1. The Role of Honesty, Transparency and The Golden Rule in Orthodox Christianity
2. The Value of Being Out and Living A Devout Orthodox Christian Life
3. Understanding of the distinction between Orthodox Doctrine and Orthodox Orthopraxy
4. How St. Paul's “Soft” and “Hard” positions are both Key to Orthodox Orthopraxy
5. How Heterosexual Phyletism “Clobber's” Gays with Ludicrous Translations
6. The Error of “Proof Texting” Using the Church Fathers
7. Orthodox Examples of Hospitality for Some and Excommunication for Others
8. How Erotic Same-sex Affection Influenced the Orthodox Understanding Of Holy Marriage
9. What Is the Relevance of Christianity in the Postmodern World?
10. Differences Between Eastern and Western Christianity

• Overview – Most people live their lives thinking that honesty, transparency and the golden rule are some kind of nice but exotic ethical ideas not really important in the real world. Religious people often think of the lack of honesty as some sort of sin but not the top priority in any theology. In fact much of this website is the exposition of lies, half truths, guesses and wishful thinking in the church and in society. In this paper, I hope to get you to think differently about these things, especially about trust and your faith built upon a rock and not upon sand. In short, I hope to get you to understand how a core or small subset of these “nice ethical ideas” are not from ethics at all but actually form the basis of all knowledge. In fact, this core actually trumps all science and all religious doctrine even the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. We will take a whirlwind tour of the empty common grave of John Henry Cardinal Newman and his beloved partner. Then through the dusty pages of Clement of Alexandria and right on to the Vienna Circle of the 20th Century with Ayer, Russell, Whitehead influencing scientists and then seminary students everywhere and degenerating into the relativity, political correctness and postmodern nightmare of the latter part of the century and presently devolving into the pragmatism of Quine. What does this have to do with Orthodox Christianity and serving gay people in the Church? Everything! Hold on to your seats and be prepared to see honesty_transparency_and_the_golden_rule in a whole new light.

• Overview – In fact it is not spiritually safe to hide alone from those you give a holy kiss. Being honest and transparent has always been at the root meaning of the word Orthodox and also of the coming out process itself. Gays who are out, hold the greatest paranetic truth that can be given back to the Church. In the process, the Orthodox Church can recover its love for honesty and transparency which marks the Truth. However no one should be pushed to come out before they are ready. The history of Axios demonstrates that only in solidarity can we help each other find the true Holy Orthodox communities that practice hospitality among the phyletistic “orthodox” communities. Let us all pray and work for the day when we will be safely able to worship and be served in all Orthodox Churches with honesty, transparency and the non-judgmental love of God that is truly Orthodox.

• Overview – The story of the Founding and Experience of Axios in Los Angeles California leads us to an understanding of the distinction between Orthodox Doctrine and Orthodox Orthopraxy. The discomfort we face as non-straight Orthodox Christian believers is seldom about Doctrine as has often has been the case in the western churches. Our cognitive dissonance is similar to that of a child who “knows that daddy loves me but he is hitting me.” The mainline hetero-praxy says that gays, but not straights, must accept their lifelong cross of total sexual abstinence. For those few gays who agree with that, there will be much support in the Churches. For the rest of us, however, the only solution to our cognitive dissonance is to get informed about the facts and nurture each other in solidarity. Right now, those closeted in the Churches are not talking to those who are out or those not in Church at all. We must work together to develop some solidarity with each other. The clergy are NOT going to do it. They have retirements to protect and some are even vulnerable themselves.

• Overview – It is obvious that a conservative (Soft) coup has taken place in the Orthodox church. Those who hold the Liberal/Progressive (Hard) position today, generally perceive the Orthodox Christian teachings to be unscientific, uncharitable (more concerned with legalistic rules than love), superstitious and generally backward. But the Liberal/Progessive (Hard) position is a necessary balance in Orthodoxy to maintain Orthopraxy. Both need to be affirmed as Saint Paul affirms them both. When a conservative (Soft) position dominates the Church, then the present character of heterosexual phyletism results.
  • Orthodox Sources demonstrate Liberal/Progressive complaints
  • Discussion of Saint Paul on the Soft and Hard positions
  • …

