Orthodox Reflections

This is best seen in the book when Stalin dies. The communist party officials are in mourning. When they solemnly announce it to their prisoners in the Gulag, or the Romanian children at the Siberian school, all of them start cheering. The party officials are stunned that the Romanian captives hate Stalin, as though it is blasphemy. They assumed that deporting the Romanians, making them starve and work, would re-educate them into realizing the wonders of communism. It never occurred to them that oppressing your enemies makes them hate you, just as our own elites can’t understand why young white men aren’t signing up for the military or voting Democrat. https://orthodoxreflections.com/book-review-do-not-avenge-us-testimonies-about-the-suffering-of-the-romanians-deported-from-bessarabia-to-siberia/

As Patriarch Daniil said in his open letter to Patriarch Bartholomew, “We ask the question: has any of the Local Autocephalous Churches ever throughout its history recognized anybody other than the Lord Jesus Christ as Head of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church?”

The answer to that question, of course, is “No”. Not, however, for lack of trying on the part of Constantinople since the early part of the 20th Century. Thankfully, the drive for an “Orthodox Pope” has so far failed to gain traction among the Orthodox Churches. (The election of Patriarch Daniil is just the latest setback, but there have been many others.) Unfortunately for those who wish to crown the Patriarch of Constantinople with supreme power, we Orthodox have a very obvious, and cautionary, example of exactly what happens when a bishop goes from being “First Among Equals” to “First Without Equals”. Namely, the Roman Catholic Papacy. https://orthodoxreflections.com/4-reasons-the-new-patriarch-of-bulgaria-is-a-victory-for-global-orthodoxy/

-The Declaration of Independence created 13 nation states, not one. Enlightenment ideals are incompatible with Orthodoxy. The Constitution was pushed on Americans using the same tactics as Covid. Orthodox hierarchs should know these things. https://orthodoxreflections.com/archbishop-elpidophoros-vs-the-holy-fathers-on-americanism/

During his career in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1898 to 1931, he participated in every major war, including World War I. He attained the rank of major general and was the most decorated Marine in history. After retiring, however, he became a peace activist and an outspoken critic of America’s wars. His 1935 book alleges imperialist aims to American foreign policy and protests the saber-rattling leading to World War II.

I realize that war is a complex topic. Wars are a result of sin, greed, and selfishness but also are God’s call to repentance and humility. God allows wars to occur in order to bring people to their knees.

But on some fundamental level, war is a lie. I react against it.

I believe “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). We Orthodox sing that line of The Beatitudes, along with the other lines, during each Divine Liturgy. https://orthodoxreflections.com/blessed-are-the-peacemakers-mustering-anti-war-voices-to-resist-the-war-machine/

The Megami Tensei video games give us a glimpse of the mindset of the Elite and the direction they wish to take humanity. Putting large numbers of us under demonic control via technology, promoting Gnosticism and Mother Earth worship, implanting blasphemous thoughts about God-murder and absolute human autonomy in our minds – that games featuring such themes as these have sold tens of millions of copies shows us clearly the spiritual state of the world (or, more accurately, the state of the wealthy, technologically advanced, Westernized countries where this sort of media is regularly consumed). https://orthodoxreflections.com/mainstreaming-the-demonic-megami-tenseis-un-orthodox-programming/

Tattoos Increase Cancer Risk by 21 Percent while causing real spiritual harm. Don't be deceived by a trend that an estimated 32 percent of Americans have joined.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-sin-of-tatoos-and-body-modifications/

Be especially careful when vaccinating male children. It is noteworthy that girls are usually damaged to a much lesser extent by vaccines than boys. It has been hypothesized by some doctors, that this might stem from the use of cells grown from a female child in vaccine production and testing. The baby girl was gruesomely killed in 1973 after having been born alive, and her cells have since been cultivated for medical use. The use of this fetal cell line is usually hidden under the acronym HEK 293. Prior to the COVID jabs, Pharma had gone to great lengths to make it not immediately clear what that signified on an insert or other drug information. Some doctors believe that trace female DNA contained in vaccines can mix with the male DNA of vaccinated male children, causing adverse results. These doctors have hinted very gently, for fear of the Jews, that this may be why some boys appear to be insecure about their gender. A very recently conducted (on a private initiative of course) research concluded that 80% of the cases of those suffering from gender confusion are due to vaccinations! https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-dangers-of-vaccines-and-some-pieces-of-practical-advice/

Taking all the information above into account, we can clearly see how historically unique the “ordination” in Africa really was. Deaconesses did not serve at the altar in the Divine Liturgy. Angelic is younger than allowed for in the relevant canons for a deaconess, and is also married when she should be single. But the truth is, Angelic was not actually “ordained” as a deaconess. The use of that term is a bait and switch. Angelic was ordained as a female Orthodox deacon. Which is why, after her “ordination”, she wore male vestments and performed the same liturgical duties as any male deacon.

