The election of Donald Trump to the American presidency was first viewed as a fluke. If only Hillary Clinton had been a better candidate, if only James Comey hadn’t sabotaged her campaign, if only we didn’t have the electoral college, if only Russia hadn’t intervened, if only, if only, if only.
Trump’s entire campaign was viewed as a caprice, we were told, and his election, a gross, tragic mistake that was made possible only because of Putin’s interference with Wisconsin’s ballot boxes.
Only he wasn’t.
Ever since his election, nationalists/populists have won elections pretty much all over the world: Viktor Orban in Hungary, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Boris Johnson in the UK and so on. And all those nationalists/populists, who were already in power –such as Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu–have only seen their grip on power, strengthened.
What we are witnessing today, is a new New World Order, not a continuation of the old New World Order ushered in by George H W Bush. This new Trumpian world order is not based on neo-liberal principles and Globalism, but on nationalism and populism.
Looking back, we should have seen it coming. Sometime around 2001, specifically September 11th of that year, tribalism came back with a vengeance. Other nationalist politicians were carrying the day, as well. First there was Vladimir Putin, who wrested control of Russia’s economy from the American neoconservatives and their Russian oligarch allies back in 2000, and then there was Recep Erdogan, the President of Turkey.
It should have been obvious to us then, but for some reason (perhaps based on wishful thinking) it wasn’t. Or, perhaps, we chose to look the other way for reasons I will explain shortly.
Erdogan, for all his faults (and there are many), has championed a “neo-Ottomanic revival”. Turkey, in his eyes, is a civilizational state, in much the same way that China, Russia, and India are. Now, with his reconversion of the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, the repudiation of the Kemalic secular state that was Turkey is for all intents and purposes, complete.
This is huge. If you will permit me a personal reminiscence. Twenty-one years ago my family (along with my in-laws) made a pilgrimage to Istanbul. It was a lovely trip and there was much to see. I highly recommend it as a travel destination. One of the thing that caught my eye was the omnipresence of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern, Turkish state. His portrait was everywhere. I mean, everywhere. Even at the Phanar. Even in the office of the Ecumenical Patriarch himself. And we aren’t talking about the little 3×5 postcards or the normal 5×8 pictures you see of the President at the Post Office, but larger. Much larger. Even on the stairway that went below deck of the ferry boat to Halki, Ataturk’s stern, but not unhandsome visage, glared down at us.
Did I mention he was literally, everywhere?
You see, I can’t stress this enough. His face was in restaurants, banks, furniture stores, and little Byzantine-era stalls where all the tourist-traps are. As for how the Turkish people honestly felt about him, I couldn’t say. I imagine there was at least some grudging respect for him and his accomplishments, even among the Islamists; however, I don’t speak Turkish and even if I did, I don’t imagine it would have been possible to have had an honest conversation about his legacy.
We were squired around town by a delightful American deacon whose mother was great friends with my mother-in-law. His Turkish was flawless (as far as I could tell) and his presence at our side opened doors for us which would have otherwise been closed. (BTW, If you’re ever there, I highly recommend a fantastic restaurant called “Beyti”; Turkish cuisine is among the finest in the world).
So, where am I going with this? In 1999, the neoliberal “New World Order,” championed by the Bush 41 Administration, was still regnant. Francis Fukuyama, the intellectual godfather of the universalist principles that undergirded Bush’s vision, had assured us that democratic liberalism was the natural end-state of history. I, a fervent Cold Warrior, firmly believed it. So did many others.
And why wouldn’t we? Growing up during the Cold War, I vividly remember the disaster drills that we had to undertake as children at random times throughout the school year. By ducking under our desks, we were supposed to be protected from nuclear fallout. The Russians were winning the space race and we were losing the Vietnam War. They, at ten feet tall, while we, such pipsqueaks that the Johnson Administration put out guidelines for national physical fitness tests.
But then, one bright day in 1989, the Iron Curtain started to fall. First Czechoslovakia, then Poland, then East Germany and finally, two years later, even the Soviet Union itself. One of the most vivid memories was watching thousands of young Germans taking sledgehammers to the Berlin Wall. Freedom was literally breaking out all over. The former Communist countries were experimenting with free market economies and they seemed to be doing alright. In the great, twilight, struggle between freedom and communism, freedom won. Or so we thought. Well, we won, but only for a brief moment. Just as Sparta defeated Athens during the Peloponnesian War, it was the Thebans who picked up the pieces.
So why could we not sustain our victory?
