EDITORIAL FOREWORD

Last week or so, an Orthodox parish priest in the US and his Facebook followers were passing the time of day dragging Public Orthodoxy (“If Arius had had a blog…”), Orthodoxy in Dialogue, and our senior editor through the mud. They wondered—in a superb example of the classical non sequitur—how anyone exploring the theological meaning of same-sex love could possibly have an opinion on white supremacy in our Church. 

In an indictment apparently meant to deal the coup de grâce, the priest exclaimed to his indignant interlocutors: ORTHODOXY IN DIALOGUE HAS NEVER CONDEMNED ABORTION!

Guilty as charged: We have never “condemned abortion.”

Statistics show that “condemning abortion” has failed to save a single baby’s life. What it does do is make abortion-condemners feel good about themselves; target certain women as especially heinous sinners (“Thank you, God, for not making me like them“); and put the lives of significant numbers of women at risk when they are faced with a decision that no man will ever have to make. 

Before today we have published three articles on abortion: this one by Nicholas Sooy, and this one and this one by Giacomo Sanfilippo. All three are profoundly pro-life. All three affirm the Church’s changeless teaching on when human life begins. All three—each in its own way—seek to reduce as much as possible the incidence of abortion. Yet neither author felt it useful to “condemn” anyone, especially given that the Only-Begotten Son of God came to condemn only the self-righteous.

The following article adds an important voice to our conversation.

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This may well become the most important editorial that we ever publish. Please read it carefully.

In the past, to maintain the integrity of Orthodoxy in Dialogue, we have refused to publish articles anonymously or pseudonymously when asked to do so. Yet in the case of the following two emails we offered to do so, unasked by the author, for his/her very safety.

Here we have a voice crying out to be heard from the Orthodox underground, an underground that we are coming to understand is much larger than we could have first imagined—where Orthodox Christians in America live in fear of their brother and sister Orthodox Christians.

Let. That. Sink. In. 

The first email responds to an invitation posted in Orthodoxy in Dialogue‘s Facebook group for members to suggest topics on which prospective authors might consider writing.

I would like to see how, historically, Protestant theology has negatively influenced Orthodoxy. In Greece there have been considerable Protestant efforts at evangelization, as well as efforts by Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. The latter have unfortunately had considerable success. On the Orthodox side, successful efforts to combat Western influences in Greece have included the movement that Kontoglou started in Byzantine iconography and the works of Father John Romanides (who was at first rejected in Greece, but has now been accepted by most).  

What is more difficult to pin down is the contemporary influence that the large number of primarily Protestant converts is having on Orthodoxy in the United States. Of course, we are overjoyed to see so many people converting to Orthodoxy. But in many ways American culture and thinking offer poor soil for Orthodoxy to develop in.
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Our first interview with Father Martin appeared on August 22. We are delighted for this opportunity to touch base with him again.

With members of Scranton Inclusion, University of Scranton, Fall 2017

Giacomo: Hello, Father Jim! It’s so great to chat with you again. Thanks so much for making the time for us.

Father Jim: My pleasure.  

Giacomo: Briefly, how have things been going for you since we first chatted in August, especially with respect to Building a Bridge?

Father Jim: Well, since that time there has been a great deal more conversation about the book, both in the church in the public square. And, as you might have heard, the near hysterical reactions on a few far-right websites has led to the cancellations of several lectures, as well as protests and picketing at some of my talks. But, as for myself, I’m at peace with it all, which has been a great grace. After we chatted, in fact, I had a wonderfully consoling eight-day retreat, which helped to put everything into perspective. Retreats almost always do that.

Giacomo: Expand, if you will, on the more positive aspects of your book’s reception over the past five months since we first talked.

Father Jim: Certainly the standouts have been the encounters I’ve had with LGBT people and their families. After every talk, there are lots of hugs and lots of tears, and meeting so many wonderful Catholics who share their stories with me has been a huge blessing. In fact, just last week at Georgetown University, a college student surprised me by saying, “I came out as a lesbian to my friends and family, thanks to you.” Read More

Yesterday we published Halya Coynash’s “Russia-Backed ‘Cossack’ Fighters Take Oath in Moscow Patriarchate Church,” in which she references an April 2015 study entitled, “When God Becomes the Weapon.” The study was produced jointly by the  Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) in Kyiv and the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) in Brussels.  

Despite its being almost three years old, this study sheds important light on Russia’s ongoing low-grade war against Ukraine and the role of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Kremlin’s geopolitical aggressions. 

Here we share a few key excerpts. The link to the full 22-page PDF is provided below.

The Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) was established in May 2007 to promote human rights and the values of democracy and solidarity in Ukraine and Eurasia. The NGO is based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Last year, the Center for Civil Liberties began documenting human rights violations during the EuroMaidan events and subsequently in Crimea and Donbas. CCL conducts this work by deploying mobile groups to different parts of the liberated areas in Donbas to gather and verify information on human rights abuses.

International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) is a non-profit organization based in Brussels. Founded in April 2008, its mandate is to support local civil society groups in their work to eradicate violations of human rights and help their concerns and efforts be heard at the international level. Currently, the IPHR team is investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine by interviewing victims of violence, inspecting sites of conflict and collecting evidence. The goal is to collect enough substantial evidence to fight against impunity for those committing human rights abuses and to help victims seek just satisfaction through legal proceedings at national and international levels. Read More