• Overview – The “Clobber Passages” of Holy Scriptures are those used, through self-serving translations, to justify heterosexual phyletism. (Phyletism is the sin of treating one, usually ethnic, group as more worthy.) The following comprise a resource for sanity regarding Holy Scripture translations.
  • Does_Textual_Criticism_Undermine_Trust_in_Apostolic_Teaching
  • External_Links_To_Clobber_Passages
  • English_Language_confusion_over_arsenokoites

• Overview – The Orthodox Churches usually do a good job presenting the context of Holy Scriptures and giving the reasons for not simply pulling a sample text out of context and runing with it. Unfortunately, with the Church Fathers, which are not holy scripture, proof texting is common in Orthodox writings. I believe this comes from the ascendency of the conservative Soft position that tends to see the Church Fathers as possessing the teaching authority (or Magisterium). Also the Church Fathers' scriptural “elaborations” are seen as Traditions (paradosis) handed down from the Apostles themselves and not “elaborations” or reasonings by them. They tend to embue them with a “charism of infallibility” that protects them from error that the Hard position Liberals would not accept. The Hard position Liberals as “Process Theologians” would see them as men, very capable of error as we are, and look to their logic, reasoning and understanding of the science of their day although with a memory closer in time to the Apostles than we have. Neither of these positions are doctrinally correct, neither are ever questions for catechumens to answer. Both these positions are held among fully Orthodox Christians including clerics and scholars. This is an example of why the balance of both the hard and soft positions are critical to Orthopraxy.

• Overview – “The reality is that there are many “active” homosexuals in our Orthodox parishes, as there are singles whose sexual activity falls into the category of “fornication.” It seems that we have something of a double standard in the way we approach - or ignore - heterosexual behavior while we condemn, to the point of excommunication, homosexual behavior.” ref:
  1. OCA Medical Ethics Commission
     • OCA_Medical-Ethics_Commission_Report (Cached)
     • Here is an OCA report that frankly discusses reality. Some get excommunicated while others are served. But it is left up to the local priest to decide. When he is transferred who knows what will be served up?

• Overview – Here is a question for you? Did the “evil one” fashion the earlier same-sex Orthodox Service similar to marriage in order to fool people? Or did God use the example of love in the Adelphopoiesis Service to inspire the later heterosexual Orthodox Marriage Service? The latter was Professor Boswell's thesis.
  • Professor Boswell on Same-sex Unions
  • Audio lecture of Professor Boswell on Same-sex Unions
  • Axios documents on Same-sex Unions with archive at Axios USA
  • Here is a video about Traditional Marriage

• Overview – “If being an Orthodox Christian for you, gay or not, is about membership in an ethnic or social club then I don't suppose that much of what I have written will have much meaning for you. But if you are an Orthodox Christian by faith and not simply by birth, then I am writing these words for you. Whether you have an active prayer and sacramental life in the Church or are just floundering or maybe reeling from the last stumbling-block you tripped over, we have the same missionary job. For many of us, we have to learn to become missionaries to ourselves while we are learning to be helpful to others and rediscovering the meaning of our relationships.”

• Overview – “This is not a rant against Western Christianity. God gives his grace to all that all might be saved and everyone who is condemned is self-condemned. While some orthodox christians might suppose they know who is without grace, that would not be Orthodox teaching. That being said, while the historical core doctrines of Orthodoxy are close to Catholicism, there are significant differences_in_eastern_and_western_emphasis and philosophical outlook. The drive for certainty in both the Catholic and Protestant west have a diminished role in Orthodoxy.

Saint Paul made a point of saying that if the jews are not saved then he (St. Paul) did not want to be saved either because he was a jew. To further push the point home about the Law, he said that Abraham was saved by his faith in God over 400 years before the Law was even given. ”

• Read about some differences between Eastern and Western Christianity: ”The Transfigured Cosmos”
• The pursuit of unity
  • The Western Church tends to pursue Hierarchical unity
  • The Eastern Church pursues Conciliar unity
• The pursuit of certainty
  • The Western Church tends to need Definition and Certainty
  • The Eastern Church tends to separate Orthopraxy and Doctrine

by Father George (Battelle)

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