“For all who surround him are ready to smite and overthrow him, not only his enemies and foes, but many of those who pretend to love him.”
— St. John Chrysostom, “On the Priesthood“
Merriam-Webster defines a “double standard” as “a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another.” Well, that precisely describes what is going on in the Orthodox Church in America.
One group of clergy can utter highly political, left-wing shibboleths with nary a peep (which I illustrated in part 1 with the assistance of a discerning Dissident Mama reader), yet when a priest from the other conservative group dares to stand against an injustice, he’s almost immediately canceled.
I agree with David “therealMedWhite” and Luke Kendrat’s recent conversation. They emphatically state that it’s time for laity to unapologetically resist the cultural-Marxist tide sweeping through some American parishes and jurisdictions. In fact, pushing against progressivism’s long march through the institutions is our Christian duty, and it is very much in line with Church history, they say. Now, there’s some Orthodoxy in dialogue for ya!
The two champions for the faith also discuss the suspension of Father Mark Hodges – the fateful event that was the impetus for my last essay – as well as the incendiary blog that helped to bring him down … for now. (At top is the website’s pretext-laden photo montage which ran with their original hit piece on Father Mark.)
What may seem like inside-baseball squabbling among some Orthodox is actually a serious situation because it makes so palatable the contradictory paradigm under which we conservatives and traditionalists (both Christian and otherwise) find ourselves in all quarters of society: there are no rules for leftists but quite draconian and ever-changing rules for everyone else. And if you dare break them, you’ll be scorned a racist insurrectionist, a democracy-crushing conspiracy theorist, a coup-attempting neo-Confederate, or maybe even a seditious Nazi.
That’s why Father Mark made the headlines, everywhere from Fox News, Newsweek, the NY Post and San Francisco Chronicle, to Business Insider, The Hill, the Daily Beast and even even the UK’s Daily Mail. Sure, these Big Media publications may say they’re just disseminating the news that Fr. Hodges was indeed suspended and might face defrocking for attending the Stop the Steal rally in DC.
But the mass coverage also hammers home the “storming of the Capitol” narrative, which is meant to discourage future activism among conservatives, liberty-lovers, and any common-sense people who are fed up with the globohomo regime. It aims to decrease dissent, and increase disavowing and distraction.
The unfolding of Father Mark’s story also undergirds the theme that Christianity is a cult of superstitious and backwards homophobes who just need a good reformin’. I mean, it’s these uneducated and unenlightened haters (just like those mean ol’ white supremacists), who stand in the way of the planet finally attaining utopia. We’d be there already, if it weren’t for the Father Marks of the world.
Plus, many of the articles propagate false information. Shocking, I know. For example, some claim that Metropolitan Tikhon, head of the Orthodox Church in America, had issued a statement condemning the events on January 6. However, that is not what I find in the hierarch’s quite milquetoast pronouncement for peace and unity.
Some sources reported that Father Mark “scrubbed” his Facebook page. But last I checked, this is not the reality. Of course, the insinuation of both of these items is that Hodges is one bad dude.
According to the Christian Post, the priest’s diocese is now denying that Father Mark’s suspension even has anything to do with the protest and is more the “result of various circumstances” that are “part of an internal process.” That’s what we who’ve worked in public relations call “damage control.”
I think it’s safe to say that the abounding double standards are the purported “circumstances.” Father Mark’s outspoken fight for faith, family, and life have simply triggered the pearl-clutchers within the internal process for too long.
Just search “Fr. Mark Hodges” at LifeSiteNews to see the many essays he authored in opposition to the sinister status quo, and you’ll see what I mean. Thus, canning him for the “deadly DC riot” was just a win-win-win: silence his dissidence, appease the LGBT brigade, and buttress the cultural-Marxist mythos.
To me, the even more perilous ramification is that Father Mark’s censure is a blow for the Orthodox Church. Monomakhos puts it well: “I can’t help but wonder how many honest, patriotic American Christians who have been thinking about Orthodoxy are now thinking ‘yeah – no.'” Earnest Christians will be aghast when they realize that it’s not just the Protestants and Catholics who have an evangeleftist problem.
