Saturday, 18 February 2012
18 February 2012. A Good Word from Vladyki Avgustin of Lvov
______________________________
Let’s see what the Russian Wikipedia has to say about Vladyki Avgustin’s attitude to ecumenism:
Противник экуменизма, допускает сотрудничество Православной Церкви с другими конфессиями только в гуманитарной сфере.
An opponent of ecumenism, he only accepts cooperation (on the Church’s part) with other confessions in humanitarian matters.
This is in diametric opposition to the insidious and pernicious indifferentism shown by Paffhausen, John Behr, Vassa Larina, John Erickson, Andrei Psaryov, Lyonyo Kishkovsky, and John Jillions, amongst others. Those named (and those of like ilk) spit in Vladyki Avgustin’s face with their public and unashamed dalliances with Uniates. I’ll make no bones of it… to have ANY relations with Uniates beyond unavoidable and innocent ones found in normal public life are an unconscionable and blasphemous rejection of Christ’s Church; it’s a confession of the Branch Theory, a crackbrained Protestant heresy condemned by the Holy Church (His Holiness himself wrote the opinion on it whilst he was a Metropolitan). Indeed, it’s the “Invisible Church” in “seven league boots”.
NEVER hate Uniates. NEVER hurt them. NEVER disrupt their services or affairs. NEVER vandalise their parish property or homes. NEVER go out of your way to humiliate individual Uniates (in most cases, they’re just parroting what their pro-papist lickspittle clergy taught them). NEVER argue with them. However, NEVER give in to their arguments “for the sake of peace”. NEVER allow their statements to “go unanswered” in the public square. NEVER be part of any dialogue that has a single Uniate in it.
On the one side, we see Vladyki Avgustin, along with Fr Mikhail Shuvar, Blessed Gavriil Kostelnik, St Aleksei Kabalyuk, St Maksim Sandovich, St Aleksei Toth, and Vladyki Laurus Škurla. On the other, we have all the people that I named above in the paragraph after the Vladyki Avgustin quote. You can stand with one group or with the other. I stand with Vladyki Avgustin… what about you? You can confess Christ or you can confess the Prince of this World… DO choose well.
NB:
Do have a care with a website called Byzantine Texas. It’s Uniate black propaganda of the worst possible sort. AVOID IT. It’s webmaster is one “Josephus Flavius”, so, if a person identifying themselves as such comments on your site… SPAM HIM WITHOUT MERCY. He’s one of the more fanatic and noxious papists out there… don’t give him a forum. Don’t mess with him, though. Simply, don’t give him a forum. The konvertsy are gaga over him… it speaks volumes on their ignorance and character, doesn’t it?
Barbara-Marie Drezhlo
Saturday 18 February 2012
Albany NY
Comments Off on 18 February 2012. A Good Word from Vladyki Avgustin of Lvov
Bishop Panteleimon Shatov Urges a Ban on Human Cloning and the Use of Embryonic Tissue in Biomedicine
THIS is who uses “foetal cell rejuvenation” in both Russia and the USA (it’s QUITE pricey, trust me)… does it surprise you? The GOP is SILENT on it all… you see, many older American rightwing pols and pundits use it to look “younger” and “perkier” (one does wonder about Rush and Lil’ Mizz Sarah). Any questions?
______________________________
Bishop Panteleimon Shatov of Smolensk and Vyazma {KMG’s old see: editor}, the head of the MP Department of Church Charity and Social Service, drew up proposals for a draft law, “On biomedical cell technologies”. On Thursday, the Department’s website noted that Vladyki Panteleimon sent a letter with a list of specific amendments to Tatiana Golikova, the Minister for Health and Social Development, quoting him as saying, “The main aim of our proposals is to protect human life, both before and after birth”. He noted with satisfaction that the ministry’s draft for the new law already has a ban on the use of cloning insofar as it regards human beings, and it prohibits the use of embryonic and foetal cells in the development of biomedical technologies. Over the last few months, a review panel comprising bioethical experts, Orthodox priests, lawyers, and biologists, including members of the Department of Embryology of Moscow State University (MGU) and other research institutions, drew up this list of proposals.
