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books

Rise of the Left

Book Review

Unmasked by Andy Ngo

Center Street. 2021

Andy Ngo is a real journalist in an age when the twenty four news cycle has transformed reporting into entertainment. “Unmasked” is a masterful piece of journalism written by the foremost expert on the Marxist organization known as “Antifa”. Andy Ngo spent several years covering Antifa and sought to warn America about its nefarious revolutionary agenda and its propensity for violence.

Andy Ngo was even beaten by members of Antifa while covering one of their public demonstrations in 2019. The best chapters in this book are the first two which recount last summers riots in Seattle and Portland. In Seattle, militants seized control of a small portion of territory and occupied it for several weeks.

During the period when a part of Seattle was in effect occupied territory, Anifa militants imposed their own form of rule over unwitting citizens who were effectively trapped. The Seattle Police Department which sought to impose the rule of law was blocked from doing so by the orders of Mayor Jenny Durkan. Similarly, when Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters engaged in the destruction of private and public property in Portland, Mayor Ted Wheeler ordered the Police to stand down.

Not only did these Mayors order the Police to stand down, they engaged in public denunciations of the Police. Appallingly, the Mayors refused to impose order and permitted violence to go unchecked because of their perceptions that the rioters were politically progressive. As such, these two Democratic Mayors abandoned individual rights and the right to safety for individuals caught in the middle of the riots for ideological reasons.

True democrats (as in democracy, not the Democratic Party) understand that tolerance for violence and pogroms are immoral and barbaric. Medieval Europe and Tsarist Russia saw the sponsorship of anti semetic pogroms. Nazi Germany in 1938 instigated the anti semetic pogrom known as “Krystaalnacht”. The Turkish Republic in September 1955 organized a pogrom against the Greek minority that included Armenians and Jews as targets.

Andy Ngo has done an outstanding job not only as a journalis in recounting the horrors of the summer of 1920 and the years preceding it, he has done the work of a historian by recounting the history of the entire movement that took the name of “Antifa”. The name “Antifa” stands for anti fascist and the movement originally began in Germany during the 1920’s. At least in those days, it was a legitimate anti fascist movement that fought Hitler’s stormtroopers.

Between the German Antifa and the Nazi Party, there is no question that the Nazis were by far the greater evil. The present version of Antifa however cannot legitimately claim to be anti fascist. As Andy Ngo recounts, Antifa calls everyone a fascist or a racist.

Andy Ngo points out that the mainstream media have ignored and downplayed the violence and extremism of Antifa. This review is written over a month after the assault on the capital by extremist supporters of Donald Trump. The media loses its credibility to criticize Trump extremists when it refuses to condemn extremists from the left such as Antifa.

“Unmasked” is a superb book about political extremism and radicalism. It is an excellent and absorbing account of what has transpired in America during the years that preceded the summer of 2020 and after. Andy Ngo who is a Vietnamese American has distinguished himself as one of the most important journalists in America.

“Unmasked” is a well researched book and a truly shocking expose.

Categories
faith

The Rainbow Janissaries Strike at the heart of Greece

The Ministry of Education in Athens has introduced a sex education program that will be taught to children from kindergarden to high school. The program reportedly will endorse transgender ideology and will portray abortion as perfectly moral. According to news reports, the nuclear family will be heavily criticized and children will be taught to challenge the teaching of their parents.

This is Greece two hundred years after the declaration of the War of Independence against the Turks. This is what is being taught to Greek children at a time when Greek populations on the islands near the coast of Turkey face possible genocide in the event of a Turkish invasion. Why are Greek children being kept ignorant of the heroic struggles of their ancestors who shed their blood in order to ensure the existence of future generations of Orthodox Greeks?

Why are Greek children not learning about the genocide of the Greek populations in Asia Minor by the Turks? Because the Greek government like most of what constitutes the western world is dominated by left wing neo-Marxist ideologues who set the agenda. This is a moral outrage.

The Greek nation suffered horrendously during the centuries of Ottoman Turkish captivity. Generations of Greek boys were abducted by the Ottomans and trained as fighters in the elite fighting force known as the Janissaries. They were forcibly taken from their families, converted to Islam, and turned into fighting machines often to be used against fellow Christians.

