20 May 2013. Where Do They Get Their “Attitude?”

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One wonders… is Cossack attitude inborn or is it taught? I, for one, vote for it being part of one’s being… that is, you “get it through the tittie”. That’s not only true of Cossacks, it’s true of all the Orthosphere peoples… be they Greeks, Armenians, Copts, Ethiopians, Russians, Serbs, or Hillbilly Ossetians (don’t mess with ‘em, y’ hear; they DO know how to take care of themselves, they proved that in the recent war). We have not only a religion, we have a culture that comes wrapped indissolubly around it. That’s why it’s so difficult for newbies to “get it right”… it doesn’t come out of a book, “it comes through the tittie”. A whole new world has to be born in a convert’s soul to receive the Truth… which means that they have to walk away from the whole lot that they once believed in. They’re not doing that… ergo, they’re not truly converting. Sad, ain’t it? However, for how much longer can we afford to tolerate posturing semi-converted Anglicans amongst us (I know real Anglicans… they don’t have the hangups that the konvertsy have, trust me on that one)?

You can have the books or you can have the iaias and babas… that’s what on offer… I think that you know where I stand…

BMD

May Day Labour Day Holiday in Greece Moved to 7 May to Help Struggling Store Owners

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The Labour Ministry agreed that the May Day Labour Day holiday would be on Tuesday, 7 May. The change came after a request by store owners, who feared that they’d lose vital business if May Day were on 1 May, which is also the Wednesday before Orthodox Easter. Traders hope that they’d see an upturn in the number of customers visiting their shops ahead of the Easter holidays. Therefore, the holiday would be on a day when stores would close anyway, due to the Easter break. Only businesses that work on Sundays or during public holidays would be able to operate normally on 7 May.

8 April 2013

Kathimerini

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_08/04/2013_492490

11 March 2013. St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church Puts GOAA Between Rock and Hard Place… You’re NOT Supposed to Allow a Clergyman Suspended by a Proper Holy Synod to Act as a Clergyman on Your Property

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Click here… it’s more evidence that St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church is spitting on the OCA Holy Synod by allowing Ray Velencia to act as a clergyman there. This is highly irregular and more than slightly wacky. Firstly, the parish didn’t get permission from Archbishop Demetrios Trakatellis to defy the OCA Holy Synod. No way, no how… no matter how much ‘rasslin’ may go on between the Russians and the Greeks, both sides respect the other’s Synodal decisions. That is, to invite Ray Velencia to act as a clergyman on GOAA property was inappropriate and it was an idiosyncratic action of the parish, which dragged in the whole GOAA. You see, if this parish has RV act as a clergyman, they say, in effect, “We reject the disciplinary action of the OCA Holy Synod and we hold it in contempt”. No matter which way you slice this rotten hunk of bologna, it stinks to high heaven.

That is, Ray Velencia holds the OCA Holy Synod in contempt, for his acting as a clergyman in a GOAA venue is contrary to his suspension. St Demetrios parish holds the OCA Holy Synod in contempt, for refusing to comply with a legit decision. Velencia is a clergyman incardinated in the OCA, NOT the GOAA. Indeed, the only way that Ray could serve in a GOAA parish is with the permission of his ruling bishop, which he doesn’t have. Conversely, the only legit way for St Demetrios to have Ray serve there is with the permission of their ruling bishop, which they don’t have either. In short, this rebellious OCA priest and this rebellious GOAA parish have committed their respective archdioceses to a pointless and bootless wrangle. Frankly, it’s easy to solve. Vladyki Demetrios should say, “I’m sorry that this untoward event happened. I didn’t know about it, but I’m responsible for this mess”. Tikhon Mollard should say, “You don’t need to apologise… YOU didn’t do anything. I know that you’ll keep this suspended cleric from ever serving in any of your parishes ever again”. Actually, Demetrios Trakatellis would be the “lawnmower”, and the St Demetrios clergy would be the “grass” (as in, “Your ass is grass and I’m the lawnmower”).

Howard Needle claims that RV’s case is “highly meritorious”…  I wonder what any judge would say after finding out that Sir Ray represented himself as a clergyman after his public, merited, and quite-in-order suspension from the clergy (he’s not supposed to dress as or represent himself as a cleric). That would blow RV’s cred all to hell. After all, a “suspension” in canonical terms is the equivalent of being found guilty of a misdemeanour in legal terms (defrocking is the equivalent of a felony, I’d say). That is, Ray is a convicted criminal in Church terms… and the OCA Holy Synod handed out an appropriate punishment… which he refuses to respect (and the jerks at St Demetrios back him up… as their repeated invites to RV to speak there prove).

Here’s how a reasonable and decent person would solve it. Demetrios would give a pro forma apology to Tikhon, who’d graciously refuse it. Demetrios would “bad dog” St Demetrios for making him step in a cow pat unnecessarily (and in public, no less). Tikhon would convene the OCA Holy Synod, which would then defrock Ray for representing himself as a clergyman whilst under suspension. The two bishs “win” and the bad boys “lose”… what’s not to like?

Quo vadis? This IS a defining moment, after all…

BMD

 

Government and SYRIZA Clash Over Church Tax Proposal

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On Monday, the relationship between the Greek state and the Church of Greece became the focus of a fresh clash between the government and the main opposition SYRIZA party after a leftist MP proposed the introduction of a new tax to pay clerics’ wages. SYRIZA deputy Tasos Kourakis said that the Church should start funding itself instead of relying on dwindling state coffers. Kourakis told a conference organised by the Theology Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki that another option would be to impose a church tax on all Greeks who declare themselves Orthodox Christians. He said that revenues from it could go toward church costs and clerics’ salaries.

The rightwing New Democracy shot down the idea, which likened the proposed tax to “Stalinist measures”. ND argued that such a levy would be unconstitutional, as it would discriminate between Greeks based on their religious beliefs. SYRIZA noted that Kourakis’s proposal was the MP’s “personal opinion”, but said that Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras had mooted a similar initiative in the fall of 2011 when the latter was head of the Foundation for Industrial and Economic Research (IOBE). Stournaras accused SYRIZA of distorting comments that he made during a TV interview, when he noted that other European citizens don’t pay clerics’ salaries through taxation without proposing however that Greece follow suit.

28 January 2013

Kathimerini

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_28/01/2013_480874

Editor’s Note:

What SYRIZA proposes is nothing more than the system in place in Germany, where citizens pay a “church tax” that goes to the church of their choice. If one isn’t religious, the money goes into a general charity fund. “Stalinist” is usually “right-speak” for “we don’t like this and we want to demonise the people making this proposal” (such as Potapov’s recent crackbrained initiative concerning “Stalingrad” in the ROCOR). In short, the SYRIZA proposal isn’t leftist at all; it’s merely fair. It simply places the burden of support of the Orthodox Church on Orthodox believers. That’s as it should be, kids… New Democracy is sinking into irrelevance along with PASOK… SYRIZA is Greece’s future, as this common-sense proposal indicates. You can have SYRIZA or you can have Golden Dawn (which is neo-Nazi, fascist, racist, and xenophobic… that’s no choice at all)… that’s the real-world choice on offer… there’s nothing else. It’s clear that SYRIZA’s the better choice.

BMD