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To be sure, we have enemies; there are wolves among the sheep. But I like to think that the vast majority of those who, for instance, vote for any so-called “prochoice” politician, are well-intentioned, just weak in the Faith (including the Ecumenical Patriarch). And I like to think this weakness is not all their fault, but the cumulative product of decades of worldly lies. (So in a sense it is all our faults for the shameful degree we have all become worldly.) What we need to focus on then, in reaching our own who have been “duped,” including our clergy and hierarchs, is helping them see the modern disconnect between what we profess we believe is God’s revealed goodness for all mankind, and what we’re actually doing (or not doing) / saying (or not saying) about it, out of that same love for mankind (and ourselves). Our actions prove what our beliefs *really* are. So, for example, if we profess the Church’s teaching that abortion is murder and harms the mother & father as well as kills the child, irreparably harms society and destroys the souls of those involved, we would speak and act and vote according to the gravity of the issue, if we genuinely believe and if we genuinely love our neighbor.

But so many of our beloved brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Church have been brought up in mindsets that are either no longer true or no longer applicable in the modern context. Any political party, for instance, that supports killing the most innocent and vulnerable citizens, is no longer “the people’s party.” How can a politician be considered someone defending “the little guy” if s/he fights to slaughter the littlest? But for so many, what our parents taught us is difficult to go against, even in the face of modern facts.

I take heart that many Orthodox have finally made a healthy disassociation between their nationality and their Christianity. It took decades too long, and some are still trapped in phyletism (still promoting Hellenism as the salvation of the world), but many have come to appreciate their ethnicity while not enshrining it as Co-Redemptrix. The same thing now must happen with political loyalties and ideologies. Our allegiance must be with Christ and His Church, following His teachings, and conforming our thinking to His Word and His Direction, over and above anything else.

So I think it is equally true for the faithful vis-a-vis others *within* the Church as well as without it, that “The Enlightened are called to Enlighten.” This we must do, of course, both by personal example and by speaking out. And we must keep in mind the admonition of St Paul, that in correcting our brother we be humbly ready to be corrected for our own sins as well!

As for the wolves among the sheep, we cannot expect our words to fall on anything except deaf ears. All we can do is pray for them personally –because the root of their being wolves is a deep internal struggle which they are currently losing– pray for Jesus to soften their hearts. They are not open to our words or example or even to Christian reason. As St Paul says, “There have to be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.” May Christ have mercy on them and bring them (and us) to repentance!

Fr Mark Hodges
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The following cartoon highlights the problem:
http://swordofpeter.blogspot.com/2012/01/st-francis-true-story.html

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12)