tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post2712413769948665391..comments2024-03-22T11:37:52.668-05:00Comments on Byzantine, Texas: Calls for removal of Russian Church from WCCByzantine, TXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17845681957622343484noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-66678008485954712922022-04-16T10:07:48.067-05:002022-04-16T10:07:48.067-05:00Only the WCC? That's a bit limited eh?Only the WCC? That's a bit limited eh?Jon Marchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17906335382429497204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-66558629914366817542022-04-15T15:06:09.247-05:002022-04-15T15:06:09.247-05:00The only ecumenicism that matters is communion wit...The only ecumenicism that matters is communion with fellow Orthodox, who are currently split several different ways last I counted.<br /><br />I imagine Russian society is roughly divided over the Ukraine war in much the same way the US was divided over the second Iraq war. Half the US saw it as a pretextual war crime, and half saw it as a righteous crusade against dictatorship and Weapons of Mass Destruction. I assume (this was before my chrismation) that at least some Orthodox bishops supported the US government's war on Iraq.<br /><br />Russia gets invaded from its western frontier rather consistently--it wants access to the Black Sea, and it doesn't want NATO in Ukraine, which it regards as an imperial province in any event. +Kirill is an elderly, conservative Russian; he likely reflects the views of lots of elderly, conservative Russians. His Church is wedded to the country of Russia through a long, intergenerational succession of baptisms, weddings and funerals. The Russian Orthodox Church is as Russian as the Greek Orthodox Church is Greek. When the Russian State goes to war, its Church supports it. This perspective is not so alien to American Christians, who accept their country's ultimate secular democratic authority over the Church.<br /><br />In any event, fratricidal wars between two peoples with sub-replacement fertility are tragic and horrible, and Putin should not have initiated hostilities. The churchmen on both sides should be exhorting their national leadership for peace.The Anti-Gnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04386593803225823789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-42622370582652901882022-04-15T12:34:07.978-05:002022-04-15T12:34:07.978-05:00Well, that would be ironic: an Orthodox church lea...Well, that would be ironic: an Orthodox church leaving the ecumenical movement, but unwillingly and because of falling into sins that repel even the heterodox. --Dionysius Redington Norman Hugh Redingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05532518787129783469noreply@blogger.com