If Orthodoxy goes woke, there is nothing to set it apart from the rest of America’s other withering churches. If it marches in lockstep with the world and the directives of its nihilist puppet masters, what’s the point? Conservatives will flee, seekers will never show up at all, and progressives can only plug the holes in their jurisdiction’s sinking ship for so long. This is both a matter of personal salvation and collective strength for a future Church here in the West. Existential is not too bold a word.
Originally, my final pitch was going to urge readers to contact Archbishop Paul Gassios at bishoppaul@domoca.org or 312-202-0420 to insist upon the reinstatement of Father Mark Hodges. But being that Father Paul recently penned a predictable pronouncement against the “sedition and rebellion” that took place at the Capitol protest and has written no such condemnation of BLM-Antifa’s six months of rioting (per a site search of the archbishop’s essays), I wouldn’t hold my breath for a forthcoming reinstatement or even an apology for the rebuked priest.
Whether it’s priests encouraging sin while excoriating and reviling those who resist it, or bishops pushing the vaccine as a “purely medical” and not a spiritual or political issue, wolves abound. So, “we must speak out in defense of the righteous shepherds,” as Father Ioannes Apiarius advised.
It is our job to forthrightly challenge this hypocrisy and support Father Mark, a humble and godly man who prays even for his enemies. After all, it is those good shepherds who will be the ones standing up for us and our children, and against the wiles of the devil in the coming days of increased secular-humanist persecution. These are the selfless acts of true unity and love – the singular standards of our ancient and undying faith.
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As more and more of these things come to light I can’t help but think about the phrase “unreasonable faith” that Archbishop Alexander used in his initial diocesan letter to the South back in March and the tone of disdain he had for those of us Orthodox that I assume he knew would take issue with the restrictions being implemented. I have the sense that many, not all, but many bishops feel they are entitled to commanding obedience and receiving it. And in a perfect world, they are due this respect. However, when you have some bishops (perhaps more than we want to admit to) that remain silent during the biggest crisis our generation has faced thus far, that refuse to answer questions, that talk about love but unfriend faithful looking for guidance, help, answers, anything of help for those Orthodox that are not just elderly, but ALL Orthodox that are affected…that level of respect and trust, that was there, is broken and damaged.
I feel we are being asked to give unreasonable obedience.
We grow up respecting our parents, if we are lucky to have good ones, however as we grow older, wiser, we realize our parents are human and sometimes they make very unwise choices and that respect and trust can be broken. For many the children, end up having to take on the roles of their own parents. We can still love them and pray for them, but to be obedient would be unreasonable in some cases.
God deserves our obedience first and foremost and when bishops and priests fail, the children (family/laity) that see what’s broken should pull together to help each other. That is what I think this year has been for many Orthodox. Those of us who have been abandoned by our churches/priests/bishops have found family here on Monomakhos, Orthodox Ethos, the Duran, From the Amvon, The Arena, The Morning Offering, Dissident Mama, Presbyteria Katherine Baker’s writing, Serbian churches, ROCOR churches, and the list goes on. They have provided a way for us to communicate a common growing concern that strangely Covid has unveiled but in reality was in existence and well hidden long before the “pandemic” revealed these distinct differences in ethos. What we have as laity is a common concern for our parent church and its leadership and how to go about preserving The Church despite the breakdowns in leadership. Here we have found those who cling to truth and faith and realize that we may need to take a different path to continue on. Not find a new faith, but we realize now we may need to go to great lengths to preserve and find others grasping onto the essence of our faith and willing to protect it, keeping it undefiled for this generation and those to come.
The more truth that comes out, especially with double standards as Dissident Mama pointed out, the more I realize as a simple lay person that our leadership is severely jeopardized. The leadership of so many jurisdictions leads the faithful to reasonably question where to place our obedience. I think most of us have realized, for now, it must be with God, and trust that He will provide the parishes and good priests to get us through this strange abyss.