Because liberalism, strictly speaking, is a product of the West and it only operates within a certain demographic sub-strata –and even then, not so well. Think of the American Civil War, which was a military conflict between two different political parties. That wasn’t a walk in the park, in case you didn’t know. It happened because the strains on the American republic were too great and liberal values could no longer paper things over between the North and the South.
To make a liberal society work, both sides have to agree on certain universal principles, among them the rule of law, the peaceful transfer of power and legislative transparency. To be perfectly blunt, liberalism, democracy, and even republicanism, aren’t natural. If they were, every other country would be practicing it. The same is true with multiculturalism. As uncomfortable as this is to admit, people are hard-wired to prefer their own kinfolk. That’s why Israel is a “Jewish state”, why Saudi Arabia will not allow non-Islamic religions to practice their rites and why the Hutus of Rwanda mercilessly slaughtered almost a million Tutsis with machetes in the fastest genocide known to history.
So back to my Turkish sojourn. As we were walking down the street one evening, I asked our guide why he wasn’t wearing a cassock. After all, secular Turkey espoused freedom of religion. I was then given a brief history lesson about how Mustafa Kemal set up a rigidly secular state and that only the four major religious leaders –the Greek patriarch, the Armenian patriarch, the Chief Rabbi of Turkey and the Grand Imam–were allowed to wear their religious garb at all times. All other religious functionaries were only allowed to be vested during their respective services.
Such a rigid regimen was what Ataturk believed was necessary to convince the overwhelming Muslim majority that no religion would be preferred. Draconian, I grant you, but it did make some sense. The conversion of the Hagia Sophia to a museum was the capstone of his secularizing program. — I interjected, “we’ve been here several days now and I’ve heard the daily call to Islamic prayer. Isn’t that a violation of Ataturk’s vision?” It gave the appearance that Islam was the preferred religion. For me, a disinterested tourist who had no skin in the game, it wasn’t too hard to see which way the wind was blowing. “What would happen,” I asked, “if the people voted in an Islamic theocracy, like they did in Iran?” After all, given the resurgence of Islam throughout the Middle East, it seemed to me inevitable.
My friend assured me that this would not be the case. The reason was because the Army was the guarantor of the Kemalist regime. If the Islamists used democratic means to institute Muslim rule, then the Army would step in and set things aright faster than you could say, “Jack Robinson”. Essentially, Islam would not be allowed to take over. End of story.
That was twenty-one years ago. This is now: the cry of the muezzin is heard daily from the minarets of the Hagia Sophia and Friday services are the norm at that one-time Christian cathedral.
So what happened?
History intervened, or more to the point, reality reasserted itself. The liberal order of self-governance based on universalist principles had been tried and found wanting. Even here, in the United States, the Democrat Party is war-gaming scenarios not to accept a Trump victory in November. This is not liberalism, neoliberalism, conservatism, neoconservatism or anything remotely considered rule of law. This is raw, naked power –period.
There is no way to sugarcoat it. Tribe, ethnos and race are what matters now. As in Turkey, so in America. It’s all about identity politics: and that is the end-stage of history. Not universalism, democratic liberalism or liberal democracy.
The Turkish identity is Islam with a dash of Ottoman pride. This is not only how Erdogan sees it but how pretty much everybody else in Turkey sees it, as well.
We, on the other hand, can’t agree on what is the American identity (as of now) even is. I imagine the BLM cult will go the way of the dodo bird but not before doing its darndest to destroy the normative American one. Still, an American identity will emerge at the end of the day. Or there will be no America to speak of, but a balkanized conglomeration of different regions.
Don’t believe me?
Then why did Joe Biden restrict his choices for vice-president to a pool that only included black females? Why are police forces, the captains of industry and Congressmen bowing before black men? Why is the word “black” capitalized but not the word “white”? And why is American history being destroyed left, right and center? It’s because all Leftism is built on a lie and to maintain itself, it has to constantly throttle the truth.
Turkey is proud of its Islamic and Ottoman history. I for one, don’t begrudge them their heritage. To be sure, the Turks weren’t all gung-ho about Kemal’s reforms when he first trotted them out. There was a lot of resistance and more than a few skulls were cracked. The Latin alphabet was accepted, as was women’s emancipation, but the fundamental aspect of Turkish ethnicity never really went away.
Despite what the liberals have incessantly told us, it’s not possible to eradicate a human being’s consciousness no matter how hard the tyrant tries. Just try doing that with a nation.
