“I’ve Got to Tell You This Because You Really Have to Know the Truth About Them…”

Editor’s Foreword:

Whew! I go away for an hour or two and I come back and find that my e-mail inbox is clogged! You people are dear and humble me…

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How many times have you heard the above from someone? More than once… every time that I hear it, I make a mental note to myself… “Everything that’s going to follow this is probably either untrue or exaggerated… it seems that they don’t like that person. Hmm… they must disagree. Well… smile… say nothing… and believe nothing that comes out of their mouth”. I knew that, sadly, the above would not be a novelty to you… it is one of the main methods used to smear people on the ‘net. It is used to distract people from the actual topic under discussion, I have found (and so have you, haven’t you?).

Indeed, it is a long-used technique of the OCA apparat to smear its opposition. For many years, it remained unreported. Therefore, it wasn’t mentioned, and the apparatchiki smugly said, “It doesn’t exist”. For instance, a person sidled up to me and said, “Bishop Job is a drunk”. My reply was short and to the point, “Better an honest drunk than a sober thief”. Whew! You should have seen this human cockroach slither back into his hole!

I expect personal attacks for speaking out openly on the current imbroglio surrounding the Nashotah House Abomination. Let’s keep this simple… keep the discussion focused on the facts or go home… JP and Hatfield signed an agreement with an institution that is affiliated with a heretical confession that is not in communion with any recognised Local Church. Any of my real or supposed failings do not negate that fact. I am only a messenger… if any OCA response focuses on me and my peccadilloes and sins, and not on the manifest actions at Nashotah House committed by JP and Hatfield… well, you know what that means! It means that the facts reported are accurate and that they cannot refute them, ergo… ATTACK THE MESSENGER.

Truly, they have such little regard for your intelligence and judgement that they believe that they can distract you by such a recitation. Trust me… we all have interesting skeletons in our collective closets… we have all sinned. Therefore, I have not mentioned any of the tales that are circulating on the personal moral failures of some of the public figures involved (for instance, if someone has a trouble with the bottle (and that is true of one of the figures concerned), that is a matter for compassion, I would say… I refuse to use it as a weapon against them!)…

My inbox on my e-mail has been jammed… it has not surprised me that there are those who are violent supporters of JP and his position. I do note the following… most of those who are supporting JP have Anglo-Saxon names… most of those who support the Lived Orthodox position are “ethnics”… Nevertheless, we should not jump to conclusions… all that one can say is that this is true of those who have taken a public position on the issue to the present moment. I think that most people have not decided yet… they are waiting to see if JP and Co disown this particular little abomination. Whatever you may hear about me… the OCA chose not to publicise this on their official website… they chose to hide this from you. That is how much regard they have for you… don’t forget Eric Iliff and Kristi Koumentakos! Don’t forget what they truly think of you:

Pay, pray, and obey! Send us the money! Send it now! We don’t care what you think! Bow before your betters and be glad for what scraps we toss you!

Compared to THAT, my sins are minor, indeed, are they not? After all, I am a private individual… can you say that of Bobby K, Iggy Burdikoff, Hatfield, JP, et al? Keep focused… otherwise, it’s all over.

A big THANK YOU to all of you who have sent me e-mails of support… it is good to know that one is not alone. As for those who sent brickbats… I give as good as I get, as one of my friends pointed up. I have a THICK skin… you tend to grow such in the Church…

Cheers to all of you…

If not me and you, THEN, WHO?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Monday 12 October 2009

Albany NY

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There Ain’t No Free Lunch

A female clergyman (?), presumably of the TEC. Or, is it “clergyperson”… AARGH! PC cant is not only beyond me, it is beyond the comprehension of any decent person! The TEC accepts such… so does Nashotah House… by entering into an agreement with them, JP and Hatfield accept such, as well! “Well, cat my dog!” as the sensible Jed Clampett would say. (I have nothing against the person pictured… she is probably a very nice person… it is simply a snap of female clergy… nothing more)

Some people are wondering why I (and others, as well) are being so hard on JP and the SVS gang. It is quite simple, truly. Nashotah House is an establishment of The Episcopal Church (TEC), and it has not repudiated any of the positions of that confession, either officially or off-the-record. Apparently, many of those who converted from Evangelical Anglicanism and so-called Anglo-Catholicism have an overblown affection for the place, and they utter ecstatic and rhapsodic cries whenever it is named.

