Anastasios
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Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina
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« on: May 08, 2004, 10:15:56 PM » |
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Friends,
Due to our desire to maintain a primarily religious-centered message board where the participants are relatively friendly to one another, and seeing that the board has of late been flooded with political discussion, some of it good, some of it divisive, we administrators and moderators have decided to issue a one month moratorium on American political discussion and this includes the posting of political news items as the posting of articles can itself be a statement depending on how it is carried out.
So until June 8, 2004, no threads dealing with political issues will be allowed. After that, we will resume a more limited allowance of political discussion.
This does not apply to issues such as Serbs vs. Albanians and other issues facing Orthodox countries. The intent is to stop temporarily discussing Bush vs. Kerry, talk show hosts vs. "the liberals", the "Religious Right", and all assorted things with the intent to give everyone a break and generally bring the tension level down a notch.
Anyone having a question about this please feel free to post it here.
Sincerely,
The OC.net Administrator and Global Moderator Team:
Phil, Anastasios, Bobby, David, and John
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Check out my personal website with 130+ articles: www.anastasioshudson.comDisclaimer: Past posts reflect stages of my life before my baptism may not be accurate expositions of Orthodox teaching. I served as an Orthodox priest from June 2008 to April 2013, before resigning for personal reasons |
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Linus7
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« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2004, 10:46:11 PM » |
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Thanks!
Smart move, IMHO.
I am now removing my hands from the keyboard to applaud.
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The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers.
- Pope St. Hormisdas
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katherine 2001
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Eastern Orthodox Church--Established in 33 A.D.
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« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2004, 11:27:18 PM » |
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Me too. In fact, why don't we keep the moratorium in place until after the elections in November?
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TomS
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"Look At Me! Look At Me Now! " - Bono
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« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2004, 11:56:22 PM » |
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Bravo!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
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Frobie
Quasi Vero Monaco
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Rublev's Trinity
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« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2004, 12:29:41 AM » |
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Amin! Amin! Amin!
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JoeZollars
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« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2004, 11:34:59 AM » |
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good move Anastasios!
I want to apologize for any role I have taken in said discussions leading to the problem.
Joe Zollars
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These posts no longer represent my beliefs and I in no way endorse their contents.
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katherine 2001
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« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2004, 01:08:59 PM » |
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Joe, I also add my apologies. I apologize for anyone I've offended.
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Αριστοκλής
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« Reply #7 on: May 09, 2004, 07:27:41 PM » |
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A wise and well-considered decision by the OC.net synod.
Demetri
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"Religion is a neurobiological illness and Orthodoxy is its cure." - Fr. John S. Romanides
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Fr. David
The Poster Formerly Known as "Pedro"
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« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2004, 09:25:18 AM » |
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Smart move. Thanks.
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Linus7
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« Reply #9 on: May 10, 2004, 10:01:21 AM » |
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Me too. In fact, why don't we keep the moratorium in place until after the elections in November?
I second this suggestion. I wouldn't mind at all if we NEVER engage in political discussions here. |
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The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers.
- Pope St. Hormisdas
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Anastasios
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Faith: Eastern Orthodox
Jurisdiction: Greek Old Calendarist
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Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina
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« Reply #10 on: May 10, 2004, 02:49:56 PM » |
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We will take this into consideration as we restructure OCnet (don't worry, not drastically) this summer.
anastasios
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Check out my personal website with 130+ articles: www.anastasioshudson.comDisclaimer: Past posts reflect stages of my life before my baptism may not be accurate expositions of Orthodox teaching. I served as an Orthodox priest from June 2008 to April 2013, before resigning for personal reasons |
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spartacus
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OC.net
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« Reply #11 on: May 20, 2004, 01:37:46 AM » |
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Please forgive me I am new here...
Can we honestly and freely discuss religious matters when US politics are totally forbidden. I understand the need to stay focused on religion -- But the United States is the most diverse relgious country in the entire world and this aspect of our national character does spill over into politics.
For example:
There is a brewing scandal among Roman Catholics as to John Kerry and other Democratic Party leaders who still present themselves for Holy Communion in Roman Catholic Churches even though they should not -- are we forbidden to discuss or mention this?
President Bush is an Evangelical whose religious perspective has been the focus of much national media attention -- are we forbidden to discuss or mention this?
Homosexuals are being married legally in Mass. -- are we forbidden to discus or mention this?
And of course abortion there is the issue of legal abortion in the U.S......
Although I understand and appreciate the desire to eliminate blatant political speach here...can we really expect to insulate ourselves from political issues in the U.S. that are also related to faith and religion?
