 His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros in the Black Lives Matter March On June 3, 2020, in Brooklyn, New York, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, Exarch of the Ecumenical Throne, joined countless others in the Black Lives Matter march. It was reminiscent of the day His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos marched next to Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 – the only Orthodox Hierarch in all the jurisdictions to do so. Many of his fellow Hierarchs, priests, and Greek laity criticized Iakovos’ for, in their words, “fraternizing with Civil Rights agitators.” Sound familiar? It should! The egotistical Pharisees in the Gospel often criticized and judged Jesus for dining with sinners, cavorting with Samaritans, touching lepers, healing the sick on the Sabbath, showing mercy to prostitutes, challenging the wealthy — in short – for siding with the marginalized and the “excluded.” Read the Gospel of St. Luke from start to finish, to see those with whom Jesus cast His lot. We live today, not only with a serious public health crisis from COVID-19, but with a far more sinister reality – one that has pained our nation for some 431 years, since first the ships landed here from the African continent. It is the scourge of racism. Yet far earlier, the Christian Churchdealt with racism’s ugly influence. St. Justin Martyr (100 – 165 AD), a Church historian, reflected on racisms destructive power before the Christian era: “We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country, or way of life. Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for those once cast aside like refuse.” Every time we turn on the television, open a newspaper, or log onto social media, we are blasted with stories and opinions which highlight just how far we have fallen as human beings. The Evil One has no doubt been working overtime to promote racism, division, and violence amongst the Body of Christ living in this society and in the world. Most Orthodox believers are content to have the Church remain silent, (as they were about Archbishop Iakovos) in such times, concerned, rather, about its own self-preservation. Yet such positions fly in the face both of Scriptural teaching and Churchtheology. For example, the Synod of Constantinople of 1982 made a statement that was clear, unambiguous, and inescapable for Orthodox believers: St. Dorotheos of Gaza (505-565 AD), monk and Abbot, describes the kind of harmonious living that can destroy racism’s hideous presence: “Suppose a circle whose center is God and whose rays are different paths. Every person of the created world walks along one of the rays toward the center, where Christ God is (whether the person realizes it or not). He approaches his brother walking along a different ray toward God, the center itself. The more they distance themselves from one another, the more they distance themselves from God.” In unambiguous terms that we can understand, racism is a serious sin, not just a political or social opinion. He who harbors racism in his heart, distances himself from God. He who distances himself from God, by his own free choice, must make answer for that estrangement. His Eminence Metropolitan Ephraim, Archbishop of Tripoli, founder and Abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Archangel Michael, has, for years, been a spiritual adversary of racism and bigotry. He teaches: “Racist behavior has been rooted in the reality of sin since the beginning of humanity. This racism is rooted in our blood, us weak humans, but those who believe in Christ reject it and fight it with the words of Holy Scripture: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female: For ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) It is the fundamental identity of every human person to bear the living image of God in him/herself. The late theologian, lawyer, and social ethics specialist, Fr. John Courtney Murray, wrote: “Regardless of background, ethnic identity, cultural upbringing, religion, or ideology – every person is a temple of the Living God and, thereby, derives their spiritual and civil dignity from the Just God – the one from whom the very power of governments themselves are derived.” No matter how any of us try to reason that away, to debate it, to dismiss it as “religious” rather than “civil” teaching, to insist that it is not practical politics – it is the Gospel’s message, it was the message of Jesus the Merciful, and it is the message He expects us to follow and to live. If we don’t, we risk walking into the darkness of serious sin, and, as St. Dorotheos of Gaza said, “distancing ourselves from God.” We are not called to mere toleration or to a hidden, dismissive attitude. Remember: “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet rejects his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” The moral questions for each of us are: What is in our heart? Do we harbor racist thoughts? Do we dismiss people because they are of a different color, background, or origin? Do we ignore the social sins that put others in, so-called “rejected classes”, sins like poverty, discrimination, hunger, and the lack of basic human needs? Do we justify our hidden racism because of political ideology, the way we feel our society should function, or what “place” in which we think people ought to be? Do we use our upbringing or “how things were” in days gone by, to justify any discriminatory attitudes? As our streets are filled with protests and the social compact seems tenuous at best, these are the questions all of us need to ask ourselves if we hope to reverence the dignity of every person – black, brown, yellow, immigrant, and pauper. This is true, also, of the Orthodox Church. No longer can its voice be silent. No longer can it hide behind closed doors, praying to God for our society, while our society outside the doors spins out of control. What Rev. Brian McLaren, a pastor in Spencerville, MD, said if his own church, might well be said of the Orthodox household: “We’ve done pretty well in the worship of Jesus — we do not do so well following him. The first is easy and the second is hard. If Christianity is not revered and respected, we must look to ourselves and see how much of it is our fault.” In not actively fighting the sins of racism, bigotry, and the exclusion or marginalization of peoples, we become what St. James feared the most – just hearers of the Word, not DOERS. It means the radical demands of love in the Gospel, preached by Jesus, only go as far as the Church doors – not into the maelstrom of actual human oppression. The German theologian, Fr. Karl Rahner, suggests a reason why the Gospel of love never makes it out the Church doors: “The number one cause of atheism is Christians. Those who proclaim him with their mouths and deny him with their actions is what an unbelieving world finds unbelievable.” The task belongs to each and every one of us. The time for excuses is ended. Orthodoxy’s voice must be raised with all Christian churches against racism, bigotry, discrimination, and exclusion – not for political or social reasons, but for moral ones. As a recent article in The Orthodox Observer points out: “Archbishop Elpidophoros understands all this and that is why he has been compelled to stand and march against racial injustice. As a Christian raised in Turkey, Elpidophoros has experienced structural oppression in ways that most Americans can only imagine.” The problem is that too many Americans—too many Orthodox Americans—do not want to imagine it. We would rather deflect, deny, and ignore because we fear that genuine equality for black, brown, yellow, and immigrant men, women, and children. would only come at our own expense. “We have to support these people!” “We have to make sacrifices for them out of OUR hard-earned money!” “Most of them just hang around and don’t want to work!” “They just wait to start violence in our streets!” “Why should I sacrifice for them?” That, after all, is the meaning and purpose of the Cross of Christ – isn’t it? May the Crucified God give you the courage and inspiration to help end any traces of the sin of racism and discrimination in your heart – and in our society – still the roaming ground of the Evil One. Faithfully with those who suffer, |
