An Unfortunate Event

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

The summit between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, is now over. I am not sure what was actually accomplished, but that is not my present concern. There was a deeply unfortunate event that was peripheral to the two presidents meeting. And that was the OCA Archbishop of Alaska - Aleksei - cordially and warmly greeting Putin and exchanging pleasantries and icons with him. Vladimir Putin is the personal source behind the war in Ukraine that has caused unbelievable suffering and grief for literally millions of people. Currently, the International Crime Court (ICC) has issued a warrant for his arrest, for the crime of kidnapping about 20,000 Ukrainian children and deporting them to Russia. Watching the warm greeting between this dictator and an Orthodox Archbishop was a cause of deep disappointment and dismay for both presvytera and me. It is not as if Putin is a benign representative of the Russian Orthodox Church! 

Presvytera Deborah and I have written a joint letter to Metropolitan Tikhon to express our profound disagreement with what transpired in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday (the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God!). Presvytera and I made it clear that this was a personal letter from the two of us, and not written on behalf of the parish. 

This unfortunate event is pulsating throughout the OCA. I will assume that some members of the Church had no issues with this meeting, but many clergy and laity are angered and frustrated. I have already heard from them. It is time for the Church to speak out on behalf of the Gospel of Jesus Christ against war-mongering and the kidnapping of children. Silence in the face of such calculated injustice is unworthy of the Church. This cannot be hidden behind cordial greetings, pious rhetoric and the exchange of gifts. 

I encourage everyone to remain faithful to Christ and the Gospel. Christ is the Truth and that Truth will always ultimately prevail. Our Christian witness is to always choose to stand with Christ and the Gospel over all oppressive forces that seek to harm other innocent human beings. May the Lord strengthen us in that witness!

In Christ,

Fr. Steven 

The Witness of Alexei Navalny

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

I have taken these words of Alexei Navalny from a longer article found on the website Public Orthodoxy. These words of Navalny before the Russian judge who would sentence him to prison are introduced by a rather disquieting question by Inga Leonova. I am certain that everyone is aware of the that Alexei Navalny died recently while serving a sentence in a Siberian prison because of his sustained opposition to the repressive regime in Russia.

"What can we, the Orthodox, make of the fact that one of the strongest Christian sermons in recent years was delivered as the last word in the unjust trial of an opposition leader?"

__________

If you want, I’ll talk to you about God and salvation. I’ll turn up the volume of heartbreak to the maximum, so to speak. The fact is that I am a Christian, which usually rather sets me up as an example for constant ridicule in the Anti-Corruption Foundation, because mostly our people are atheists and I was once quite a militant atheist myself. But now I am a believer, and that helps me a lot in my activities, because everything becomes much, much easier. I think about things less. There are fewer dilemmas in my life, because there is a book in which, in general, it is more or less clearly written what action to take in every situation. It’s not always easy to follow this book, of course, but I am actually trying. And so, as I said, it’s easier for me, probably, than for many others, to engage in politics.

A man recently wrote to me, “Navalny, why does everyone write to you, ‘Hold on, don’t give up, be patient, grit your teeth?’ What do you have to tolerate? You kind of said in the interview that you believe in God. The Bible says, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.’ Well, that’s just great for you, isn’t it!” And I thought, how well this man understands me! Because it’s not that I’m fine, but I’ve always thought that this particular commandment is more or less an instruction to activity. And so, while certainly not really enjoying the place where I am, I have no regrets about coming back, or about what I’m doing. It’s fine, because I did the right thing. On the contrary, I feel a real kind of satisfaction. Because at some difficult moment I did as required by the instructions, and did not betray the commandment.

And there’s one more important thing. Without question, this whole Biblical passage—“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled”—comes across as overly theatrical to modern ears. It is assumed that people who say such things are crazy, not to put too fine a point on it—crazy oddbods who sit there alone in their rooms with disheveled hair, attempting to cheer themselves up by any means possible, because they are lonely and not needed by anyone. This is the key point. Our authorities and the system as a whole try to tell these people that they are pathetic loners.

The first priority is to intimidate people, and then to prove to them that they are loners, and to imply that no normal or sane person would adhere to teachings of this kind. This attempt to make people believe that they are loners is highly significant, since it represents one of the goals pursued by the authorities. Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter books was a remarkable philosopher who said something very wise about this topic. You might remember her saying to Harry Potter, in an attempt to give him courage in the face of adversity; “Well, if I were You-Know-Who… I’d want you to feel cut off from everyone else…” There can be no doubt that our own You-Know-Who in his palace would also want that.