That’s one reason why after seventy years of brutal atheistic oppression, Russia is building three new churches a day. Why glorify the Bolsheviks with their atrocious architecture when magnificent churches already dot the Russian landscape? Sure, Soviet cinema produced some classics but most of the best of these cinematic endeavors hearkened back to Russia’s glorious, medieval past. Not on the most recent Five Year Plan. So why shouldn’t post-Soviet Russians not go back to the Christian past?
Think of it as a return to the norm.
Turkey has worked through its liberal/republican experiment and has come out on the other side proudly nationalist. We, here in America, are now being convulsed by a type of pseudo-Kemalist reordering based on minority-identity politics. Kemal at least had a great deal of personal credibility which he used to enact his Westernizing reforms. As the only Ottoman general of any repute, he had enormous legitimacy. And rather than castigate the history of the Turks, he changed his name to Ataturk (which means “father of the Turks”). It was as if he were saying: “I want to modernize Turkey because the Turks are a great people, not because you are backwards,” although that’s pretty much what he really thought. He even emblazoned the Crescent and Star in the Turkish flag which he designed. Contrast this, with what the Left is spewing out to Americans today: “We hate you because you’re ray-ciss, always have been, always will be”.
And this is why I think that we too, after many years of struggle, and not a little bloodshed, will come out on the other side with a stronger, normative American identity –one unashamed of its history. Why do I say this? Because there is no liberal American eminence on the horizon who wants to pull Americans together, or who has anywhere near the moral authority that Kemal did. Unlike Ataturk, there is no liberal general who feels the pull of American patriotism to the extent that Ataturk had for Turkey. Indeed, the American armed services are now completely in thrall to the entire anti-American, anti-Christian view of things. American generals, today, quiver in their boots before a feminazi senator whenever she calls them out for the “toxic masculinity” of the armed forces. According to some of these “warriors”, climate change and loss of diversity is a greater threat to America than pretty much anything else.
It’s identity politics all the way down. So yeah, we’re screwed. Compared to us, the Turks are in a more envious position.
On the other hand, I can see how a Trump victory will screw things up for the Left for another four years. If nothing else, it will buy us a little more time while we let reality reassert itself.
But it’s equally possible, that after another decade of Leftist rule and a massive invasion of people from the Third-world, the American ideal, American history, American demography, and American consciousness will be eradicated for all time.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, I beg your indulgence and ask that you take the time to watch the following video from Felix Rex. It’s a great summation of the present Turkish moment and how it’s at the intersection of the new geopolitical world order.
I have encountered other sources addressing the rise of “civilizational states” and, indeed, Russia, China, Turkey, and India are always cited. Mr. Putin was the first to use the term when speaking about what he believed to be Russia’s true identity, but in that context he always cited the historical affiliation of Russia with Orthodoxy as an essential component. Several historians have written that possessing a unifying religious belief system is essential to the overall cohesion of any given nation state. If that’s true, and I believe it is, what does the future hold for China, a vast and ancient civilization which currently espouses atheism. Russia has Orthodox Christianity, Turkey has Islam and India has (primarily) Hinduism. What does China have? How long can a civilization survive without believing in and supporting a cultural unifying religion?
China has being Chinese. Seriously. I have a number of Chinese friends and all of them are extremely nationalistic. Look at how their country functions without much trouble (exception: HK). They have a nationalistic hive-mind and do everything to the glory to China. This is why they will win if it comes down to fisticuffs.
Turkey is, I think, annoying too many of its MENA neighbors for it to be able to continue playing the big man in the region. They’ll get their fingers burnt, or worse, if they keep at it. Already Greece, Egypt, Iraq, Cyprus, Armenia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Syria have taken umbrage with them because of their activities, and it can’t be long before Russia’s patience wears out.
Interestingly, earlier this year, Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israel’s PM, said some very complimentary things about Byzantium and Orthodox Christianity. This was in the context of criticism of Erdogan.
It kinda made me go “hmmmm”.
I definitely wouldn’t want the Church to end up as a pawn in Israel’s game. But it is interesting.
Basil, right. China has been that way forever. China also has tremendous patience in part because the fate of individual people does not really matter that much.
The Turks only have an envious position while backed up by NATO. absent that guarantee, Russia’s geopolitical interests dictate that they take a few warm water ports. RE China, the greatest enemy the Chinese have ever faced is the CCP. The news slipping out of mainland China this year indicates that the CCP is in serious trouble through overreach and the inability to deal with the natural disasters that keep befalling the middle kingdom. The mandate of Heaven has had to be added to the list of terms blocked in China. I doubt that actual Chinese nationalism will do the CCP any favors at this point. THey do, after all, follow a German ideology. Quit the communist Party is a actually a pretty large scale movement. Never fear though, despite the fact that the historic Chinese civilization was virtually destroyed on the mainland by the CCP it survives in Taiwan.
