25 April 2013. Some Vox Pop from the Cabinet on “Modern Orthodoxy”

Do you want to know what modesty looks like? Look at this image…

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I’d like to offer another comparison of Modern Orthodox Jews to Modern Orthodox Christians. Modern Orthodox Jewish women follow Jewish modesty laws, but they do so in “normal” clothes readily available, just making sure that the items are modest. This blog is a good example. “Modern”, observant Orthodox Christian women dress modestly for church, as well, but in “normal” clothes. It’s very possible to be both stylish AND modest. In contrast, just as you can find more-”traditional” Orthodox Jewish women dressing very frumpily, so, too, you can find this amongst Orthodox Christians, especially the konvertsy. I have to stifle laughter when I see konvertsy women and their daughters dressed like prairie muffins with clothes right out of Little House on the Prairie. It’s an almost sure sign the family came from evangelical Protestant circles. Amongst the “normal” Orthodox circles I run in, I mostly see Orthodox women wearing their business clothes to church (skirt suit, dress, or blouse/sweater and skirt) with a scarf or little hat added for church head covering. Dresses/skirts are at the knee or a bit longer most of the time, although there’s nothing wrong with a longer skirt if one likes them.

The problem comes when an Orthodox Christian woman thinks that “modesty” means only skirts down to the floor, sleeves to the wrist only, and a head covering that resembles a repurposed large embroidered tablecloth or a Muslim woman’s head scarf. In fact, I’ve known Orthodox Christian women go to great lengths to buy clothes from stores that cater only to Muslim women. There’s something very off-kilter and wrong if Orthodox women think they need to look like Muslim women to be considered “modest”. What’s so wrong with these individuals (the women, and the men, including priests, who encourage this thinking) that they can’t go to church unless they wear so many clothes, even in the hottest summer weather, that only their face and hands are showing?

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Hear, hear… modesty doesn’t mean ugliness or weirdness. Fr Vsevolod Chaplin, one of the closest confidants of HH, has voiced the same concerns many times over. He’s for modesty under all circumstances, but he’s also opposed to priests who collect claques of oddly-dressed women around themselves… that’s not Orthodox in the least. Fr Vsevolod is no modernist… but he’s no obscurantist, either. In another related instance, to show you how his windsock points, he’s reiterated the Church’s REAL teaching on artificial birth control, which is that it’s allowed via oikonomia. In like manner, he teaches the Church’s true position on modesty… that one shouldn’t dress in a sexually-provocative manner (that goes for ordinary life, as well as church-going). However, you don’t have to wear a shapeless burlap sack, nor do you have to cover your head with a feedbag with holes cut out for your eyes.

God gave us good-sense, didn’t He? It’s clear that plunging necklines, micro-minis, and camis worn alone aren’t kosher for church wear (or for ordinary dressy affairs, either). We need to be told that? That kind of thing is obvious even to children. As bad as it is when young people do such, what’s worse is when someone over forty wears such… in virtually all cases, it’s an absolute eyesore (we’ve all seen it, haven’t we?). We don’t need rules… let’s face it, we all KNOW what’s provocative and what’s not (if you don’t know that, boy, are you in trouble, hon). What we do need is good example, wouldn’t you agree?

What’s modest? Look at the image posted at the head of the article. Metropolitan Hilarion Kapral is with modestly-dressed women… they’re not in black, and they’re not frumps (do note that feminine trousers are kosher). Any questions?

BMD

 

7 February 2013. Fascist Pig Potapov Opens Mouth on “Stalingrad”… Patriotic MP Priest Speaks the Truth

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This was on the official ROCOR website. It’s a satanic abomination:

How does the Russian Church Abroad view the renaming of the city of Volgograd to Stalingrad?

Protopriest Victor Potapov, Rector of St John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington DC, former Religion Editor at Voice of America, Dean of the Southern Deanery of the Eastern American Diocese of ROCOR, commented:

“When I heard about this, I was astonished at these people who so easily forget the horrors that Stalin inflicted in the 1920-30′s, the persecution he wrought against the Church. I can only imagine what worldwide outrage would be caused, especially on the part of the Russian people, if Germany, during the few days of celebrating an historic holiday, renamed the native city of Hitler to, say, Hitlerstadt. Stalin was an executioner, one of the main executioners of the 20th century. I simply cannot fathom such tender sentiments for this… this butcher! For me, a believer, this is simply incomprehensible.