These guards are great chaps, and the guards in my prison are also decent folk, but they don’t talk to me—they have apparently been forbidden to do so. They sometimes come out with stock phrases. This is also very important, because the aim is for me to feel unceasingly lonely. Yet this is not how I feel at all. And I will explain why. This teaching—“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied”—appears somehow esoteric and odd, but in fact it is the central political doctrine in modern Russia. Your Honor, what is it, this phrase or slogan, the most important political slogan in Russia? Where does power lie? Power lies in truth. That is what this teaching is saying. That is how it could be compressed into a Tweet, omitting the unnecessary words such as “for” and “thirst.” This is what it essentially means. And the whole country repeats in many different permutations that power lies in truth, and that whoever holds the truth will be victorious.

^{– Alexey Navalny’s closing remarks in Moscow City Court, February 20, 2021.}

 

The Death of Alexei Navalny

Photo: free.navalny.com

Dear Parish Faithful,

I am sure that most of you have heard that the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny died last Friday while languishing in a Siberian prison near the Arctic circle (a prison that was formerly part of the Soviet Gulag slave labor camps), the victim of an oppressive authoritarian system that is responsible for his death, regardless of what the final "medical" reason behind his death actually is. That is something we may never know. And only God knows what he suffered in that prison for the last three years. 

In an age seemingly devoid of heroes, Navalny happens to be precisely that - a man of great courage and integrity. In short - a real hero. And these powerful virtues are in sharp contrast with the dictator who feared his principled opposition and then persecuted him. After nearly dying from an attempt to poison him, Navalny bravely returned to Russia to resume his role of opposition to the Putin regime. He was immensely popular. But he clearly understood the danger of returning to his home country and putting himself within the grasp of the authorities. As put in a new article in "Foreign Affairs" by the journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan:

For Russian society, confused, depressed, and constantly besieged by an ever more repressive regime, Navalny was a lone unifying figure. Although Russian authorities isolated him in increasingly restrictive layers of confinement since his arrest on his return to Russia in 2021, he continued to have that stature right up to the moment of his death. Navalny’s demise marks a dark new step in Putin’s ruthless pursuit of power. But it also raises a stark challenge for Russia’s opposition, which must now figure out how to sustain the unity he created and seize the movement he left behind.

I do believe that it is "meet and right" to acknowledge Alexei Navalny's tragic death so that we can think about what it means to stand up today for truth and honesty in a time when posturing and rhetoric are being rewarded by a great deal of public opinion. If the word martyrdom means "witness," we can say that Navalny was a martyr, for he was a witness who gave his life for the sake of defending justice and honesty - what we would call "righteousness" -  as did St. John the Forerunner. Like St. John, he boldly stood up to and spoke against a leader who ruled through fear and oppression. The Herods of old have been replaced all through history by latter-day tyrants exhibiting the same dreary traits of corruption and cowardice. They can only respond to strong morally-based opposition by repression and persecution. That is precisely why history judges them as "infamous." But their victims are deeply respected and remembered as heroes and "icons" of goodness and moral integrity. 

I would like to also share a couple of paragraphs from an article by the esteemed journalist and historian, Anne Applebaum, a scholar who has spent most of her professional life studying and writing about totalitarian regimes in which basic civility is cynically trampled on. The article from which this paragraphs is taken, was published on Friday in the Atlantic Monthly and is entitled "Why Russia Killed Navalny."

The enormous contrast between Navalny’s civic courage and the corruption of Putin’s regime will remain. Putin is fighting a bloody, lawless, unnecessary war, in which hundreds of thousands of ordinary Russians have been killed or wounded, for no reason other than to serve his own egotistical vision.

Even behind bars Navalny was a real threat to Putin, because he was living proof that courage is possible, that truth exists, that Russia could be a different kind of country. For a dictator who survives thanks to lies and violence, that kind of challenge was intolerable. Now Putin will be forced to fight against Navalny’s memory, and that is a battle he will never win.

Alexei Navalny was a man of great moral integrity. His untimely death is a tragedy. We hope that it was not in vain. As we exclaim in the Church: Memory Eternal!

 

A REFLECTION ON THE WAR IN UKRAINE

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

The situation in Ukraine is desperate and worsens by the hour. The unprovoked attack on this sovereign country by Vladimir Putin and the Russian military is already a humanitarian crisis unknown to Europe since WW II. There are over a million refugees fleeing Ukraine as of now, and the number grows daily. It is very difficult to find the words to fully express the murderous devastation unleashed by Putin upon an innocent people that he claims, as a Russian, to have such close historical, cultural and religious ties with. Perhaps we can say there is something deeply sinister and even hideous in Putin's willingness to slaughter the Ukrainian people in order to fulfill his fantasy of restoring the former Soviet Empire. As the death toll rises among innocent men, women, and children, it is deeply troubling to sit back and watch this in the comfort of our homes. 