Taiwan cannot survive. It has been infected by the LGBT disease. The People’s Republic stands against degeneracy. I think they’ll have staying power.
Believe it or not, I wouldn’t count out Evangelical Christianity or Confucianism fighting it out for China.
Good point. The evangelicals have a been following there and confucius/Buddha beliefs are important in China. In spite of Antifa worship Marx and burn bibles, as Paul Johnson stated religion made a comeback. PJ, the english historian.
Other faith leaders scheduled to speak include the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, the Florida-based pastor who founded the National Latino Evangelical Coalition; Jerry Young of the Mississippi-based New Hope Baptist Church; Archbishop Elpidophoros, leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; and Rabbi Lauren Berkun, vice president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. For the Dem side that they are not anti-religious, but a lot more Dems are anti-religious than Republicans.
Here is a list of Orthodox news from China in the years 2004-2019
:
http://orthodox.cn/index_en.html
and click on:
News
National News
The web-site has more information in English,
e.g. try “What’s New?”
Again, thanks for your thoughts, George. Very interesting points here. (BTW: Turkish cuisine is excellent, but I think that they ‘borrowed’ lots of their recipes from the Greeks 😉
I think the other way around. Baklava is Turkish, no? Same with Mousaka.
Somehow I don’t think that sweet, sweet baklava or the equally lovely moussaka came from the Central Asian steppes.
I dunno, Joseph? Are pierogis and stuffed cabbage Russian or Polish? You can argue all day about that with someone from those countries. But in the end, it all doesn’t matter—because they taste so good!
HAPPY DORMITION OF THEOTOKOS DAY! ✨?♀️?✨
Tradition has it, Panagia died without suffering & taken up into Heaven bodily✨✨ Amen!
Notice, Her death is not recorded in Christian canonical scriptures … not everything True is written — some are only verbally passed…
Let me remind y’all whining “bible thumpers”: Eastern Orthodoxy is not Sola Scriptura. When you condemn some of us seekers of truth for concepts you don’t understand nor studied, you’re no better than Protestants denying the holy Panagia & Orthodoxy’s mysticism . The Saints themselves embody the “Experiential” — the experiential of holiness is very heart of Theosis.
[John 21:25]
“And there are Many other things which Jesus said & did, the which, if they could be written every one, not even the earth itself could contain those books that should be written!”
? Even Shakespeare ‘got it’ in Hamlet:
“There are more things in Heaven & earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”
I’m going to take your remark as a jab against those of us who questioned your erroneous views. We’re still waiting for a response from “Scripture, the Fathers, holy Elders, and Church Tradition.” So, obviously not Sola Scriptura on our part. The burden of proof is on you.
Concepts we don’t understand or haven’t studied? None of us are spouting pseudo-mystical garbage with absolutely no foundation in the Orthodox faith, so your barbed response is completely without substance.
[I hope this doesn’t get my post binned] Sage-Girl, I’m going to have to say that, based on your musings here, your theology and spirituality is a little bit of Orthodoxy, mixed with a whole lot of eastern pseudo-mysticism, guruism, elitism, syncretism and babble. It’s a confused mess.
Look, I’ve studied the faith. I have reliable, educated, and spiritually mature clergy and monastics with whom I correspond and seek guidance. They would raise their eyebrows in concern at some of the things you write – and subsequently claim to be some higher form of truth that we mere mortals don’t get when people question you.
We all have a responsibility to represent the faith correctly on a public forum – you especially, since you claim to be a monastic. So either back up what you say or “humble down, humble down” and keep silence on matters in which you have no serious knowledge, in order to avoid sowing confusing and disorder among the brethren.
Basil et Sage-girl:
Basil you ‘ve got very good and valid points.
You have also rightly repeated, “We’re still waiting for a response from “Scripture, the Fathers, holy Elders, and Church Tradition.”
But, it appears that our friend who calls herself sage girl has found a sage alternative to “Scripture, the Fathers, holy Elders, and Church Tradition.” :
“I’ve met Dinesh long ago & we shared insights on the subject of NDEs in his published work: ’Life After Death’ … & another cool book of his ‘What’s So Great About Christianity’”
Lord have mercy on me a sinner and not a sage one.