This “ordination” is not a “revival” of an ancient ministry. Rather, this “ordination” is a full-blown modernist, ecclesiastical revolution conducted in plain sight. Every honest observer, whether for or against female ordination, acknowledges this fact.

If Alexandria is allowed to remain an Orthodox Church in good standing, then observers can plausibly argue that the Orthodox Church now ordains women to major orders of the priesthood. The post below is from Aristomenis Papadimitriou, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Director of Archives & Research who also lists “Scholarship & Teaching at Fordham University” in his X bio. He is a big supporter of what happened, and is very honest in recognizing its importance. https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-way-to-schism-part-1-ordination-of-a-female-orthodox-deacon/

The more cautious and sober Latin theologians have often been uneasy with the excesses of their contemporaries, but on many occasions the weight of popular enthusiasm has proved too strong for sound theology to prevail. Louie-Marie Grignion de Montfort (d. 1716)—a master of Marian excess—closely connected the Virgin to eschatology. With the Second Coming she must be revealed by the Holy Spirit so that Christ may be made known, and she must shine forth in power against the enemies of God, since in some way the devil fears her more than God Himself. The idea of the Virgin as always being the one who prepares the way for the coming of Christ—not only His first physical coming at the Incarnation, but of His coming into the souls of men, and of His Second Coming, has continued into modern times. “As there would have been no advent of Christ in the flesh in His first coming without Mary, so there can be no coming of Christ in spirit … without Mary again preparing the way.” “As she prepared His body, so now she prepares souls for His coming” (Archbishop Fulton Sheen). At Zeitoun, “one can perceive the salvific role of the Blessed Virgin in evidence, as it was at Fatima in 1917. This role is essentially that of preparing the way for her Divine Son, by opening the souls of mankind to His redeeming grace.” “…[H]aving prepared His way 2,000 years ago among His own people” she “now prepares His way into the souls of millions of Gentiles of all faiths and none with a new and greater Visitation” (Francis Johnston: When Millions Saw Mary). One wonders if there is anything left for the Holy Spirit to do. https://orthodoxreflections.com/fatima-tradition-and-politics/

However, not only do we have the unseemly picture of US Christians ignoring Christian persecution around the world, but we also have added to this their grotesque support of the brutal Israeli war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands (many of them innocent women and children) and destroyed homes, churches, and critical infrastructure. Here, for instance, is US Sen. Mitch McConnell justifying the continued supply of US arms for Israel’s war on the Gazans https://orthodoxreflections.com/are-the-united-states-christian-or-jewish/

Nicholas, chief editor of Orthodox Reflections, joined Buck Johnson on his Counterflow Podcast to discuss Red States passing laws outlawing “antisemitism”. The discussion was based on this article, “Red States Are Lurching Toward Antichrist” by Walt Garlington. The discussion touched on the threat this trend poses to Freedom of Speech, how it can affect the Orthodox Church in the future, and why all of this is happening. Ironically, the show dropped the day before the US Congress passed the “Antisemitism Awareness Act”, which threatens to extend censorship of “antisemitism” to the entire US – not just selected Red States with high concentrations of Christian Zionists. https://orthodoxreflections.com/counterflow-podcast-red-states-are-lurching-toward-antichrist-with-nicholas-from-orthodox-reflections/

Recently Aristotle Papanikolaou, of Fordham University, had a Twitter interchange with Fr Whiteford, in which he derided Fr Whiteford’s alleged “Yosemite-Sam Orthodoxy: gun-loving, Confederate-sympathizing, pro-death-penalty, Trump-MAGA-supporting, pro-brutal-dictators, etc.” https://orthodoxreflections.com/yosemite-sam-orthodoxy/

All these various “churches”, including my own, were just making all this up as they went along. I was a natural born conservative. Even as a child, I had been drawn to history and tradition. Most of the Evangelicals around me also thought of themselves as “conservatives”, which is self-delusion on an epic scale. Evangelicalism is the most radical “Christian” version available. Evangelicalism preserves almost no tradition, other than some “traditional” interpretations of scripture (many of which are of quite recent vintage). Evangelicalism is the ultimate experiment in “do-your-own-thing” religiosity. Its rootless nature means Evangelicalism is constantly morphing, lurching from one “next big thing” to another. Don’t like how “church” is being done, or how the pastor interprets certain scriptures? Stick around a bit, it’ll change. What you get on any given Sunday, or any given Easter, is totally at the whim of the senior paster and/or the minister of music. https://orthodoxreflections.com/growing-up-disappointed-in-easter/