Amongst the proposed amendments is a ban on the use of cellular technologies to create human embryos, the introduction of a clear definition of an embryo, a ban on the use of foetal cells in the preparation of suspensions of uncultivated cells, and the transplantation of tissue fragments. Bishop Panteleimon’s letter said, “Russia has a number of patents involving the transplantation of embryonic tissue layers or suspensions of uncultivated cells directly derived from aborted foetuses. However, these immoral technologies are outside the scope of the bill”. He noted that commercial clinics now offer a basic form of cell therapy, supposedly for rejuvenation.
16 February 2012
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=44245
Editor’s Note:
Such therapy is available in the USA, too. It’s VERY pricey… it’s mostly utilised by vacuous airheads such as celebrities, pols, and media “talking heads”. That’s to say, people “in the public eye” often use it. Could Rush Limbaugh be using it? He looks rather “young” for his age, doesn’t he (it wouldn’t surprise me to find him a user of such, given his past publicised history of prescription drug “use” and his four marriages)?
THIS is what the Church is concerned about… NOT artificial birth control. The Church does NOT forbid artificial birth control… it DOES forbid the use of human foetal material as cosmetics and “perk-me-ups” for the idle rich. Note well that the rampant use of such by the American affluent effluent doesn’t faze Patrick Henry Reardon, Josiah Trenham, Terrence Mattingly, Rod Dreher, and James Kushiner in the least… the strident “amen” that the Touchstonistas give to every pro-One Percent dribbling of the present GOP shows that to even the slow learners (this really deserves a post of its own… and it’ll get it). They might no longer get an invite to the vino-and-brie fests of the well-heeled rightwing. Poor babies!
The Church is against us using human cells “harvested” from human embryos for low ends… indeed, for any use whatsoever. Friends inform me that cell replacement therapy needn’t involve the use of foetal material, so, why go there? Opposition to abortion takes many forms… and this proposed law is one of them. Don’t forget… aid to unwed mothers is yet another facet of Pro-Life, as is a comprehensive and consistent respect for human life in general. Why should it surprise you that the McMansion dwellers grasp for such therapies when the indiscriminate American bombing campaign throughout the world and the Bloody Assizes in Texas (the spirit of Judge Jeffreys would be appalled at Rick Perry’s casual use of the death penalty) don’t bother them, either? It’s all of a piece…
BMD
Comments Off on Bishop Panteleimon Shatov Urges a Ban on Human Cloning and the Use of Embryonic Tissue in Biomedicine
Voices from Russia 
18 February 2012. What the Church REALLY Teaches on Social Welfare…
Tags: Almighty Dollar, Catholic Church, Christian, Christianity, Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Fidel Castro, Gennady Zyuganov, Moscow Patriarchate, Obama administration, Orthodox, Orthodoxy, political commentary, poster, Religion and Spirituality, Republican, right-wing, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Social Safety Net, Sturm und Drang, Touchstone Magazine
______________________________
Editor’s Foreword:
I don’t consider myself to be an “official source” or a “spokesman” for the Church. I’m going to refute the idiots named below with statements of our real leaders and reports of what the Church has really done. We really have to shut these ignorant children up. They’re making the Church look ridiculous. I’m not the only person who feels this way…
BMD
******
There’s been much “Sturm und Drang” from self-appointed konvertsy “spokesmen” for the Church. In fact, they’re trying to ally the Church with the worst elements of the Republican Party. Lately, some have trumpeted that the Obama administration‘s attempting to subvert religious liberty. I’m not lying… that’s what they’re saying. Those of us who don’t move in konvertsy circles often don’t realise how unhinged and cultish these jabronies are. They’re not decent and grounded human beings… they’re foaming-at-the-mouth members of the Religious Right, and they wish to drag our Church and Our Lord Christ through the muck with them. The worst are the so-called “Touchstonistas”… most are affiliated with a rag out of Chicago called Touchstone Magazine. If I were to name the Top Terrible Five, I’d have to say that they’re:
Before we go into more detail, let’s see what unhinged shit appears in Touchstone Magazine… here’s a sample:
Then, His Holiness is in sin, because he’s personal friends with Fidel Castro and Gennady Zyuganov… Fr Vsevolod Chaplin’s in sin, because he cooperates with the KPRF… the parish priests of the MP are in sin, because they told their parishioners to vote “Left” during the last parliamentary election in the RF… need I continue? Take a look at the image below… a priest of the Church is standing willingly with state officials, KPRF operatives, and ordinary folks at a send-off for conscripts in North Ossetia.
