tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27139233.post6635961444485270159..comments2023-12-22T19:01:28.512-08:00Comments on Holy Nativity Orthodox Church: Prayer and the Fear of EnemiesFr. Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16981965403145920704noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27139233.post-61595443200777402452011-10-06T14:40:57.653-07:002011-10-06T14:40:57.653-07:00Dear Christopher,
I don't know how to respond....Dear Christopher,<br />I don't know how to respond. You seem to be providing an example of the very alarmism I am talking about.<br />For the sake of clarity, however, I will add the following: <br /><br />I used the expression "more spiritually minded" in contrast to those who read literally the political prayers that call on God to subject our enemies to "our Christ-loving king." <br /> <br />What I find "hugely unhelpful" is an interpretation of these political prayers A) as if a Christian empire still existed and B) as if the way to prepare for possible martyrdom is to be alarmed by its possibility.<br /><br />Also, there is no dichotomy: very few people interpret prayers against enemies (or for deliverance from danger and necessity) as exclusively either an internal or an external matter. It is not an either/or matter. According to the seasons of our life, our circumstances and our spiritual growth, we interpret prayers according to our understanding of our needs at the time.<br /><br />That's why we pray together; and God, who knows the need of each, answers according to His love for mankind, all mankind.<br /><br />I find it interesting that in the end, God did not answer these political prayers politically. That is, the Turks won. Maybe we should learn from this.Fr. Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16981965403145920704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27139233.post-80590993825414974042011-10-05T16:22:31.067-07:002011-10-05T16:22:31.067-07:00Father, when we pray the litany of peace as we do ...Father, when we pray the litany of peace as we do every Sunday, for "our deliverance from all tribulations, wrath, danger and necessity..."<br />Do you consider this: <br /><br />"hugely unhelpful"<br /><br />A species of "religion conceived in fear"?<br /><br />To be understood by the more "spiritually minded" as having nothing to do with any worldly tribulation, wrath, danger and necessity in the world but only on some higher "spiritual" plane?<br /><br />A sign that the "U.S. Media" and "political system" has in unduly influenced the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom?<br /><br />Is this prayer a sign of "frightened people", a sort of economia the Church has seen fit to grant to people who are ignorant of the enemy within?<br /> <br />How do "spiritually minded" people grasp this prayer, seeing that they are not frozen senseless in fear but rather see it properly, spiritually, correctly?<br /><br />p.s. The idea that something called “the U.S. Media” has portrayed Islam as something evil is a real zinger. The U.S political system/elite and the media have bent over backwards to portray Islam as something it is not, a “religion of peace” to use former president Bush's own words. The facts of Islam are quite different, beginning with Muhammad himself instructing his followers to kill their enemies and rape/enslave their wives and children, through it's history of conquest and dhimmitude. Apparantly, the awarness of these facts convicts one of being possesed by a low spirituallity based on fear of the other...Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16152024447008244670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27139233.post-79543957677472810612011-10-05T14:47:48.477-07:002011-10-05T14:47:48.477-07:00Wow. You make quite a few leaps and judgments her...Wow. You make quite a few leaps and judgments here. Not everyone who is aware of the threat of Islam is gripped by an irrational or "unspiritual" fear. Not everyone who prays that this enemy be kept at bay from our wives and children ignores the True Enemy, or our state in this fallen world, or Christs call to love our enemies. Such prayer is not a low form of wishing ill will on our very real enemies (It's "love your enemies", not "love your enemies who aren't really your enemies because the evil that they do is not really evil").<br /><br />I have no idea who this "Orthodox Leader" was or what he has said that so offends you "spiritually minded" people but that horse your on is pretty big and that fall is going to hurt a little bit...Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16152024447008244670noreply@blogger.com