Earth to all Episcopalian konvertsy! The TEC is a heretical organisation; it is outside the Visible Church of Christ. If you have any doubts on this, read The Church is One and On the Western Confessions of Faith by Aleksei Stepanovich Khomiakov. Do look at the icon of St Hilarion Troitsky the New Martyr… the scroll he holds reads Bez Tserkva, Nyest Spaseniya! You may not like this… “However… that is what the Church teaches… like it or lump it… accept it or leave it”, according to Chukcha the Wise. Have you forgotten St Paul’s admonition not to be yoked unequally with unbelievers (those outside the Church)? Here is a quote to attend to:

According to the holy Fathers…, a heretical doctrine is a virus, a poison that leads to spiritual infection and results in spiritual death… The Latinising “Orthodox” Ecumenists… are waiting for the day when the mind-set (phronema) of Orthodox peoples will have become sufficiently blunted to be ready to accept such a diabolic betrayal of the Faith.

Constantine Cavarnos, Ecumenism Examined (pp. 52, 60)

St Hilarion Troitsky the New Martyr (1886-1929). “Outside the Church… There is no salvation”… like it or not, that is what we teach! Here is a link to an online biography of the saint from a reliable Russian source in English: http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=20421&cid=115&p=14.12.2007

Professor Cavarnos is absolutely spot-on! His words describe the present situation to a tee! To reiterate, The Latinising “Orthodox” Ecumenists… are waiting for the day when the mind-set (phronema) of Orthodox peoples will have become sufficiently blunted to be ready to accept such a diabolic betrayal of the Faith. That is what JP and Hatfield have done. They see this as nothing out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, one is compelled to note that Nashotah House teaches “heretical doctrine”, which “is a virus, a poison that leads to spiritual infection” that “results in spiritual death”. One can see readily that we can have nothing to do with this unrepentant bunch of heretics. Yes, they are very pleasant sorts… they have MUCH more money in their endowment funds than the OCA has… I have no doubt that their morals are cleaner than those found at SVS (remember Eric Iliff), Syosset (remember Bobby K and Feodosy Lazor), or the OCA at large (don’t forget Raymond Velencia).

We should pay heed to the words of St Hilarion Troitsky the New Martyr, According to the words of St Cyprian, to be a Christian means to belong to the visible Church and to submit to the hierarchy which God has placed in it. The Church is the realisation of Christ’s love and any separation from the Church is a violation of this love, in which both heretics and schismatics sin equally (from To be Christian Means to Belong to the Church). By this standard, any agreement with Nashotah House is both schismatical and heretical. That means that any hierarch or clergy who sign such are preaching schism and heresy barefaced. This is worse than any moral or financial scandal (although these are not minor or incidental, I would argue). Messrs Paffhausen and Hatfield plan to coordinate the actions of an Orthodox institution with those of a heretical institution.

This is a clear indication that neither Mr Hatfield nor Mr Paffhausen has fully converted from Episcopalianism. They still believe in Anglican compromise and comprehensiveness. Hmm… everything has a “price”… there ain’t no free lunch, as they say. If you sign an agreement with heretics… if you intend to link efforts with schismatics… well… don’t be surprised if people call you a heretic and a schismatic! Birds of a feather DO flock together.

Ad Orientam, how do you respond to Professor Cavarnos and St Hilarion Troitsky? I would add that contemporary voices, such as Professor Aleksei Osipov at the MDA, Deacon Andrei Kuraev (who is on staff at the MDA besides being a popular preacher), Fr Vsevolod Chaplin (who heads part of the DECR that was taken from Alfeyev), and Professor Kirill Frolov (at the CIS Institute, he is a specialist on the sickly Ukrainian successor-state) echo this point of view. In short, there is no ground whatsoever to support the actions of JP and Hatfield. The OCA is starting to implode… publicly, messily, and loudly in the most revolting method imaginable (to agree to be yoked on an equal-footing with heretics is totally beyond the pale!). Everyone in Orthodoxy in the US and Canada is going to be spattered liberally with the reeking filth of its demise, sadly enough.

I think it is clear that the present events do not cheer me… I did not make this up… these people CHOSE to do this… ergo, they should not be surprised when the faithful are upset. In the words of the title, “There ain’t no free lunch”. If you do something outlandish, be prepared for the fallout.

WHY? Why are you doing such an abomination? Do you truly dislike us that badly? If so… please, become Anglicans in name as well as in fact. It is much more “honest to God”.

God help us all. I stand with those who venerate (and try to emulate) the Royal Martyrs (remember that St Nikolai the Tsar-Martyr was the pre-eminent patron of the Church in America in its early days) and the entire chorus of New Martyrs. Instead of such a God-pleasing endeavour, JP and Hatfield (and their HOOMie buddies) venerate and emulate Aleksandr Dmitrievich Schmemann and his heresy… they wish to ram such potty rubbish down the throats of all good Orthodox Christians… where do YOU stand? The two positions ARE incompatible, after all.