Hellenic populations in regions that came to be part of independent Greece survived. There were numerous other regions where large numbers of Greeks managed to survive until they were wiped out in the final wave of genocide that occurred in 1922 and 1923. The parts of the Greek world that managed to survive up to the present day did so because of their Orthodox faith and the institution of the family. Devotion to the Church and the protection of Christ ensured that Greeks would survive the Turkish horrors.

The institution of the family which has come under attack throughout the western world saved the Greek nation along with faith in Christianity. The home was a place of refuge from the Ottoman persecution and discrimination. There is a 1963 film made by Greek American Director Elia Kazan called “America America”. That film features a great scene where the father who is often humiliated by the Turks leads his family in prayer. Without the institution of the family, Greeks could not have survived the long centuries of Ottoman rule.

Greek culture and language could not have survived without the Orthodox Church which reminded the Greek people of a lost history that preceded the coming of the Turks. The divine liturgy and worship was crucial in maintaining the Greek language. The Ottomans themselves as Muslims considered all Christians to be “people of the book”, recipients of an earlier revelation.

For all their brutality and for all the horrors of Ottoman rule, the laws of the Sultan’s Empire made it possible for Christianity to survive even in the midst of persecution. Without the Christian faith, the Greek language and the memories of the pre Turkish past would have faded away. These historical facts are not appreciated by the lunatics at the Greek Ministry of education who want to do away with Christ and to impose the new twenty first century pagan agenda that has ravaged most of the western world.

Around fifteen years ago, the secular and internationalist ideologues in Greece began striking at the history of Greece under the guise of “tolerance” and political correctness. Greek textbooks for schools were to include nice comments about the Janissaries. Educated Greeks who know history are aware that the Greek and Armenian populations in Smyrna were indiscriminately hunted down, raped, tortured , and murdered without mercy by Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers. The Greek textbooks of fifteen years ago attempted to omit the mass slaughter and merely said that the Greeks left Smyrna.

At the time, Archbishop Christodoulos led a mass opposition to the falsification of history in school text books. This was the same charismatic Archbishop who in 2000 led mass demonstrations in opposition to the anti Christian policies of the Socialist Party then in power in Athens. Today, Greek Orthodoxy is led by Patriarch Bartholomew who instigates schisms in Orthodoxy in furtherance of accumulating power, and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens who has demonstrated he has no back bone to protest anything.

In fairness, it should be recalled that Greece has been under threat by the extreme right as well as the extreme left. For many years, the Neo Nazi Golden Dawn came to dominate neighborhoods in Athens where it proceeded to beat and torture migrants, and to disseminate anti semetic and racist material. Greece has been under a spiritual crisis for some time now.

Golden Dawn however has disappeared from the political scene following its failure to return to Parliament during the last elections. This leaves the extreme left as the sole threat to Christian Greece. Reasonable people can agree that adults should have the right to live as they choose and to undergo any surgery that they like. It is unconscionable however to indoctrinate children into these pagan and anti Christian lifestyles.

Orthodox Christian Greeks are obligated to stand against the Greek Ministry of education as the late Archbishop Christodoulos did. The rainbow flag is the flag of modern paganism. It is incompatible with the blue and and white flag of Greece which displays the Christian cross. Aside from being pagan, the rainbow flag has emerged as the flag of internationalism.

Internationalism is not compatible with the concept and ideals of the nation-state. Every nation is entitled to the preservation of its language, history, culture, borders, and faith. The Greek War of Independence began on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation. The destiny of Greece has been bound with the faith of Christ since the arrival of Saints Paul, Andrew, and John the theologian on Greek territory during the first century.

The imposition of LGBTQ ideology in Greek education will attempt to erase the sacred ties that exist between the Greek nation and Christ our God! This cannot be permitted. The men and women who rose up in 1821 did so in order to establish an independent Greece that would preserve Hellenism and the truth of Orthodox Christianity!

Categories
faith

Patriarch Bartholomew and Ukraine

In Ukraine, signatures from politicians, journalists, academics, and ordinary faithful have been collected and sent to Patriarch Bartholomew in order to appeal to the Patriarch to meet with the Orthodox Churches to find a resolution to the schism in Ukraine. This appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarch comes in anticipation of an upcoming visit to Ukraine by the Patriarch. In the meantime, Churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church are being seized by extremists who support the artificial “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”.