Sage-girl, you paint too broad a brush. The Orthodox Church has very clear doctrine on many things but is creatively silent on msny others which is quite Scriptural. Nevertheless that does not allow for doctrine and speculation that goes outside the bounds of Holy Tradition for one’s own preferences.
There are many areas of truth and of God Himself that are hidden only gradually unveiled as required.
Often we do not know what we think we know. Patience is necessary and humility.
There is no one here who supports or practices anything like Sola Scriptura. It is literally impossible within an Orthodox mind.
Adherence to the Traditional teachings and understadings of is not the same thing.
Thank you Michael Bauman. I appreciate your kind, informative, and patient posts. You set a good example for me. Again, thanks.
The Protestants have Sola Scriptura.
The Orthodox have Scripture and Tradition.
The RCs have Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium.
In short: while the Protestants hop on one leg and the RCs hirple about on three, the Orthodox walk upright on two – like healthy people.
Not only was the Theotokos raised bodily to heaven, she did so in the glorified body of the Universal Resurrection. She is the image and hope of our eternal life. Glory to God.
Sage-girl
You call yourself a seeker of truth. I am not a seeker of truth.
I am an Orthodox Christian and sing at the end of each Divine Liturgy, “We have found the true faith. We have received the Heavenly Spirit.”
I am not opened minded. I try to avoid anything that does not come from reliable Orthodox sources. I have found the true faith, the pearl of great price, the one thing needful and am ever mindful of what I have to lose.
Maybe you don’t realize that people that are trying to give you correction or guidance may be afraid for you. I certainly am.
May God bless you
Tanya
Great post, Tanya. This is exactly the right message.
Yeahhh!
Tanya. YEA!
Axia!
I think you’re new here. Glad to have you onboard. Your contributions have been great so far.
Actually, Tradition tells us the Theotokos died a natural death (which often includes suffering) like any other human being and her soul (not her body) was received by Christ upon her death. This is an aspect of Church teaching that lends credibility (not that everyone accepts it; not saying they should) to the Toll House theory, as she was able to bypass whatever we go through upon death to get to the next life.
Her body was resurrected 3 days later. This is what the Liturgical texts used at the feast of the Dormition tell us.
There is a LOT that isn’t recorded in Scripture, which is why the Church holds to Tradition. Tradition includes Scripture. It does not replace it. No one has said that for something to be true, it must be in Scripture. However, Church teaching does NOT conflict with Scripture. If it’s in Scripture, it is true.
Do you know what a “Bible thumper” is? It is an aggressive evangelical. Evangelicals believe only in Scripture. This is not Orthodox. Nor is it kind to use this phrase to describe your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Plus (yes, there is more), “Bible thumper” is a pejorative term, the use of which is strongly discouraged on this blog. In your case, I have allowed it (from others) because frankly, it wouldn’t be fair to allow you to say the things you do and expect others to pull their punches in response.
You have no idea how much restraint people have shown toward you. No one, and I mean no one, has condemned you, a “seeker of truth.” As a seeker, however, one should not teach. One should listen. And if corrected, not explode in anger. It is a great blessing to have teachers and there are plethora of them on this blog.
” This is an aspect of Church teaching that lends credibility (not that everyone accepts it; not saying they should) to the Toll House theory, as she was able to bypass whatever we go through upon death to get to the next life.”
St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco (The Orthodox Veneration of Mary the Birthgiver of God, pages 22-23), “To the last days of Her earthly life She took care to prove worthy of the Kingdom of Her Son, and before death She prayed that He might deliver Her soul from the malicious spirits that meet human souls on the way to heaven and strive to seize them so as to take them away with them to hades. The Lord fulfilled the prayer of His Mother and in the hour of Her death Himself came from heaven with a multitude of angels to receive Her soul.”
Thank you for sharing this, Myst. St. John Maximovitch’s words cannot easily be dismissed, now can they?
Gregory Manning:
”What does China ?? have?” Well, the Chinese Communist party wants to BE the God of China & its people; the government is scared of churches, so say the arrested pastors who’ve been jailed in the past. In NY’s Chinatown when I’ve visited, I’ve talked to a few Chinese people who blast this terrible injustice on megaphones; these Jesus believing folk are all evangelicals.
Greg, you mention “Historians have written that possessing a unifying religious belief system is essential to cohesiveness of any nation” Yes, even Greece’s ?? Saint Elder Paisios was unnerved by Jehovah’s Witnesses attempting to undermine Orthodoxy. It’s also why he warned Greece & Cyprus, if they sold out the Lord to the Godless secular mindset they’d suffer financial crisis … and they did.