I don’t understand what pride for the podvig , the spiritual triumph, of the Russian people in the Battle of Stalingrad has to do with the renaming of a city. The two things are incompatible, and anyway, the city was called Tsaritsyn before Stalin’s time. It was renamed in honor of Stalin because the Communists were sucking up to him. The heroic podvig of the warriors who defeated the fascists cannot be excised, of course. And the name Volgograd takes nothing away from this great achievement. I view this renaming very negatively. I can positively state that every believer and every clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia feels the same way.

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/engdocuments/enart_potapovstalin.html

Victor Potapov comes of a family who were collaborationist scum during the VOV, who had connections to the traitorous KONR and the anti-Semitic Vlasovtsy filth. Potapov himself was part of the American intel apparat, as VoA/RL is nothing but a Langley front. He also has deep connections with the Moonie-run Washington Times, one of the most Hard Right and Russophobic media outlets in the USA. He introduced Fathausen to all the Hard Right circles in the District (including the American Enterprise Institute). Potapov is a lying Hard Right Republican of the worst possible sort (he’s fully in sync with the GOP’s anti-Christian and ungodly Mammon-worshipping ideology). He lies when he says:

I view this renaming very negatively. I can positively state that every believer and every clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia feels the same way.

That is an absolute stone-cold lie. It isn’t true in the least. Potapov and his Hard Right clique (which includes Fathausen, Rod Dreher, Terrence Mattingly, Alexander Webster, and Freddie M-G) are the only ones who agree with this horseshit in its entirety. I’ve received comments from Russian friends on this wacko far-out opinion… it’s entirely negative. Here’s what the comments say:

“Fr Victor should come clean about which side his family was on in the War: did they stand with Stalin and the USSR, or, were they on the side of Hitler, the genocidal Ustaše, and the murderous Greek Catholic Banderites? These were the only two choices we had. No others existed. To say so is a lie and spits on the sacrifices of our Soviet Russian and Ukrainian people”.

“Would Fr Victor publicly state his views, please, on Hitler and the Jewish Holocaust? Can he please explain his assumed support of the anti-semite Vlasov and this issue?”

“He should be quiet! The Church OUTSIDE of Russia has no business stirring trouble for the Church OF Russia. Russia isn’t his jurisdiction. How would this CIA puppet react if the Russian bishops were to openly publish in the USA their known views on America’s massive criminal activities?”

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I agree wholeheartedly with the above comments. The ROCOR Holy Synod should silence this loudmouthed bastard. HH doesn’t agree with him (HH is friends with Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, Gennady Zyuganov, Pyotr Simonenko, and Fidel Castro Ruz). Hilarion Kapral owes the rest of the Church an apology for this unhinged lying rubbish, then, he should shitcan this fringe-rightwing POS. Potapov is moving heaven and earth to get his likeminded pal Fathausen into the ROCOR. I’d advise HH:

Do NOT allow Paffhausen into the ROCOR. He and Potapov would spin off into schism eventually, taking gullible believers with them. Paffhausen was nothing but trouble in the OCA… why bring him into your Church? Potapov (and Paffhausen) opposes Free Cuba and President Putin and supports the American infiltration of the CIS and NATO expansion. Paffhausen is of the same sort, only worse (yes, that’s possible). Why empower such creepo supremos? If you allow Paffhausen in, it’s allowing Langley in through the front door. As an Orthodox Christian and a Russian patriot, you must oppose these two cretins. Don’t forget how Potapov savagely attacked Patriarch Aleksei when he was in Washington in the ’90s… he’s NEVER repented of that blatant and obsequious act of Sergianism (sucking up to his Langley paymasters for all to see). Kaufft nicht bei Potapov.

