He Doesn’t Shoot Animals from Helicopters…

You can walk the path of character, duty, and dignity… or, you can opt for facile superficiality and have THIS. Any questions?

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Since I am principled, I hate lies. If I see injustice, I will not keep silent, and many do not like that. Indeed, my nature easily finds a common language with the angelic, but when something is hurtful, unpleasant, or shameful, I will speak up about it. To be honest, I’m glad I’m that way, because you need principles, you can’t simply blindly accept everything that the world offers you. Unfortunately, the world is sometimes unjust, and when I’m pushed to go against my conscience, I simply won’t do it.

Valentina Vasilevna Tolkunova (1946-2010)

Honoured Artist of Russia

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A friend sent me the following:

Lula’s great and all that… but can he shoot a wolf from a helicopter? THAT’S what really matters, right?

I replied:

Lula would eat Lil’ Miz Sarah as an appetiser, belch loudly, and ask for a real dinner. Lula’s REAL… Sarah’s a phoney.

There’s a basic and fundamental difference between genuine people of substance such as Lula and Valentina Vasilevna and contrived people with no real content such as Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Joe Miller, Glenn Beck, Pat Robertson, and Rush Limbaugh… it’s called character. It’s something that they don’t teach in broadcast school. Either it’s something that you have or you don’t have it… Lula and Ms Tolkunova had it in spades… the right-wingers not only didn’t have it, they don’t even know what it is!

Selfless Character has the credo, “He ain’t heavy… he’s my brother”. Right-wing Greed has a manifesto, too, “I worked for it… it’s mine. I don’t support lazy people… if you don’t work; you won’t eat (and I get to decide who’s deserving and who’s not)”.

On the one hand, you can opt for God… On the other, you can serve the Prince of This World… choose well… the eternal fate of your soul DOES depend on it!

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Tuesday 28 December 2010

Albany NY

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A Photo Essay. December 2010 in Moscow: Those Russian Winters ARE Legendary…

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Patriarch Kirill Believed that Russians Should Come Together in the New Year to Transform the Country’s Spiritual Condition

Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias (1946- )

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Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias called on Russian society to come together to transform the moral atmosphere in the country. “God willing, the incident that occurred in late 2010 [in Manezh Square] helped all of us to understand the need for a collective effort to change people for the better, to help us raise up individuals who would be capable of coping with the stresses of modernity, who could overcome their temptations, who could advance and ascend to the heights, not tumbling headfirst into the abyss”, His Holiness said on Tuesday, at a taping session for the next episode of his TV programme Слово пастыря (A Pastoral Word), which will air on 9 January on Первом канале (Channel One).

He hoped that we would use this new year to “do all the things that are needful to change the life of our people for the better”. By that, he meant not only economic prosperity, political stability, and social tranquillity, he said, “We must change the consciousness of modern man. What happened at the riot on Manezh Square was not only an outpouring [of emotion], it was not only a discharge of negative energy, it was a red light for us, it signalled to society that there was a serious spiritual and moral breakdown in the life of our people, especially amongst our youth”. In his view, a godless society “lives according to the dictates of its instincts, it throws tantrums; it deals with others only through the unthinking manifestation of its selfish inner feelings. This is true not only of individuals, but of groups and entire societies”.

Vladyki Kirill pointed up, “The Church can’t change this situation by itself, because, very often, its voice can’t reach those who don’t wish to hear what it has to say. If we are to say the ‘one thing needful’ to reach these people, especially to our youth, it’s necessary that the disparate elements in our society come together to pursue a common goal… to change the moral and spiritual situation of our people and our country for the better”. His Holiness expressed his opinion that the media should not only reflect reality, “They should strive to help shape that reality, but they should not fuel base human instincts and carnal passions, for that eventually leads to rebellion… that’s ghastly, unpredictable, and destructive. They need to build up mankind, elevating it morally and intellectually. I’m bold enough to say that they can help promote not only our spiritual, but also our physical health”.

28 December 2010

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=38926

Editor’s Note:

Note well these quotes:

[A godless society] lives according to the dictates of its instincts, it throws tantrums; it deals with others only through the unthinking manifestation of its selfish inner feelings. This is true not only of individuals, but of groups and entire societies.

[The media should not only reflect reality,] they should strive to help shape that reality, but they should not fuel base human instincts and carnal passions, for that eventually leads to rebellion… that’s ghastly, unpredictable, and destructive. They need to build up mankind, elevating it morally and intellectually. I’m bold enough to say that they can help promote not only our spiritual, but also our physical health.