******
______________________________
As the above image shows, the REAL Church has NO problem with the Left… NONE AT ALL. Our priests stand with Leftist politicians in the public square… NO PROBLEMO! They do so because the Church and the Left speak the same language. The Cross and the Red Banner are compatible… Christ and the Almighty Dollar are not… HE SAID SO! Ye cannot serve both God and Mammon. The GOP is the Mammon Party par excellence, it wants to cut taxes on the Affluent Effluent, rip apart the Social Safety Net, and wage endless hellishly-expensive wars in foreign parts. They bow down low in adoration before the Seven Princes of Hell, yet, they think that their espousal of greed, self-worship (aren’t they samobogtsy (self-gods), as we Russians say?), and “rugged individualism” honours Christ (I kid you not… they actually believe such juvenile and mind-numbing rot). Look at the painting by Glazunov below, and it’ll give you an idea why these dimwits are so easily led astray.
******
Christ and Antichrist
Ilya Glazunov
1999
______________________________
I’ll tell you what’s so ironical about it all. These rightwing paladins forever quote the Canons, Fathers, and Philokalia at us, yet, Satan fools them with the oldest trick in the book. Just because it LOOKS right doesn’t mean that it IS right. They’re really a sorry lot.
For instance, Reardon was refused ordination by Feodosy Lazor, but that didn’t suit him, so, he ran off to get ordained by Saliba. Of course, the fact that Reardon had been ordained twice before (by the RCs and Episkies) was the reason he was turned down (that’s what a source in western PA told me). Needless to say, he screams about “obedience” all the time. Delicious, isn’t it? Kushiner is really a Jesus Freak retread with no Orthodox education whatsoever. He was never an Episcopalian, though… he was a run-of-the-mill happy-clappy Evangelical, but after college got involved with the Jesus Movement and the anti-institutional vibe of his day, he eventually started a “house church” in Chicago in 1972 that became the nucleus of Reardon’s present parish. Mattingly’s a former Baptist who’s never left the fold intellectually or spiritually. Dreher’s an oddbod neocon, a former writer for National Review, who’s been in the Church less than ten years, his main influences were the questionable Dmitri Royster and the “Uncrowned Queen of the Konvertsy“, Freddie M-G. Josiah Trenham’s another single-tracker… his main hobby-horse is a loopy opposition to artificial birth control. The Church doesn’t forbid it… that ends it for me. All those who don’t like the Church’s position should become Catholics, then, they’d be consistent, at least. The figure that binds it all together is Gleb Podmoshensky… Reardon speaks of St Pavel Florensky, and that’s a dead giveaway that he’s one of Podmoshensky’s acolytes… the real Church has NOT canonised Florensky, and it never shall because Florensky was an unrepentant heretic (just because he died in the GULag doesn’t make him a martyr). Dreher’s connection to Podmoshensky came via Freddie M-G (they were both reported in Platina at the same time). All of the above-named have some sort of connection to the Guru of Platina (as does Jonas Paffhausen, by the way). Did I mention that Podmoshensky was deposed by the ROCOR Holy Synod… and that all of these konvertsy had NO problem with association with a deposed cleric? Interesting, isn’t it?
In short, the 2 February statement by a small group of bishops purporting to speak for all Orthodox bishops is bogus to the core. It’s not on either the OCA or ROCOR main official websites. Fancy that. It might be because we DON’T agree with the Catholics on birth control and that’s that. In any case, all that Catholic hospitals are being told is that any health insurance plan that they offer to employees must include contraceptive services, that’s all. In fact, many non-Catholics work for Catholic hospitals, so, the Catholics can’t force their religious beliefs on others. The shoe pinches when its on the other foot, doesn’t it? Most Catholic women use artificial birth control, as do most Orthodox women… so, in real terms, its moot. My take on it is that the RCs are trying to divert attention from their latest scandal (that’s true of us too… how do you spell S-T-O-R-H-E-I-M?).
******
______________________________
Sad, ain’t it? Much noise and fury… yet, signifying nothing in the end. They’re nothing but a bunch of bible bashers running about in funny robes. Let’s leave with a statement by a REAL Church leader, Fr Vsevolod Chaplin:
That’s what the REAL Church teaches. You can follow Touchstone or you can follow the Church… it’s up to you.
Saturday 18 February 2012
Albany NY