The “New Orthodox Christianity”
(or the hijack of true Orthodoxy)
The recent Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson’s public stance on homosexuality is being cleverly exploited by the mass media in a clear attempt to redefine what Orthodox Christianity really is. The mainstream media has truly become the ultimate tool at the hand of the coming antichrist used to shape the new charismatic revival movement that is capturing even the Orthodox world.
The Duck Dynasty story is another one that is coming to prove that doctrinal and theological differences are not important and that what is important is the common core set of values behind which Christianity is supposed to unite – and fighting against homosexuality is one of them.
What has so far been seen just as an effort to redefine Christianity in general, is now morphing into something more precisely targeted: redefining Orthodox Christianity. And what better place to originate this from, other than the very home of the Charismatic Revival movement?
It is hard to miss one very important aspect – all the members of the Duck Dynasty are long-bearded giving them a very close look to Orthodox monastics. That’s on the physical level.
Let’s quickly examine how the media uses the opportunity to help shape the new doctrine:
In “The Atlantic” we can read:
And it matters that it’s disingenuous, because if they actually acknowledged that there is a genuine conflict between orthodox Christianity and homosexual sex (along with several forms of heterosexual sex) they would have to confront head-on the fact that calling for a boycott or pressuring for Robertson’s suspension tells orthodox Christians that their religion is no longer acceptable, and that’s not a very politically correct thing to do.
The National Journal has this to say:
“As Lewis wrote, the Right sees it as “an attack on ‘unsophisticated’ country folks as much as it is an attack on orthodox Christianity.” America is becoming a country conservatives no longer recognize, and when a guy like Robertson gets fired for espousing a deeply held religious belief—a view shared, by the way, by almost half of Americans—that is terrifying. Mark Steyn wrote Friday in the National Review that the firing presages an “age of intolerance” against Christians.”
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-duck-dynasty-was-the-biggest-story-of-the-week-20131221
And The Daily Kos sums it all up:
“He starts by saying nobody could be surprised by what Robertson said if they understood the beliefs of orthodox Christianity. No, this isn’t about the Eastern Orthodox churches, this is a rebranding of “fundamentalism”. You see, Robertson was just using the show to do some proselytizing: Pro-God and guns, the Robertsons make no bones about what they believe. They are unashamedly Christian, are seen attending church in several episodes, and have openly indicated that they see the show as a vehicle for promoting the God they worship. “My mission today is to go forth and tell people why I follow Christ,” said family patriarch, Phil Robertson, in a statement to Fox411.”
Phil Robertson is said to belong to a protestant church called “The Churches of Christ”, of which we read:
Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations associated with one another through common beliefs and practices. They seek to base doctrine and practice on the Bible alone, and see themselves as restoring the New Testament church established by Christ.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Robertson
It should not come as a surprise if soon we may hear of mainstream Orthodox Bishops supporting these sort of movements, many have already aligned themselves along similar lines like fighting for “social justice” and “universal peace”. Orthodoxy is being traded for a set of “common core values” version of Christianity – no saints, no Holy-Fathers, no sacraments, no mysteries, no tradition – just a cause to fight for – a spiritual revolution against everything established by our Orthodox Church.
Going forward it is to be expected that the persecutions against Christianity to increase thus fueling these sorts of charismatic movements even more. The antichrist will make no distinction, he will persecute all Christians, while carefully preparing his coming as a liberator from these persecutions. Then they will all accept him as being Jesus on his second coming.
