George, there will always be those within the Church who are their to sabotage her work. However, if the faithful remain faithful, the Holy Spirit may convert those as well.

As to being on ‘war-footing’: well, we should always expect to be that way and be prepared to give an answer in love and respect for what we believe. Of course, one cannot live successfully in the enemies’ camp either. When people accept the teaching of the world and deny the teaching of the Church it is the first step to apostasy.

Sadly I saw the same thing when I considered returning to Catholicism from a decade long journey through Protestant circles. I recognize that betrayal is often an “inside job” (e.g., Judas). Yet, one should expect that to be the exception, not the rule. You can’t fight the enemy well when they are in the same foxhole. The situation reminds me of a saying I had often heard during that journey when discussing the Church: A ship is made to be in the sea; when the sea is in the ship, however, you’ve got serious trouble. Which reminds me of another saying – the name we had for folks who don’t recognize the necessity for complete conversion: visitors.

This reminds me of long epistle Rod Drehe wrote 2 yrs ago, about why he left the Catholic Church for Orthodoxy. His reasons can be boiled down to one searing sentence: basically, whenever he and his wife went into a parish, they were always on “war-footing.” That is having to defend traditional Catholic orthodoxy which more often than not, was in abeyance in the parishes in question. We’re talking not just priests here, but laymen and often the most eminent laymen in the congregtation. Being called a “homophobe,” “bigot,” “racist,” etc. The way this works is that if you’re against gay “marriage” you must also be against mixed marriages as well, therefore probably a racist. yada, yada, yada

Axios, Metropolitan Isaiah!

Thirty years ago, no Greek Orthodox Christian would have argued against or dared to be critical of his priest or his bishop in this manner in order to support the “gay” lifestyle.

Now, however, folks in the pews (presumably faithful, since they were willing to attend a Church event) express positions formed primarily by current mores than by the Tradition of the Church.

Yet, sandwiched between his clear, humble and very Patristic insistence that he condemns no one, lies a firm confrontation with a false (versus true) way of life. (It is important to note that a true Shepherd must do both in order to faithfully uphold the full truth and do so in love; so many today do choose only one or the other – either “love” or “truth” – and the result is that both suffer since both must always stand together.) This forms – both structurally and theologically – the heart of his argument: the position expressed by his “assailants” is not “enlighted” (certainly not by the True Light), but is rather consistent with and evidence of Satanic influence.

The result is a gentle and humble, but firm, expression of faithful living in the context of a contentious issue. May God bless, keep and support His Eminence!