 

Ukraine's largest flag flies over Kiev

 

How can we fathom the horror of having a sick tyrant do whatever is necessary to destroy Ukraine - a free, democratic country. For that is clearly his goal, as Kremlin watchers inform us. There is no "off ramp" at this point in time for Putin to exit onto. This is not the time to call Putin a "genius," or tell us how "sophisticated" he is. Vladimir Putin is a corrupt, autocratic thug, and he has made himself a pariah in the eyes of the civilized world. It is clear that many Russian people are vehemently opposed to this war, and I can only hope that their numbers increase to the point that he cannot jail or silence them all. As a ray of light, we are deeply moved by the courage and resolve of the Ukrainian people as they offer their lives in defense of their homeland. What a contrast between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin!

On the "spiritual level," Putin poses as an Orthodox Christian. Meaning, we can assume that he was baptized as an Orthodox Christian (as was Joseph Stalin); and he appears publicly in church either venerating an icon, crossing himself, lighting a candle, or receiving a blessing from the patriarch. As I have said to others, as Orthodox Christians this can only embarrass us and fill us with shame. His actions are not only "un-Christian," they are completely anti-Christian. (If a Ukrainian considered him to be an antichrist figure, who will argue against that?). Would a Christian leader unleash his war machine against his fellow innocent Orthodox Christians on the eve of Great Lent? Is Putin aware that Forgiveness Sunday is fast approaching? Ukrainian Christians are taking up their personal crosses as Great Lent guides them to Golgotha and the Cross of Christ. Is Putin aware that by next Monday Orthodox Christians across the world enter into the "School of Repentance?” These questions may seem naive in the world of realpolitik, but there are Orthodox Christians - including here in America - who commend Putin for his piety and visibility in the Church. This is profoundly misguided and misleading.

Are his actions what we would want or expect from an Orthodox Christian leader supposedly defending traditional Christian values? I just saw a video of a young evangelical Christian woman praise Putin as a "Christian nationalist" who protects Christian values. What values would those be? I have no idea as to whether or not Putin approaches the Chalice for Holy Communion. If so, and if Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow had any courage, shouldn't he excommunicate Putin? Just one example: We tell young people in love that if they choose to have sex outside of marriage then they should not approach the Chalice. Can the Church, then, with any integrity, allow a mass murderer guilty of war crimes to receive the Eucharist? 

Here is a powerful critique, if not a rebuke, of those members of our hierarchy, beginning with Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia, who have responded with bland admonishments to "seek and pray for peace" over the war in Ukraine. None of these hierarchs here criticized by Archdeacon John Chryssavgis have denounced Putin's actions for what they are: The immoral and sinful actions of a twisted mind that should be denounced by the Church with the same vehemence as secular writers denounce him. Pious phrases and appeals to humility cannot mask outright evil. Once we realize that that is what we are dealing with, we will then be able to appreciate the victory of Christ over all evil and death itself.

https://publicorthodoxy.org/2022/02/27/orthodox-christian-standing-with-ukraine/

Fr. Steven & Presvytera Deborah

 

The 'Spiritual Damage' of War

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in sons of men, in whom there is no salvation." (Psalm 145:3 LXX)

"For the peace of the whole world ... " (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

"Nothing is more contrary to God's will for creatures fashioned in his image and likeness than violence one against another, and nothing more sacrilegious than the organized practice of mass killing. All human violence is in some sense a rebellion against God and the divinely created order." (For the Life of the World - Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church)

The anticipated invasion of Ukraine - a sovereign country - by overwhelmingly superior Russian forces - is now underway. This invasion has nothing resembling a justifiable cause. Yet, leaving "politics" aside for the moment, we must acknowledge the grave "spiritual damage" this war will extract from its participants and for the entire world. 

 

 

I am shaken by the spectacle of Orthodox Christians slaughtering one another. In fact, the strong historical, cultural and religious bonds of both countries has recently been stressed by the aggressors. As is well-known, Russia and Ukraine are both primarily Orthodox Christian countries. I am sure that the vast majority of the Russian armed forces - both men and women - are Orthodox Christians. Ukraine has a much larger Roman Catholic population than Russia, but Ukraine remains a predominantly Orthodox country (67% according to a recent survey). These soldiers will probably be "blessed" by a bishop or priest, together with their weapons, with Holy Water and then begin the carnage of killing one another. In fact, they may "prepare" for their war effort by first going to Confession and then receiving Communion. So, after being united in the common chalice as "brothers and sisters" in Christ, they will then go about the business of killing these very "brothers and sisters." And then there could be a horrific death toll among the innocent civilian population of Ukraine. 

What a sad and tragic reality! The sheer madness of it is staggering: Praying to the "same God" for protection and victory in battle as Christians and then killing each other with impunity. I am certainly not implying that it is less sinful or spiritually devastating to kill non-Orthodox Christians or non-Christian peoples! But I am speaking as a member within the Orthodox Church and stressing the total incompatibility of the vision of life within the Church and its perversion in "real time." 

We can only pray to God for peace and that the human suffering and death will be limited.