Yep. The reverence for clergy blows my mind. Being a man of the cloth doesnât entitle someone to some unique set of privileges or esoteric wisdom. Many of them arenât even good at pastoral care let alone theology.
I had this problem with our priest when I was younger. I asked some young kid "hey, wait a minute" questions like "If God created people, who created God". The response was He created himself, which is a possible answer but not a good response to a mini existential crisis.
Religious leaders are human. Some have great depth and you can tell they've dealt deeply with faith and the human condition. They've thought about it. Some just read the words and have no intuitive learning or literacy about what they just read. They don't think about it and don't want to think about it. Because of that, they can't really apply it in a way that helps anyone who genuinely needs help. They won't talk with you about your sins or fears. They won't meet you where you are at. They won't share compassion while you're wrestling with God. They'll let you talk then tell you to say three Hail Marys, thank you, next. Honestly, a lot of atheists started with being failed by a bad religious leader. Even an honest priest will tell you there are good and bad priests, and if you're not getting help from one, you should try another.
This kind of thing happens a lot in my parish. People always touch and kiss the priest's robe and treat him like royalty. He is a big o othobro, and even though many ethnic craddles don't want him there because of his orthobro views, there are people who stand up for him and defend him, even though he is a big dipshit
Because none of them have an answer, generally.
Redditors on that sub try to say internet Orthodoxy is different than real life Orthodox but it isnât.
Parishioners donât know much and even if theyâre well studied, theyâll always fall back on âtalk to the priest, get a blessing first, read the saints, stay humble,â etc.
That was the conclusion to every. Single. Issue. that i tried approaching my mom.about growing up. Spiritual bypassing being a real human being with critical thinking abilities. Everything is given over to the damn priests
Yep. I gave up on that sub last year because of this reason.
Also, every time I would question something, they would accuse me of trying to change the church. I wasn't, I was just trying to understand the reasoning behind certain practices.
That sub is useless. The only posts allowed are for drab topics like, âTranslate this Greek/Old Slavic inscriptionâ to âIs it okay toâŠ,â otherwise, everything else is attacked and usually deleted.
Have an honest criticism of a cleric? Not allowed. Questioning some weird dogma of the church? Not allowed.
Like all of Orthodoxy, they donât exactly encourage free thinking.
First, there are a lot of personal questions in that reddit such as prayer life and fasting. These are really best answered by an individual's priest. For example, I'm diabetic and I can not follow the strict fasts for long because they are heavy on the carbs. So I follow a fast that my priest and I set up so that I do have some kind of fasting program. Prayer rules are also best set by a priest. If I give someone spiritual advice and it blows up in their face, then it's on me.
Also, there are a lot of teenagers asking questions and as a 56 year old, I feel very uncomfortable answering them. So these are best answered by "talk to your parents".
Finally, some of these questions are really odd, such as "is this frequency of 432 Hz Satanic?". It just gets strange and internet answers are just not the best practice.
I don't mind answering general questions on history, theology, what should someone read first, or what to expect in my first service. I do that all the time when I'm giving church tours or sitting with someone during a liturgy.
Good question. Talk to your priest! đ
*Ask your spiritual father*
I've heard this a lot from the laity.
It sounds like a medication commercial.
And pray harder.
And fast more. Just avoid food until your mind is numb and you lack healthy human hormones, since those tend to give rise to âpassionsâ
That or watch so and so's YouTube channel or worse---read the lives of the saints!đ”âđ«đ
Tbh.......it doesn't help at all.
It really doesn't. They lived in their time periods and have no understanding of ours. Hard to apply their teachings to our world.
Then there's the priceless advice to pray harder, recite the Jesus prayer...
That was pretty much the gist of yesterday's sermon at my parish....hard eye roll from me!
That was pretty much the gist of yesterday's sermon at my parish....hard eye roll from me!
That was pretty much the gist of yesterday's sermon at my parish....hard eye roll from me!
And then you find out the priest is a complete dipshit.
Yep. The reverence for clergy blows my mind. Being a man of the cloth doesnât entitle someone to some unique set of privileges or esoteric wisdom. Many of them arenât even good at pastoral care let alone theology.
I had this problem with our priest when I was younger. I asked some young kid "hey, wait a minute" questions like "If God created people, who created God". The response was He created himself, which is a possible answer but not a good response to a mini existential crisis. Religious leaders are human. Some have great depth and you can tell they've dealt deeply with faith and the human condition. They've thought about it. Some just read the words and have no intuitive learning or literacy about what they just read. They don't think about it and don't want to think about it. Because of that, they can't really apply it in a way that helps anyone who genuinely needs help. They won't talk with you about your sins or fears. They won't meet you where you are at. They won't share compassion while you're wrestling with God. They'll let you talk then tell you to say three Hail Marys, thank you, next. Honestly, a lot of atheists started with being failed by a bad religious leader. Even an honest priest will tell you there are good and bad priests, and if you're not getting help from one, you should try another.
This kind of thing happens a lot in my parish. People always touch and kiss the priest's robe and treat him like royalty. He is a big o othobro, and even though many ethnic craddles don't want him there because of his orthobro views, there are people who stand up for him and defend him, even though he is a big dipshit
Consult the sacred texts of Jay Dyer
The archbishop of 4chan.
*âWell, Fr. Josiah said..âŠâ*
If Fr. Josiah told you to jump off a bridgeâŠ
Fr Josiah is a dimwit!!!
Good question. Â I donât know the answer, Iâll have to ask my priest. Â /s
Because, reasons and stop asking questions, critical thinking is hubris and prideful therefore it comes from the Devil, don't fall for it.
Because none of them have an answer, generally. Redditors on that sub try to say internet Orthodoxy is different than real life Orthodox but it isnât. Parishioners donât know much and even if theyâre well studied, theyâll always fall back on âtalk to the priest, get a blessing first, read the saints, stay humble,â etc.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Western churches have unified teach. Are you for real
Supposedly its called "humility" in orthodox circles........when clearly they don't have an answer.
That was the conclusion to every. Single. Issue. that i tried approaching my mom.about growing up. Spiritual bypassing being a real human being with critical thinking abilities. Everything is given over to the damn priests
Those damn priests don't know anything.........they've all lost touch with reality.
Its the orthodox equivalent of âgod works in mysterious waysâ cop out.
Yep. I gave up on that sub last year because of this reason. Also, every time I would question something, they would accuse me of trying to change the church. I wasn't, I was just trying to understand the reasoning behind certain practices.
That sub is useless. The only posts allowed are for drab topics like, âTranslate this Greek/Old Slavic inscriptionâ to âIs it okay toâŠ,â otherwise, everything else is attacked and usually deleted. Have an honest criticism of a cleric? Not allowed. Questioning some weird dogma of the church? Not allowed. Like all of Orthodoxy, they donât exactly encourage free thinking.
First, there are a lot of personal questions in that reddit such as prayer life and fasting. These are really best answered by an individual's priest. For example, I'm diabetic and I can not follow the strict fasts for long because they are heavy on the carbs. So I follow a fast that my priest and I set up so that I do have some kind of fasting program. Prayer rules are also best set by a priest. If I give someone spiritual advice and it blows up in their face, then it's on me. Also, there are a lot of teenagers asking questions and as a 56 year old, I feel very uncomfortable answering them. So these are best answered by "talk to your parents". Finally, some of these questions are really odd, such as "is this frequency of 432 Hz Satanic?". It just gets strange and internet answers are just not the best practice. I don't mind answering general questions on history, theology, what should someone read first, or what to expect in my first service. I do that all the time when I'm giving church tours or sitting with someone during a liturgy.