned by the press. Otherwise, it will be too late.”
His High-Eminence, Orthodox Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil, Spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Thanks, AS, for citing that prophetic Orthodox witness in Ukraine.
Here in the USA we can be inspired by the robust prophetic witness of Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco (ROCOR’s Western Diocese) to Governor Newsom’s anti-Constitutional and ungodly decree against singing in churches during the COVID-19 crisis:
http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2020/20200709_enarchbpkyrillopenlettersf.html
Is God raising up other Orthodox prophets among the hierarchs in the USA and around the world to protest the COVID19-inspired suppression of religious liberty by government entities?
If so, then perhaps George M can post on this website a new item with the “roll call” of current episcopal heroes for the faith.
I hope those stories and photos will help drive from our minds the appalling image of Archbishop Elpidophoros holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign during a “protest” march in New York City not long ago.
Axios to Archbishop Kirill!
AXIOS! indeed to Arb Kirill!
Yup, this is iconoclasm:
https://pjmedia.com/culture/tyler-o-neil/2020/07/09/black-lives-matter-activists-harass-baptist-church-in-upstate-new-york-n627117
I’ve been busy lately tearing offensive pages out of my Bible.
Anything Moses wrote has to go – full of racism, sexism, a homophobia. And what’s wrong with sex with animals if they’re into it?
The Gospels of Matthew and Mark are gone for sure. The way Jesus treated that Syrophoenician woman is appalling. Probably the other Gospels, too.
Philemon is out. No man who owned a slave is worthy of scripture. I’m wondering about Paul since he seemed unwilling to condemn slavery outright. All his epistles will probably have to go once the people’s committee reviews it.
It’s an important job and really makes me realize just how out of touch my former heroes were. The only guy that seemed to have it together was King Jehoiakim who did what I’m doing now. Of course, the oppressive system took him out like all our martyrs for the cause.
When you have finished, do tell us what page (if any) you have left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Td9Cj9Drs
Gee, I hate to say “I told you so” but –“I told you so”.
Folks, this was NEVER about Confederate generals:
https://dailycaller.com/2020/07/16/jesus-statue-beheaded-miami-good-shepherd-catholic-church-hate-crime/
A centuries old French Cathedral was set ablaze last night. More to come I am sure.
This link https://www.stgeorgecathedral.net/about-us shows the front of my home parish, St. George Cathedral Wichita, KS. They are mosaic icons patterned after some in Hagia Sophia. St. John, the Forerunner is to the right of Jesus around the corner. An Italian mosaic artist was commissioned to build them. I am not fearful, but I do wonder from time to time how much longer they will remain undamaged.
When I truly open my heart at what I am seeing as I approach to enter our temple, I just want to stand in awe. They are surpassingly beautiful. They are without doubt the most beautiful offerings in Wichita, if not the state.
A part of iconoclasm is a hatred of the beautiful.
It’s a beautiful parish!
Indeed Gail, and I am the least in it. The good news is that we are no longer required to register to attend the Divine Liturgy. When there we have to be physically separate in the pews and reminded to allow the priest to tip the Body and Blood into out open mouths rather than slurping it. That is all. People who do not come due to the possible virus do not come. We have a 150 person max which is about half the number that would usually show up and no coffee hour any more but we greet each other on the area in front under the gaze of those beautiful icons.
God is good and His mercy endures forever.
Well lookee here: a Michigan high school teacher is fired for stating a historical fact:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2020/07/21/high-school-teacher-in-michigan-fired-for-saying-trump-is-our-president-on-social-media-n667549
I’m just feeling all the love that comes from the tolerance/inclusion set. Aren’t you?
We thought the past wasn’t safe, now the present is not even safe.