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Monday 12 October 2009

Albany NY

Things are Getting Curiouser and Curiouser…

Here is the Jabberwocky… it certainly makes more sense to believe in the Jabberwocky than it does to believe that JP and SVS shall tell the truth!

I decided to look on the official OCA website to see its “take” on the Nashotah House affair. THERE IS NOTHING ON THE SITE TO INDICATE THAT THIS EVENT OCCURED. In short, Syosset has sent it “down the memory hole”. I would think that any event where the so-called First Hierarch of the OCA posed for a PR shoot with heterodox clergy would merit at least a mention. Of course, it could have a simple explanation… Jarmus, the Director of Communications of the OCA is lazy and an incompetent… his coverage of the St Tikhon Memorial Day Pilgrimage earlier this year was execrable and uninformative (friends of mine who were present told me all about how the folks from Mayfield were there… a true piece of news if there ever was one… Jarmus missed it!).

On the OCA site, one saw an item about a letter by JP to the SPDA and a blurb about his trip to Georgia. Indeed… is JP going to tell Patriarch Ilya about his agreement with Nashotah House and his oneness of mind with heterodoxy? In any case, where is the money for this trip coming from? Did JP get it by selling out to the Episcopalians? The OCA cannot pay most of its clergy, yet, JP, Lyonyo Kishkovsky, and their entourages seem to travel quite a bit! It costs money to go from Syosset to Nashotah House in Wisconsin to Georgia! Whew… all in one weekend! Why, it’s Super Jonas! Faster than a speeding bullet! Long Island to Wisconsin to the Caucasus in one weekend! God Almighty… I would HATE to see the bill for airfare for Jonas and his lackeys… it would not be a minor item in the budget, I’ll warrant… if it is mentioned! Nice little perk, isn’t it?

Then, I decided to look at Mark Stokoe’s website Orthodox Christians for Accountability. There is nothing on that site, either. Is this because Mr Stokoe has been bought off with a seat on the so-called Metropolitan Council? Or, is it because Mr Stokoe agrees with ecumania? Or, is it simply because Mr Stokoe is lazy? it IS a long holiday weekend, after all. I think that the third possibility is not credible because Jonas’ trip has been in the works since September, at least. It is either the first or second choice (or a combination of the two).

It seems like the SVS crowd decided to “sneak” this one past the faithful… it wouldn’t be the first time, especially with Anglicans. They’ve been in bed with General Theological for quite some time. However… for someone who has been bloviating about “openness”… Jonas appears to have a talent for doing things without publicity. Is this because he knows that the Orthodox faithful would hold a “necktie party” and string him up for making such an agreement with unrepentant and incorrigible heretics? Episcopalians are NOT part of the Visible Church. God knows, they’re not nasty folks and I am certain that they would be dandy neighbours. To say that someone is outside of the Church does not mean that we are piling up faggots for the Auto-da-Fé. JP spat on the Church by this agreement and he ran off to the Caucasus to avoid questions.

Jonas Paffhausen is a COWARD!

I reiterate:

JONAS PAFFHAUSEN IS A COWARD AND REFUSES TO FACE THE MUSIC!

FOR SHAME!

This is someone who “talks the talk”, but, refuses to “walk the walk”. He gasses on “openness”, yet, arranges to be out of the country for a week after this particular little escapade. He shall regret doing this. You see, his opponents shall have a week in which to organise before his return to the USA. Then, they shall be waiting for him.

Isn’t this a sad ending to Jonas Paffhausen and his splendid little pontificate? He had the chance to lead the OCA out of the morass; yet, he CHOSE to sell out, to pander to the most reprobate elements in the OCA, the Syosset apparat, SVS, and Bobbie K and his scurvy crew. He CHOSE to associate with Raymond Velencia and those who destroyed church records. What more do we need? It is time to stand up and be counted! Ad Orientam and the rest of the konvertsy crowd can get stuffed and be damned! JP has failed to act as an Orthodox Christian, and these babies are bleating away to defend him. If you are a former Anglican, keep your mouth shut… you have been pandered to for far too long. Your nappies stink to high heaven and it is time that you were put into your proper place.

Anyone who is not aghast at this débâcle is a willing part of it. Anglicans are either in the Church or out of it. There is no “third way”. JP has given his answer… I say that he must answer for it.

Do you believe in Christ or do you believe in “niceness?” That is the choice… don’t be quick to answer… it is something to think over. (A note to Amerikantsy: “don’t be quick to answer” means precisely that… some things REQUIRE thought and time… otherwise… need I continue?)

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Monday 12 January 2009

Albany NY