Here’s what a patriotic MP priest said:

Well done for your Stalingrad report. We prayed for all those who died in defence of Orthodoxy and the Rodina at the Great Entrance yesterday. Our people like it. On 9 May I get out my father’s medals and wear them on the right side of my chest. Fascists out!

You can stand with collaborationist Sergianist filth like Potapov (a true Chekist in a riassa if there ever was such) or you can stand with honest decent patriotic people like this MP priest (who wished to be anonymous). That’s the only choice that you have. You can stand with Holy Russia (and its celebration of Stalingrad) or with Sectarian America (with its drone attacks, its war on Middle Eastern Christians, its Guantánamo gulag, and its satanic quasi-religion). Choose well.

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Thursday 7 February 2013

Albany NY 

A Wrap-up on the Mollard Affair… Do You See What I See?

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They’ve finally posted snaps of the installation banquet here… with none of them focusing on the crowd. Note the paucity of outside bishops. For Mollard’s installation, only Bishop Nicholas Ozone of Brooklyn (Patriarchate of Antioch… a vicar, not a ruling bishop), Archbishop Yustinian Ovchinnikov (MP), Bishop George Schaefer of Mayfield (ROCOR… a vicar, not a ruling bishop), and Metropolitan Dmitri Shiolashvili of Batum and Lazeti (Georgian Orthodox Church) were present. They represented only three Local Churches… Antioch, Russia, and Georgia. Of these four hierachs from other Local Churches, only two, Bishop Nicholas (Antioch) and Bishop George (ROCOR) are in the banquet images. Archbishop Yustinian (MP) and Metropolitan Dmitri (Georgian Church) aren’t in the pictures… were they at the shindig?

There was no “camera pan” shot of the whole hall with all the guests seated at their respective tables. The Ukies had at least one picture of this sort on their website, but they had at least 400 people in their hall for their banquet. There were also no snaps of US Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ) at the banquet; there were no photo-ops with Mollard or any other Holy Synod member. In addition, why were no “official” Democrats invited? It gives the impression that the Church approves of the agenda of the Republican Party, which it doesn’t. In any case, Mr Smith is an enemy of the Orthosphere… he supports papist proselytism in the rodina (he’s a fanatical papist). They had the gall to invite such filth to the installation. He supports the enemies of Christ’s Church in the homeland… he should NEVER have been invited. He’s also on the crank Helsinki Commission… who invited this zapadnik POS?

At Fathausen’s installation, there were Bishop Merkury Ivanov of the MP, Bishop Ilia of Philomelion (Church of Albania), and Archbishop Abel Popławski of Lublin and Chełm (Church of Poland). Besides that, Metropolitan Christopher Kovacevich (Serbian Orthodox Church), Archbishop Nicolae Condrea (Romanian Patriarchate), Bishop Thomas Joseph (Antiochian Patriarchate), and Bishop Jerome Shaw (ROCOR) were also present, making for seven outside bishops at the ceremony. In addition, the Russian Ambassador to the USA was at the affair, along with priests representing the GOAA, the Church of Czechia and Slovakia, and the UOC/MP. Thus, eight Local Churches were represented, five more than at Mollard’s fête (but only six sent bishops).

At Herman’s installation, amongst the concelebrating hierarchs were Bishop Savas Zembillas, Chancellor of the GOAA (EP), Bishop Georgios (Patriarchate of Alexandria), Bishop Demetri Khoury of Jableh (Antiochian Patriarchate), Archbishop Damaskinos of Jaffa (Patriarchate of Jerusalem); Metropolitan Filaret Vakhromeyev of Minsk and Slutsk (MP), Bishop Merkury Ivanov (MP), Archbishop Nicolae (Patriarchate of Romania), Metropolitan Sawa Hrycuniak of Warsaw and all Poland, Archbishop Abel Popławski of Lublin and Chełm (Church of Poland), Bishop Semjon Jakovljević (Church of Czechia and Slovakia), Metropolitan Daniel Nushiro (Autonomous Orthodox Church of Japan/MP), Archbishop Avgustin of Lvov and Galicia (UOC/MP). Thus, there were twelve outside bishops representing eight Local Churches. There was a First Hierarch of a Local Church present, along with two First Hierarchs of Autonomous Churches under the MP.

