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There are all sorts of jumped-up frauds populating the internet purporting to be “Orthodox experts”… I can say that NONE of them fill the bill. As a friend wrote:
Those let into the Church with no Orthodox formation, and often no catechesis, sideline the sane Orthodox, the old-school Orthodox, the “mind of the Church” Orthodox… I’m not talking about laypeople, but priests. This is a problem. How do we address it?
Firstly, we need to identify the bogus “sources”. Reardon is a bogus source. He lacks a serious Orthodox clerical formation, as shown by his irresponsible and disobedient action regarding marriages… one simply does NOT do such without EXPLICIT and WRITTEN permission from one’s bishop… full stop. Whiteford is bogus… he lacks Orthodox clerical formation. That’s that. Dreher is bogus… he lacks any form of Orthodox higher education and hangs around suspicious sorts such as Fathausen and Potapov. Elijah Borek is bogus… I’ve asked priests and they’ve all told me that no bishop commissioned or blessed him to set himself up as an authority. Josiah Trenham is bogus… anyone who accepts Sectarians as Christians, who brings them into Church media, is simply beyond the pale. Jessie Dominick is bogus… he lacks any higher Orthodox education (a diaspora seminary doesn’t grant the kandidatura or its equivalent); he hubristically sets himself up as an authority. He’s nothing but a snotty smarkacz*. ME? Grasshopper… I’m NO theologian… I’m no source at all. I’m a reporter, not a theologian or figure of authority in the Church.
- smarkacz: Polish/po-nashemu for “drippy-nosed kid”, usually applied to uppity youths who don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground, but who presume to lecture their elders
Then, who should we follow? Firstly, I’d commend Professor A I Osipov of the Moscow Theological Academy (MDA) to you. Here’s a clear copy of what I used in the image (so you can cut n’ paste it, kiddies):
In essence, a Christian begins to be truly born-again when one starts to struggle with sin, when you see the full depth of your damaged nature, and when you see that your fundamental downfall was to fail to see that without God you can’t put right your passions so that you can achieve longed-for holiness. Such self-knowledge reveals to willing souls that Christ can open up a way to save them out of death. This explains the extraordinary importance that all the saints attached to humility.
A I Osipov
Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy (MDA)
In short, I believe that Aleksei Ilyich is THE BOMB. He teaches at the MDA, the flagship theological institute in the Orthodox World (trust me, no diaspora institution comes even close). He’s VERY close to HH; he’s one of the Peredelkino “inner circle”. However, all of you must be aware that there’s a full spectrum of opinion in the Real Church. Aleksei Ilyich upsets the “Traditional” and the “Monastic” sets. Archimandrite Rafail Karelin and Osipov have a long-running and bitter feud… but that doesn’t stop them being in communion and being in the Church. THERE IS ROOM FOR DISAGREEMENT ON MANY THINGS IN THE CHURCH. No, not everything is “up for grabs”, but the Church is a FAR freer place than the rightwing asshat knovertsy imply. The Church is the freest Christian communion that there is… it isn’t the theological Alcatraz implied by Reardon, Whiteford, Dreher, Trenham, and Borek. Let me be blunt. Just as there’s room in the Church for both Professor Osipov and Archimandrite Rafail, there’s room for Lazar Puhalo and John Whiteford, too. I shut no one out nor do I “demand” that the Church “purify” itself. The Church will survive Reardon, Whiteford, Dreher, Trenham, Dominick, Borek… and ME! None of us are a danger to the Church’s essence and ontological reality.
As for politics, I say, let’s follow HH… as they say, a picture IS worth a THOUSAND WORDS:
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That’s HH with Comrade Zyuganov… they’re personal friends! That’s to say, the rightwing konvertsy who tell you that the Church should be in cahoots with the GOP aren’t only wrong, they’re egregious liars who we must shut up. The political candidate that comes closest to the Church’s social vision is…
BERNIE SANDERS!
Get the smellin’ salts, Nicky… Reardon, Whiteford, Dreher, Trenham, and Borek all fainted damned near to death! I’m NOT joking. If you want a candidate with the same social vision as HH, Bernie’s the man. HH is NOT for the death penalty, cutting the social safety net, refusing single-payer healthcare, enriching the Affluent Effluent, or perpetual warfare in foreign parts, all of which are principal planks of the Republican platform. Besides, HH believes that the Free Market is a fraud and has said so many times (he’s in complete agreement with Francisco Bergoglio on that).
In short, attend to no rightwing internet fraud… none of ’em have the creds and authority to be speaking for the Church. I frankly state that this (and everything else that I write) is my view alone, it is NOT the Church’s view. Yes… I do my best to follow the Church, but doesn’t make me a spokesman for the Church. I AM NOT SUCH… NEITHER ARE THE PEOPLE THAT I NAMED. They’re ALL jumped-up self-appointed frauds. They have no more real authority than I do (that is, none… they’re all people speaking for themselves, NOT the Church as “Church”). Full stop.
You attend to such people at your own peril. Follow the Church… not the internet. I do… I commend the same to you…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
DNR Minoborony Reported 86 Junta Ceasefire Violations
Tags: civil unrest, DNR, Donetsk People's Republic, Novorossiya, political commentary, politics, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian Civil War, war and conflict
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Today, the DNR Minoborony reported, “Over the past 24 hours, the enemy committed 86 ceasefire violations, increasing the intensity of their shelling. There were 35 more violations than there were yesterday. The enemy fired 116 artillery shells, 38 tank shells, and 235 8.2-cm/12-cm mortar shells; in addition, they used anti-aircraft guns, RPGs, and small arms. They fired at Donetsk (Kievsky, Kuibyshev, and Petrovsky Raions, Donetsk airport), Gorlovka, Yasinovataya, Debaltsevo, Zaitsevo, Zheleznaya Balka, Spartak, Shirokaya Balka, Golmovsky, Zhobunki, Lozove, Kalinovka, and Belaya Kamenka. Currently, we continue to clarify data on civilian and military casualties”.
15 July 2015
DAN Donetsk News Agency
http://dan-news.info/defence/vsu-narashhivayut-intensivnost-obstrelov-territorii-dnr-za-sutki-zafiksirovano-86-narushenij-minoborony-dnr.html