Commenting on church issues, chicken or egg?

For as many words of thanks that I have received for pointing people to where the discussions on the current OCA events are to be had, I get at least as many chastising me for fostering gossip. To wit, I have taken a step back on the discussion for the simple reason I am not privy to anything but second or third-hand word on what is going on. My commentary would be a meta-extrapolation of scenarios that may or may not have, or will ever, happen. Punditry requires something material to pundit (I'm not sure if I have quite cottoned to the idea of 'pundit' as a verb.). The below from the blog Frontier Orthodoxy speaks directly to this topic: what part does discussing ecclesiastical goings-on play. Emphases and illustrations are mine.

From the blog Frontier Orthodoxy:

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Some comments and internet chatter have made me think some more about the sick debate too many seem to have–do we blame the internet for the problems we see online and/or the people who report on them, or do we blame the persons committing the problems themselves?

There are those, perhaps even some readers of this site, who seem to think that the problems we have seen during the last few years concerning the OCA and AOCANA are due to a combination of the internet and people who just want to gossip. There is a small amount of truth here. Were it not for the internet, it would be more difficult to make known ecclesiastical happenings in a timely manner. Also, there are certain comments and threads online that seem to be mere gossip. Fair enough.

On the other hand, merely reporting on happenings or even editorializing and responding to happenings is not in itself sinful and certainly is not the problem. The problem in Libya after all, is not that there are reporters on the ground reporting. The problems in the OCA under Metropolitan Herman, the problems in the AOCANA even now, and the problems within the OCA currently are not there because a website or blog or two (OCANews.org being the most prominent of course) decided to report. No, news reporters and those who write editorials are not the cause of humanity’s fall and the sins in the Church.

Let me state that another way: blogs and websites that merely report on problems within the church, even when they use some editorializing, are not the cause of those problems in the first place. Furthermore, blogs that go beyond editorializing and self-consciously seek to promote the particular spin of a particular person or persons (such as OCATruth.com’s work on behalf of Fr. Joseph Fester’s rather caustic and manipulative take on things) are not the cause of the problems themselves. Editorializing does risk inflaming things a bit and OCATruth’s approach certainly promotes chaos but such occurrences merely build upon real problems already there.

I remember back when I attended a week-long seminar at a fundamentalist seminary. I was still in college at the time and just seeking to get a sense for how the seminary operated and taught on some things. One aspect of the discussions after class was devoted to debating the “666.” Well, turns out some thought “www” is “666.” I fear some in Orthodoxy might be just as ignorant. Or, there at least might be some Orthodox who hope that others are so ignorant. I don’t have the time to track down the comments now, but over the years, I’ve seen people comment on OCANews.org about how that site and others like it are the problem. I believe even a couple metropolitans from a couple jurisdictions have asserted as much. Admittedly, there’s an irony when the critique is made not from the podium, as a metropolitan, but on a blog, even the blog in question itself. My point here, though, is simply that they wouldn’t make such pleas if they didn’t think it plausible that some listeners would agree.

The main problem with such an approach is that it avoids the real problem. The real problem is lack of leadership and/or egregious sinfulness and/or malfeasance on the part of the leadership. And here we see that there can be different reasons for the various chaotic moments. Some involve inexperience and inept leadership decisions. I think the OCA Synod has been caught flat footed a bit recently. Some involve obvious sinfulness before the public (and this I don’t need to recount–it’s been published on sites like Ochlophobist–down for good now though–and OCANews.org).

If we maintain a distinction between the roots of the problems (leadership publicly making mistakes and sinning) and the reporting of the problems (even when editorialized or even when highly spun for a narrow perspective), we should be able to see that the real problem is not the internet. A despotic bishop may more closely resemble 666 than an Orthodox blog on www, just as an individual blogger may more closely resemble 666 than a Protestant praise hymn uploaded onto the www.

What is needed always and everywhere online is discernment. Amma Syncletica once said:

It is written, “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” [Mat 10.16]. Being like serpents means not ignoring attacks and wiles of the devil. Like is quickly known to like. The simplicity of the dove denotes purity of action.[Laura Swan, The Forgotten Desert Mothers (NY: Paulist Press, 2001), 57.

See, we are not called to falsely choose between Orthodox news and editorial blogs as internet gossip/666 or no such blogging. Rather, we are called to discern the devil’s influence and respond as a dove.

Note that being a dove does not mean ignoring the devil’s action. We have many, probably most, Orthodox blogs that do so ignore nearly any controversy within the Orthodox Church. That’s not to be our calling. Shoving one’s head in the sand is not a particularly Christian thing to do. On the other hand, when we do write and reflect, we ought to do so as doves, seeking purity. Sometimes, one’s dove-like intention might not be readily obvious and/or one might not quite reach that goal. For instance, some of my reflections on history have not always been seen as dove-like even though my intention has been to play a very very small role in the ongoing integrity of the Church’s reflection on her own history. That doesn’t make my intention any less dove-like. It just means others missed that or that my own sins got in the way of my intention. Trying to be a dove is aiming for purity.

So, as Orthodoxy moves forward in America and in the information age, let us keep the following in mind:

1. This IS the information age. It’s not changing back to 1985, much less 1800, any time soon.
2. We have leadership that needs a whack across the head by the Spirit just as we ourselves so often do. Pray for them.
3. Orthodox blogs and the internet are not inherently evil, even when some people write and post caustic and sinful pieces. Distinguish.
4. Be discerning and watchful–acknowledge the attacks of sin and the devil when and where they happen. Don’t choose to be ignorant.
5. Respond as a dove. Aim for purity. Respond, but do so for the good of the Church.