Do you see what I see? Did you notice the downward trend from Herman to Fatso to Mollard? If that doesn’t tell you something, you’re blind. By the way… Hilarion Kapral just visited Mollard in Syosset, accompanied by Seraphim Gan and Yustinian. Gan’s no surprise… he’s Lyonyo’s crosstown pal and crony. Hilarion still looks rocky… but do note that he didn’t show for Mollard’s installation (no doubt, Gan has a glib excuse ready… he’s that slippery sort). Also, note that Michael Dahulich has been named Secretary of the OCA Holy Synod… that’s a move they’ll live to regret. Dahulich is ambitious to a fault, a quasi-papist (got his PhD at a papist school), and he’s probably an EP mole… in short, he’s no one to trust… NEVER ever turn your back on him. He’s the sort that doesn’t look people straight in the eye… a matushka warned me of that, and I’ve sat next to Dahulich and I can testify that it’s true that he “looks past people” and that he’s a cold fish personally.

We’re in for “interesting times”… God do help us…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Tuesday 29 January 2013

Albany NY

27 December 2012. Grapevine Sez that Fathausen Wants to Stay in the District… Is Potapov Gathering a Faction of Rightwing Nutters?

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The grapevine sez that JP really wants to stay in the Washington DC area, that he doesn’t want to leave the District. That leads to many interesting questions, not least the one that the District is one of the most expensive places to live in the USA, so, where is he going to get the dengi to live there? ROCOR certainly doesn’t have the money! Is he going to hit up Potapov for a subsidy from Langley? Hilarion Kapral doesn’t have the cash… and the Centre’s not going to bankroll a Hard Right hater of the rodina.

However, that’s not as important as the murkiness of this supposed “invitation” from the ROCOR. There’s nothing on either the official OCA or ROCOR websites on this deal. No one knows who’s proffering the “invitation”… is it Potapov? Is it Hilarion Kapral? Is it the ROCOR Holy Synod? Whomever it is should have the stones to stand forth and say, “I’m inviting Paffhausen to come into the ROCOR as a retired bishop”. If they don’t, they’re despicable punks and low scummers, unfit for the company of decent people. Besides that, the use of the word “invitation” is strange. We don’t talk that way. Is the OCA Holy Synod giving El Gordo a canonical release? If so, they should be open and forthright as Christians should be, not slinking like disreputable crooks.

In any case, Potapov’s gathering a nutty squirrel rightwing faction around him in the District. This has happened twice before in the history of the ROCOR, and in both cases, it led to disruption and schism. The first was the sodomite Gleb Podmoshensky (GP) and his adoring konvertsy claque. This caused all sort of rumpus until the ROCOR Holy Synod shitcanned GP for serving under suspension (but Lebedeff admitted on the Indiana List that it was actually for nasty doings). The second was the brouhaha around Panteleimon Metropoulos which led to the HOCNA schism. In both cases, ambitious clergy surrounded themselves with vacuous and clueless konvertsy.

In the present instance, Potapov’s surrounded himself with konvertsy nudniks such as Freddy M-G, Rod Dreher, Alexander Webster, Terrence Mattingly, and (now) Fathausen. That is, Potapov was unable to raise a following amongst grounded Orthodox, so he’s raised up a “Children’s Crusade” of the half-baked to carry his rightwing banner. Should I mention that Potapov’s notions are completely against the Mother Church‘s explicit teachings and actions in re social mission? After all, HH believes that the Free Market‘s a fraud, and he’s friends with Castro, Simonenko, and Zyuganov (that’s 180 degrees removed from Potapov’s lunacy). Potapov’s replaced Real Orthodoxy with a drooling apologia for Godless Western Materialism and Warfare… and he’ll go the way of Podmoshensky and Metropoulos (Potapov’s a Varnava Prokofiev and must be treated accordingly). Oh, did I mention that Fathausen was tied up intimately with GP? My, my, my… the man certainly likes schismatical notions… what does that tell you about him?

In short, this is another murky and dirty First Family machination. Will they come clean? Don’t hold your breath waiting…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Thursday 27 December 2012

Albany NY