George C. Michalopulos looks at the American socio/cultural landscape and sees parallels between the conflicts in the culture with conflicts in the Church. Two competing narratives function in the American Orthodox Church — the missionary narrative that goes back to the missionary monks who brought the Gospel to Alaska, and the colonial subjugation narrative by which the ancient Patriarchates seek domination of the American Church.
Except below. Full article: OrthodoxyToday.org
America vs. foreign entanglements in the American Orthodox Church.
By George C Michalopulos
9/11: Implications for America and Orthodoxy
Introduction
On that day as well, more than financial and governmental institutions were destroyed. The collapse of the South Tower of the World Trade Center destroyed St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, a church that was built in 1916 and had been partially endowed by Czar Nicholas II. This entire area has come to be known as Ground Zero. Unfortunately, neither the WTC nor St Nicholas has been rebuilt. Muslims activists however have agitated to build an Islamic cultural center, titled The Cordoba Initiative, just two blocks away from this site. This complex, which is to house a mosque as well as an “interfaith” conference hall and swimming pool, has aroused the ire of millions of Americans who view Ground Zero as hallowed ground. In a very real sense, the political debate has become a flashpoint between secular elites who want this Islamic center built and ordinary Americans who are revolted by the very prospect. Both instances result from a lack of nerve: the political class has for the most part abandoned traditional Americanism, while the hierarchy the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and the upper echelons of its lay leadership are more concerned foreign affairs involving Greece and Istanbul.
The silence of the GOA is baffling to those outside the orbit of American Orthodoxy. After all, St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was the only religious institution that was affected by this disaster. So silent has the GOA been that until recently, most Americans were unaware that an Orthodox place of worship had been destroyed on that horrible day. It was only because of the efforts of certain conservative politicians and commentators who have led the charge against the Ground Zero Mosque that it was even brought to public’s attention. The few statements made by archdiocesan functionaries in response to this controversy have been tepid at best, and then only elicited due to the prodding of insistent reporters from national news organizations such as FOX News.
Read the entire article on the OrthodoxyToday.org website.
Leave a Reply