EC
#0
I can\'t post blogs, software\'s too old, so I thought I\'d post this here for your comments:
Here we are in 2008, with a black person who is a serious contender for the Presidency of the U. S., and people of his own party are making snide remarks and jokes about him because of his race.
I do not support Senator Obama, however, in this day and age, I thought we were past all that racism crap. Quite frankly, it makes me sick.
I was born in 1955. Even though I was pretty young, I recall when Archbishop Iakovos was the only white Christian religious leader to march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., when Dr. King called upon all American religious leaders, black and white, to march with him. I also remember all the controversy His Eminence caused by doing so. I remember the race riots in places like nearby Cleveland, also Detroit, Newark, N. J., Los Angeles, etc. I remember the confrontation between JFK and George Wallace over admission of a black student to a white school. Those days should be long gone. But when people of Senator Obama\'s own party make racial comments about him, I seriously have to wonder who the real racists in politics are.
St. Paul writes in Romans 2:10-11: \"...glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.\" Later in Chapter 10 he says, \"...there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon Him.\" My brothers and sisters in Christ, if God shows no partiality to race, then why should we? Some may say that God told the Jews in the OT not to mix with the races and peoples around them, but this was not because of race, it was because they were idolaters. Racism should be considered a grave sin by all who call themselves Christian. God created us in His image. Therefore, to hate someone because of the color of their skin is the same as hating God.
Friends, as Orthodox Christians, we must see the face of Christ in everyone we meet, even if we don\'t particularly get along with them. We must see His countenance even in the most downtrodden, poor, hungry, destitute people we may happen to see on the street every day. That is what the Church is all about. We must treat all people as we would want to be, and assist those whom we can. You never know, you may be entertaining angels unawares.
Manny
Be the first person to like this.
View All Previous Posts
DD
#13
In case anyone wondered, the ad Cyprian was talking about is on YouTube (or at least it was) somewhere. I can no longer find it.
Dave
Be the first person to like this.
Misha Sarov
#17
st Chrysostom lived about three centuries after Nero\'s death.so there couldn\'t be a prophecy.
if St John described Nero as antichrist ,this is nothing unusual.
Our Lord himself said:
\"and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.\"John 2,18
every era has its own antichrists.
but what makes Pope of Rome special among the various antichrists is that he sits in the Temple of God (recently also in Orthodox churches),claiming to be \"vicarius Cristi\",Christ\'s representetive on Earth.
so he fulfils the prophecy :
\"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand\"Mat 24,15
Be the first person to like this.
FC
#18
Armyman, odds are Youtube pulled the plug on that ad (or at least one can hope!).
JustinMiller, man, you are too funny!
Be the first person to like this.
John Chan
#19
*moderator hat on*
I am asking people to stop adding more to this thread for awhile. I am trying to untangle where the wires got crossed.
Be the first person to like this.
John Chan
#20
OK – I think I have it unravelled...
When Manny started this thread (which was actually intended to be a blog entry) – there were certain things happening on the political scene in the USA regarding Senator Obama’s campaign. [post #1]
The main point Manny was making was that racism is distasteful even outside of the Church – how much more, then, should we Orthodox Christians stand against such displays of hatred? [post #3]
Tangent #1: The question then, was what do we do about the displays of contempt toward another religion, namely the Muslims. In light of the recent discussion regarding Serbia and Kosovo – how does this affect us and how do we respond? [post # 4 & 5]
It was pointed out that religion is not the same as race – and I suppose (correct me if I’m wrong here) that the intention of calling Islam “antichristian” – with a lower case “a” – was merely an observation that the two are diametrically opposed. That the two would express contempt toward one another is simply by definition: it is what it is. (Tangent #2) [post #6 &7]
Tangent #3, there are folks who will twist Orthodoxy (or whatever ideologies they may usurp) in order to present a racist view of supremacy. [post #8, 9, 11]
Tangent #4, a rather chicken-and-egg theory of the relationship between racism and faulty evangelism methods - which I didn’t understand at all [post #10]
Tangent #5, the identity (identities?) of the Antichrist (capital A) – as a misreading of tangent #2 [post # 12, 15]
Tangent #6, a bizarre view that races are created by God – and therefore serve a purpose, and that the mixing of races is against God’s design [post #16]
Be the first person to like this.
AC
#21
John,
Many exegetes, even among the holy fathers and doctors of the Church, have conflated Antichrist with \"the Beast\" of Revelation. I am not saying that Islam is \"the Beast\", who as you rightly point out was almost certainly Nero, but Islam most definitely fits St.John\'s description of Antichrist, as in, \"it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the[c] Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour\" 1 St.John 2:18. Here we see that antichrist is not a single person. Next, \"Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either;\" 1 St.John 2:22.
