I refer to what is commonly called the "Eastern Orthodox Church" as "The Church of Christ" and, although I consider myself to generally be rather a polite person, I have no intention of ever calling a protestant demonination by that name.
Really? I have a hard time believing that. So when people ask you what your faith is you say "Church of Christ"? What if you had a family member or a dear friend that belonged to the denomination that calls themselves "the Church of Christ" and someone asked you what church that friend or family member went to? What would you say?
Sorry, Wyatt, I was kind of speaking to the air rather than responding directly to what you have said previously. I hope the below serves to clarify.
Like you and your use of the term "orthodox", I obviously restrict my use of the phrase "Church of Christ" to a context in which it will be properly understood. I know, for example, that you would understand me correctly if I were to say "the practice of witholding the Precious Gifts from children is not a practice which was received by the Church of Christ". Accordingly, I would not hesitate to use the phrase in such a way in a conversation with you, trusting that you would understand me to be speaking in good faith and without any purposeful deprecation of your beliefs.
In response to your first question, I describe myself as an "Orthodox Christian" when I am asked to what church I belong. I do this only out of convenience and to ensure I am understood. I would prefer to say I am in communion with and confess the theology of the Church of Christ, but I am sure doing so would cause unnecessary trouble for all involved.
The other question you put to me is certainly a difficult one to answer. Let me start by saying that there is no way I would adopt
holus bolus the phrase "Church of Christ" to describe a protestant denomination simply out of a desire not to offend. Indeed, there is something incredibly presumptuous and offensive about a sect which has been around for all of five minutes laying claim to such a grandiose (and holy!) title. It's almost in the same vein as protestants who ask questions like "are you Christian or Catholic?". So, if you and I were having a discussion about, say, my brother, and his attendance at the protestant church in question, I would certainly add some sort of qualifier when using the phrase "Church of Christ". I might say: "well, he attends the Church of Christ, but you know how I feel about them calling themselves that!", or, perhaps less derisively, "the so-called Church of Christ" (the Eastern Orthodox Church, of course, being the Church of Christ properly-so-called). Would I use such language to my brother's face? To be honest, probably not, though I would feel pretty damn uncomfortable using the phrase "Church of Christ" in reference to his church and would probably feel slightly resentful for being made to do so.
Not sure if all of the above is internally contradictory -- it's just how I feel.