Again please forgive me if I am speaking out of turn...but in my short experience here I think the tension level might also be reduced some if we could eliminate discussions regarding jurisdictional issues in the U.S. -- encouraging us instead to focus on what unites Orthodox Christinas rather than what divides us for a period of time. This would fit nicely with Pentecost too I think.
Again I apologize if I am being too forward...these are just my thoughts.
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Shiloah
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb.11:1
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www.balamand.edu.lb/ th...JoTheklaCan.htm
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« Reply #12 on: May 20, 2004, 06:36:36 AM » |
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Looking at the name of this forum "Orthodox Christianity.net" I think the focus should be the "...Christ..." part . The Orthodox world is divided too much already as it is now. Political discussions only cater to the 'divider' in us - and we are purposed to multiply and magnify the 'unifyer' in us. Maybe that would make this forum a little less theoretical and a little more practical? It is always easy to rant about issues, but it is much more difficult to express how we appropriate something to our life.
Maybe the general age average on this group is quite young, and needs the bridling influence of the elders once in a while. I'm grateful for it. Thanks for the move.
Shiloah, coming here for fresh cool water, not for hot ashes
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"God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" 2.Cor.4:6
"One thing is education: that we learn how to love God. "
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Linus7
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« Reply #13 on: May 20, 2004, 10:04:37 AM » |
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Please forgive me I am new here...
Can we honestly and freely discuss religious matters when US politics are totally forbidden. I understand the need to stay focused on religion -- But the United States is the most diverse relgious country in the entire world and this aspect of our national character does spill over into politics.
For example:
There is a brewing scandal among Roman Catholics as to John Kerry and other Democratic Party leaders who still present themselves for Holy Communion in Roman Catholic Churches even though they should not -- are we forbidden to discuss or mention this?
President Bush is an Evangelical whose religious perspective has been the focus of much national media attention -- are we forbidden to discuss or mention this?
Homosexuals are being married legally in Mass. -- are we forbidden to discus or mention this?
And of course abortion there is the issue of legal abortion in the U.S......
Although I understand and appreciate the desire to eliminate blatant political speach here...can we really expect to insulate ourselves from political issues in the U.S. that are also related to faith and religion?
Again please forgive me if I am speaking out of turn...but in my short experience here I think the tension level might also be reduced some if we could eliminate discussions regarding jurisdictional issues in the U.S. -- encouraging us instead to focus on what unites Orthodox Christinas rather than what divides us for a period of time. This would fit nicely with Pentecost too I think.
Again I apologize if I am being too forward...these are just my thoughts.
I think you make some really excellent points, Spartacus. Many of the political discussions here began over issues like the ones you address, issues strongly related to religion. The problem was that they soon degenerated into "left vs. right" slug fests, and we had one or two members who seemed to show up for nothing else. I personally found the discussions very surprising. I rather naively thought that all Orthodox Christians think pretty much the way I do on issues like abortion and homosexual "marriages." I guess that was one way in which those political discussions were valuable: they opened my eyes to some rather troubling information. |
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The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers.
- Pope St. Hormisdas
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Mor Ephrem
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« Reply #14 on: May 20, 2004, 06:27:32 PM » |
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Dear Spartacus,
If you will read recent threads on political topics (or on "religious" topics that degenerated into politics), you may better understand why we decided to temporarily ban political discussion.
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"I'm a huge fan of Mor." - Carmen Electra Laying claim to the Phanar since 9 December 2003 |
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Brendan03
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« Reply #15 on: May 21, 2004, 10:51:58 AM » |
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The ban appears to be only temporary in any case. It was probably needed as a cooling-off period.
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David
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« Reply #16 on: May 21, 2004, 10:59:33 AM » |
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I agree with you Brendan, but I think some would like it if the ban was made permament. Personally, I'd rather make a political subforum and let the interested parties flame on as long as they don't carry the arguments over to the other forums, but we shall see what happens.
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"When looking at faults, use a mirror, not a telescope."
-Yazid Ibrahim
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Keble
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« Reply #17 on: October 27, 2006, 04:49:38 PM » |
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Can we reconsider the permission for "Former Republic of Yugoslavia"-n politics??
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Αριστοκλής
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« Reply #18 on: October 27, 2006, 06:08:55 PM » |
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Can we reconsider the permission for "Former Republic of Yugoslavia"-n politics??
Why? We have a Politics board now. For those wondering, the Politics board is a "private" board, which means it is not seen by guests or users who have not signed up for it. If you wish to have access to the board (which is free, of course), just PM one of the Administrators.
Politics
http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php/board,24.0.html
- Cleveland, Global Moderator |
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« Last Edit: September 26, 2007, 11:18:05 AM by cleveland »
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"Religion is a neurobiological illness and Orthodoxy is its cure." - Fr. John S. Romanides
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