One of the topics Nicholas and Michael discussed was the incessant “labeling” that goes on so in our society. Orthodox Reflections asks everyone to take that part quite seriously. Based on research, here are some labels that the 3 letter agencies (NSA, FBI, CIA, etc.) look for in assessing who could be a “potential terrorist” (which makes you worthy of surveillance, questioning, and perhaps detention) https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-michael-sisco-show-the-regimes-obsession-with-russia-orthodoxy-explained/

Of course, given what we know now, it is actually a wonder that so many of our bishops and clergy either refused to encourage the jabs, or even stood in active opposition to them. The full power of the government was deployed during the Pandemic to convince Christian leaders to promote the jabs. The US Government went so far as to lie to faith leaders about the safety and efficacy of the jabs, while couching everything in faith-based language, and even offering bribes. https://orthodoxreflections.com/orthodoxy-looking-back-on-covid-and-ahead-to-disease-x/

Under the guise of protecting the West from the “Russian threat”, the National Security State can exercise extreme censorship, buy journalistic access, spy on anyone, publish blatant lies, manipulate elections, set up blackmail schemes, and then just cover it all up. Politicians, of course, get in on the act. Lost an election? Must be Russian interference. Incriminating evidence found? Must be a Russian intelligence operation. As long as there is a veneer of “democracy” behind which to hide, who is ever going to be the wiser?

Even when people are exposed to the truth, they often dismiss what is happening directly before their eyes. How could any of this be true? How could “they” get away with all this?

Money. Great big, huge piles of filthy money. The US National Security State is so lavishly funded that it has swallowed up almost all of society (media, Pharma, manufacturing, technology, NGOs, foundations, education, research, development, religious organizations, non-profits, think tanks). Many analysts openly refer to this interlocking system of control as the blob. https://orthodoxreflections.com/why-the-us-national-security-states-orthodox-christian-obsession/

And I think that there is also something epigenetic. The Western mass is inside of us. It sank into our ancestors’ hearts, and they passed that onto us. We often talk about blood as though it is something from those of previous generations. Part of this inheritance of blood is how we worship God, because it is in worship that we most engage the soul. And so, while we do not want to say that Western Rite is for Anglo-Saxon converts and that Greek liturgics is for Greeks, there is in a very real way something about the Western mass that we Anglos yearn for in a way we were unaware of. We never knew we were looking for it until we found it.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/why-western-rite/

On March 12th the Texas Monthly published a hit piece titled “Inspired by the Confederacy and Czarist Russia, “Ortho Bros” Are on the Rise.” This “article” was primarily an attack on my father-in-law, Fr. John Whiteford, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), and the notion of Southern Orthodoxy. This article was authored by a recent convert named Meagan Saliashvili, a graduate of Harvard Divinity who posts many things which may lead one to believe she is an advocate of pro-LGBTQP church policy, abortion rights, and a female diaconate/priesthood (she has denied this – though not publicly – and I will take her at her word. continued in note1). https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-lefts-subversion-of-american-orthodoxy/

What did the Greek Revolution of 1821 achieve? And why should it take the Greeks four centuries to free themselves from the Ottoman yoke? Well, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. One main reason why Greece’s many attempts to expel the Turks had failed, is that a free Greece (a return to the glory of Byzantium and the peak of civilization) was not in the best interests of the European powers of the time. England, France, Germany were afraid of losing control of the imperial and colonial system in the face of Greek progress. They knew what a free and idealistic Greece could achieve. They feared a glorious Greek Orthodox return to superpower status. As a result, when Greece was freed from Ottoman slavery in 1821, the Royal European powers of Germany, England, and France persecuted the heroes of the Greek revolution. https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-greek-revolution-of-1821-remains-incomplete/

How can that be? – Such will probably be most folks’ reaction to the title of this essay. Aren’t they the States passing laws to ban transgender mutilations and abortions, to crack down on crime, to acknowledge God in some way in public schools, etc.? That is true, and for those good things they should be praised. But unfortunately that is not all they are doing.

They are also granting special privileges to the Jewish people, privileges that they would not consider giving to Christians, Hindus, Muslims, or any other religious group. South Dakota is the latest State to do this. Gov. Kristi Noem issued the following statement upon signing an antisemitism law https://orthodoxreflections.com/red-states-are-lurching-toward-antichrist/