The above is a perfect description of and condemnation of the Tea Party/GOP and its nihilistic lies. The GOP throws tantrums… “Give the rich their kickbacks or we won’t help the unemployed”… “We’re going to repeal ‘Obamacare’ because our rich buddies won’t make as much money”. Limbaugh, Palin, and Beck routinely “fuel base human instincts and carnal passions”… you can see the effects of their rebellion against the godly order of society in their reiterated drumbeat in favour of the oligarchs.

We must all come together to rebuild our society… which means that all must share not only the goods and artefacts of this world, but also the sacrifices and costs. That’s why the Tea Party is so evil… it’s only ideology is GREED… MORE for the oligarchs… all others can suck wind. The rich have, over the last thirty years, stolen enough from the other classes to triple their share of the national wealth (9 to 24 percent). If you vote for Republicans… you support that.

You may have Rush Limbaugh… or you can have His Holiness. John Whiteford has chosen Rush Limbaugh… I choose His Holiness. I hope that Mr Whiteford repents and removes the links to the Limbaugh and Palin sites… their ideology is hateful, godless, and 180 degrees removed form that of Christ’s Church. Then, in common with His Holiness, he could “help us raise up individuals who would be capable of coping with the stresses of modernity, who could overcome their temptations, who could advance and ascend to the heights, not tumbling headfirst into the abyss”.

We need Christ and His Truth… not Tea Party nihilists waving the Almighty Dollar…

BMD

Catholic Christmas is on its Way…

The Western world is preparing to celebrate the Birth of Christ on 25 December… Christmas. On this day, many in Russia will celebrate this major religious holiday as well…

Indeed, followers of many different religions live in our country, including many Roman Catholics and followers of various Protestant denominations. In the Bible, there is only one mention of the birth of Jesus. According to the Gospel of Luke, after sunset, at the appearance of the first star in the sky, the God-Man was born in Bethlehem. The scriptures do not tell us the exact date of His birth, and it took several centuries to come to a definite date for the celebration. Only in the Fifth Century did the Church agree to celebrate the birth of Jesus on 25 December. When the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian calendar in the 16th Century in Catholic countries, the Christian world split into those who celebrate Christmas in late December, and those who observe it according to the traditional calendar on 7 January. In Russia, where many faiths lived side-by-side for centuries peacefully, on Christmas Eve, Catholics placed decorated trees in their churches and built grottoes outside with figures of the main characters of the holiday… the infant Jesus, Mary, the Magi. Another tradition was the lit Star of Bethlehem, the star described in the biblical tradition, which lit the way of the shepherds to the place where the newborn God-Man laid.

Pastor Konstantin Bendas, the Joint Chairman of the Russian Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith, said to us in an interview, “Russian Protestants prepare for, and celebrate, Christmas twice. Evangelicals (Lutherans in US parlance) in Russia have a long tradition of celebrating Christmas twice. The first time… we do it in unison with the entire Western world… with the Roman Catholics and European Protestants. Usually, on this day, we have a family celebration, the whole family gathers for a feast. At the same time, we don’t have any particular holiday specialties, as you see in Europe and the USA. It’s just a festive spread, corresponding to the tastes of each individual family. In any case, the food isn’t the most important thing for us on this day. Traditionally, the father of the family tells the Christmas story to his household. On 7 January, on Orthodox Christmas, we hold a solemn service in accordance with traditions that grew up in Old Orthodox Russia. Our services are open to everybody, and many people from all faiths come to our churches and chapels”.

Together with the Catholics and Protestants, some Local Orthodox Churches mark the Nativity on the Western date; amongst them are Alexandria, Greece, Bulgaria, and Antioch. In Moscow, there are representations from almost all the Local Orthodox Churches. They celebrate Christmas together with the Russian Orthodox on 7 January. All over the world, the representations of the Moscow Patriarchate in Orthodox countries follow local Christmas traditions.

23 December 2010

Milena Faustova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/12/23/37574223.html

Editor’s Note:

As North America is the canonical territory of the MP, its parishes, and its representation in New York follow the Julian calendar in determining Christmas. The OCA’s canonical status is, at best, questionable, so, the OCA’s usage of the Catholic calendar for fixed feasts, in this instance, is moot and irrelevant.

BMD