Finally, \"and every spirit that does not confess that[a] Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.\" 1 St.John 4: 3. this shows us that Antichrist is not just a single person, but a spirit.
Islam is Antichrist, Christianity and Islam are totally incompatable.
More to the point though, Islam is ideologically and fanatically purposed to conquer the world, by whatever means is required. It has shown itself militant in the extreme, and intolerant of any resistance.
Islam must reform from within, or be restrained from without. Those that can\'t see this aren\'t in tune with reality.
We can\'t always be all sweetness and light to everyone, if our forebears who faced the threat of Facism in WW II had continued to placate the regimes of Nazism and Imperial Japan, we would be under the weal of the third Reich now.
Be the first person to like this.
OH
#22
Man! I hate it when I miss all the fun on a thread like this. Racism, Muslims, Antichrist, Evangelism! Throw in Ecumenism and we\'re all set!
Be the first person to like this.
RC
#23
Hello folks,
With issues like racism, it is very easy for topics to become abusive or just, plain negative. I believe that the person who started this thread had a very good idea in that he challenged us to examine ourselves and reject racism where we find it, especially if we find it within ourselves.
Unfortunately, much of this conversation has gone south in a hurry. So I ask you to please keep in mind that the purpose of Orthodox Circle is to spread the Good News of Christ, and not bad news of certain other people.
Please do your best to direct the conversation in a loving direction. If this is not possible, please let the discussion come to a close quietly.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me, Ninos, Thymios, or any other member of the OC Staff.
In Christ,
-Rob
Be the first person to like this.
RB
#24
I think that we need to look at ourselves, not Islam, Catholics, et al, as the antichrists. Those who say they believe in Christ but don\'t do his commandments are liars (1 John 2:3-4, which needs to be considered when reading the quote from AntonOrth).
Are we doing Christ\'s commandments? Go double-check the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7) and check. If we aren\'t doing these commandments, we are liars and antichrists.
Be the first person to like this.
DV
#27
Well, I am an Obama supporter and I wondered if being Orthodox and Democrat wasn\'t a conflict in terms. I\'ve met very few of us and almost none on the various Orthodox forums that I post on. I actually had one poster called me a heretic.
I think this is more about the single issue of abortion and not race. I\'ve been impressed with the lack of religious intolerance in the Orthodox Church that I am a member of.
I am also of Jewish parents. I was brought into the Orthodox Church by a priest who\'s father is a Rabbi. He has a cap that was knitted for him by some Jewish Orthodox monks. Our Bishop Benjamin gave him permission to wear it during Great Lent.
That\'s progress for our Holy Orthodox Church.
Be the first person to like this.
DV
#25
Good Heavens.
My parents were Jewish. That\'s all I know. I am sorry I can\'t be more specific than that.
Deborah
Be the first person to like this.
AT
#26
Wonderful post! I always love to see the many \\"colors\\" of the people of God within the Church ... from the alabaster white to the dark chocolate brown and all the wonderful colors in between (depending upon the amount of sun I get, I tend to be toasted almond! LOL!). I try to make careful distinctions for my children toward who they look toward for marriage that skin color doesn\'t matter, but that they do need to consider family culture. Will it blend with what they\'re from? There can even be ethnic differences, but the underlying family values, and the Faith they hold in God and in Who they know Him to be is what matters. The values are the mortar and the Faith is the brick to build the house of their Future with.
I believe it was Ghandi who said it best, \\"Be the change you want to see.\\"
Be the first person to like this.
James Anthony
#29
I replied to an article in a Texas newspaper about \\"race\\" once. Actually it was a series of articles. The reply I made then, long before I ever knew of such a group as Orthodox, still applies today, and here.
The only way to change racism whether it be religious, or racial is ONE HEART AT A TIME! Any other goal is, well, grandiose and will quite probably lead one to discouragement.
Be the first person to like this.
James Anthony
#30
I replied to an article in a Texas newspaper about \\"race\\" once. Actually it was a series of articles. The reply I made then, long before I ever knew of such a group as Orthodox, still applies today, and here.
The only way to change racism whether it be religious, or racial is ONE HEART AT A TIME! Any other goal is, well, grandiose and will quite probably lead one to discouragement.
Be the first person to like this.
Misha Sarov
#28
A really great book is \\"Happiness Diary\\".
Describes the spiritual adventure of Nicolae Steinhardt,a romanian jew,philosopher and writer to the Holy Orthodox Church.
I humbly think that this book is among the most significant books written in the 20th century.
Be the first person to like this.