Author
“I feel we are being asked to give unreasonable obedience.” Amen and a-woman to that, Nora!! 😉 Everything you say is spot on. The “underground church,” with all its devout refugees fleeing from the conformist parishes and diocese and jurisdictions, really is a glorious and dynamic and peaceful place – a true oasis from the madness both outside of and within the Church. We may not be large in numbers, but we are huge in spirit and faith … and courage! You are a prime example of that. Both bold and loving, and wiling to do whatever it takes to preserve and protect Orthodoxy and perpetuate it “undefiled” for our kids.
No doubt, though, the schisms that lay before us will be rough, but I think we’re battle-ready after what we’ve been through with wu-flu mania. We’ve toughened up and learned a lot over the past year. So as long as we stay on the narrow path and resist the wiles of the world, a strong remnant will go one way while the woke go the other. It has really needed to happen for a long, long, and it’s overwhelming to live through sometimes, but I do believe it’s God’s will. Stay tough, pray mightily, and keep on loving on your peeps.
In the service of the Lord, DM 🙂
Enthusiastic agreement once again, DM, and many potential points of discussion. However, for whatever reason, one that occurs is the issue of what we’re looking for in our leadership.
Fr. Mark, as you describe him here, does indeed seem like a genuinely humble guy; and by the quality of humility, I mean, as one of my seminary profs defined it, not viewing oneself as a worthless worm, but simply having one’s confidence properly placed. I suppose it’s predictable and understandable that we often look for the Great Leader, like a Washington, or, going back to antiquity or the medieval period, a king or some other aristocrat. And of course these have often provided necessary leadership, being part of God’s providence.
I am not the first to compare Donald Trump to the ancient Cyrus, a pagan used of God to provide for His people. Many of us don’t render unreserved praise on him, but we do recognize he served to at least show resistence to the corrupt “globohomo” elite and Deep State, a service that is continuing to prove invaluable in awakening the “normies”, even if his actual record in some other areas was disappointing, and he went down in electoral “defeat” (I happen to believe the election was a total fraud, and that the current regime is criminal from top to bottom).
That said, your characterization of Fr. Mark indicates that instead of waiting for the Great Man, we need to begin looking for the truly humble, probably local, guy or gal, who is simply committed to doing the next right thing. Sure, I suppose celebrity has its uses – among those who know whence their true value and confidence reside – but I hope we are learning from having been disappointed time and again by the shallowness and transience of mere fame, to continue basing our hopes in it.
Frankly, I’m searching for those whom I can trust to share a foxhole with, figuratively and perhaps literally! I don’t scorn the need for the Great Man on the bigger, broader stage, but he’ll be unable to be there for you or for me down at the local level, where we live the vast majority of our lives. For that, we’d do better to look to the Fr. Marks – and perhaps better, to be the Fr. Marks – for the sake of our loved ones and communities.
You’re probably way ahead of me, Miss Rebecca, but I just read Jack Kerwick’s latest over at Reckonin‘. Not suprisingly, his observations and advice line up right well with where we need to be!
https://www.reckonin.com/jack-kerwick/be-strong-and-live-well
I missed it because I was out of town over the weekend, but I will check it out asap. But knowing that it’s Jack, I can guarantee you that I’ll be saying “hell, yeah!” by the end of the essay.
Agreed. I think we will have unlikely heroes, and by that I mean leaders and inspirations that become so not because they seek those things, but because God places them in those moments in time for a reason. Just good men (and maybe even a woman or two) who simply rise to the occasion and galvanize good people. I pray we have many, many Father Marks.
You now have a Back up for this page too…
https://web.archive.org/web/20210131200817/http://www.dissidentmama.net/wheres-the-clerical-consistency-part-2/
You are quite awesome, Sherman. 🙂
The synod needs to be purged of its gay bishops like Benjamin and Daniel (who has a boyfriend living in Las Vegas).
Gimme the dirt, Annon! Please email me if you got some good evidence. Thanks. 🙂
thedissidentmama@gmail.com