Now in USA we’re witnessing something never before; rabid Left & BLM crowds attacking/ destroying churches & its parishioners from entering! Majority of lefty thugs are born Americans with no loyalty to America, unlike foreign born United States patriots like our beloved conservative, Dinesh D’Souza from Bombay, India ??.
I’ve met Dinesh long ago & we shared insights on the subject of NDEs in his published work: ’Life After Death’ … & another cool book of his ‘What’s So Great About Christianity’
In it, D’Souza argues that “ultimately you cannot have Western Civilization without Christianity that gave it birth”
Thank you Sage-Girl. BTW, my name actually is Gregory. It’s my Orthodox identity which is the only one which really matters. If it were my original birth name I wouldn’t object at all to “Greg”.
Again, thank you for your reply.
George,
In your otherwise thoughtful and, at times, poignant essay you fail to mention Trump’s often stated personal admiration of Erdogan. How might this fact, along with similar views expressed by our military complex, influence your calculus of presumptive events to come?
Donald is the king of flattery. When that mode fails in persuading (or enticing) someone, he often seems to return to his more comfortable, familiar, & churlish self. He’s nearly a master at uncovering psychological, temperamental vulnerabilities in others. He uses all manner of small techniques and tricks to unmask the hidden ego and weakness in others. Then he goes on his merry way. Imo…
“Come, therefore, with joy!” St Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople writes as Christ speaking to His Mother at her Dormition:
“It is time, my Mother, to take you to Myself. Just as you have filled the earth and all who dwell in it with joy, O you, who enjoy such Grace, come: make the heavens joyful once again. Make My Father’s dwelling place radiant. Be a spiritual guide for the souls of the Saints… Death shall make no boast at your expense, for you have given birth to Life. You are my vessel; the mortal cracks caused by the Fall shall not break you apart … Come eagerly to the One Whom you brought into the world. I want to make you happy, as a Son should do… Now, I will show the world to be your debtor; and when you come to Me, I will glorify your name even more. I shall build you into the wall of the universe: into a bridge for those who are awash in the waves; an ark of salvation; a staff for the disabled; an advocate for sinners; a ladder to heaven strong enough to bear the weight of all humanity as it climbs. “Come, therefore, with joy! Open up Paradise, which your ancestor Eve, your natural sister, had locked. Enter into the joy of your Son!”
Sent by Papa Demetri on Tinyletter
A Joyous Feast NC Orthodox!
Joyous! Thank you so much!
Almost forgot:??
HAPPY 75th ANNIVERSARY END OF WWII!
Today August 15th, 1945 is V-J Day — the day WWII ended under Japanese surrender in the pacific. I’m sure back then every Orthodox military man bowed their head to Virgin Mary remembering Her holy dormition — maybe Theotokos helped along?!⚔️
Yes… “Thank you, Lord that gave us the atomic bomb and not someone else.” I have sometimes asked myself if God was behind it all. After all, He created the atomic world and then allowed His chosen people (Jewish scientists) to discover and then develop it. A great mystery on more ways than one.
I don’t think that nuking the Japanese city with the densest population of Christians was a divine act.
Plus, God is on the old calendar.
There is an article I believe on RT, displaying Biden stating that if he becomes president, he’ll push for supporting an opposition leader to Erdogan. I found this interesting because we have a prophecy in our Church that states that Erdogan will fall from his throne before the more difficult events occur in world.
I believe that the U.S.’s undoing will be the actions of the State Dept. We saw what occurred in Ukraine. We see today what is happening with Belarus with no one in the West accepting the elections. Western-like riots occurred/occurring, and it’s pretty obvious the meddling of the State Dept. is at hand. Fake Bishop Dumenko, friend of Pompeo, even stuck his nose in to prove that point.
Pompeo an evangelical, has displayed to hold no real regard for Orthodox Christians in the world. Perhaps he even has an agenda to cause schism, to break up the Orthodox world. It is a real strategy to hit the soul of a nation to end up conquering it. But at least strategically, they are proving to be still a threat to Russia and China. I can’t say the same of Turkey. They have proven time, and time again that they are incapable of strategically making a good move for their future. Nikos Lygeros, a high IQ political strategic consultant speaks about Turkey’s actions these last years and their general incompetence. If anyone has the ability to understand Greek, watch his published videos on Youtube regarding these subjects.