Meanwhile, in an interview with an Italian newspaper Patriarch Bartholomew has defended his actions in Ukraine by pointing out that the Church of Constantinople had granted autocephaly to the other local Orthodox Churches. The difference between the Ukrainian case and the cases of real autocephalous Churches lies in the fact that the Ukrainian Church is not under Constantinople and that the Synod of the Phanar has no right to grant autocephaly in this case. Patriarch Bartholomew remains completely unreasonable with his attitude of self justification.

In the cases of other Orthodox Churches, autocephaly was an accomplished fact in those local Churches before Constantinople granted them each a Tomos of autocephaly. Again, the difference between the Churches of the Balkans and Ukraine was that the former Churches were part of the Church of Constantinople, whereas the Ukrainian Church is a part of the Moscow Patriarchate. Patriarch Bartholomew is simply denying reality by refusing to listen to the various appeals and messages from most of the Orthodox primates and bishops who stand in opposition to what has been done in Ukraine.

In other developments, a member of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Holy Synod, Metropolitan Athanasios of Chalcedon, has been removed from his position. It is unclear why this hierarch has been removed.

Categories
political

2021 The year of anniversaries for the Hellenic world

The year 2021 will mark three anniversaries regarding the Hellenic speaking world. First, 2021 will mark the two hundredth anniversary of the Greek War of Independence. After many centuries of oppression under Turkish rule, the Greeks revolted in a heroic struggle which took many years and the shedding of blood and finally established the modern Greek state. March 25 will mark a glorious celebration of the Greek War of Independence.

A second anniversary comes on August 26 with the nine hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert. On that day in 1071, the Byzantine armies of Emperor Romanus Diogenes lost a battle that continues to have consequences for the Hellenic world up to the present. Half of Anatolia fell to the Turks and although it took four centuries to come about, Manzikert made the fall of Constantinople inevitable.

A third anniversary can be seen with the closure of the theological school of Halki by the Turkish authorities in 1971. These three anniversaries are worth analyzing and discussing in the present day context of problems facing the Hellenic speaking world. At present, Greece faces either a possible existential threat at the hands of the Turks or the possibility of the loss of islands and genocide in the event of a Turkish invasion of any Greek islands.

The Greek War of Independence was a glorious achievement that resulted from the tireless efforts of Greeks to throw off the Turkish yoke. It set the stage for the subsequent expansion of the Greek state. In 1864, Greece received the Ionian islands and in 1881, the region of Thessaly was ceded to Greece by the great powers.

In the aftermath of the heroic victories of the Balkan Wars, Greece liberated Macedonia, Epirus, and Crete. The era of the liberation period in Greek history came to an end with the rise of Mustafa Kemal in Turkey (through the backing of the western powers and the Soviet communists) who presided over the extermination of all Christian Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians throughout Anatolia. The remaining Greeks in Turkey (Constantinople, Imbros, Tenedos) would be ethnically cleansed following the pogroms of 1955 and the ethnic cleansing campaigns of the 1960’s.

In 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus and ethnically cleansed over 200,000 Greek Cypriots form their homes. In the aftermath of the present day realities of the continued occupation of Cyprus and the threats to Greek and Cypriot territorial rights, the memory of the Battle of Manzikert looms large. After Maznikert, the Seljuk Turks appeared to be an unstoppable force.

Byzantine efforts to stop the Turks were temporarily successful after the Emperor Alexios Comnenos made agreements with the Crusaders (a very sinister pact in itself) but over the long term Byzantium was unable to hold the line against the Seljuk Turks. In 1204, Constantinople was invaded and occupied by the Knights of the Fourth Crusade. That invasion and long occupation destroyed the Christian Empire and destroyed forever any ability to resist or forestall the advancing Turkish forces.

In 1303, Sultan Osman came to the Turkish throne and it was from this Sultan that the Ottoman Empire was named. The Ottomans advanced steadily over a period of time as Constantinople lost more and more territory. During the disastrous reign of John Cantacuzenos during the 1350’s, the Empire hired the Ottomans as mercenaries to fight the Serbs! The Ottomans established a foothold in the Balkans.

Despite diplomatic efforts by the Emperor Manuel Paleologos who travelled to England and France in the early 1400’s, no western help arrived. In 1439, Emperor John Paleologos submitted to the demands of the Latin Pope and abandoned Orthodoxy in order to save Constantinople. That effort ended in humiliation and disaster!

Constantinople fell and the era of Turkocratia was ushered in. Constantine Paleologos and the defenders of Constantinople fought honorably and with great bravery but they did not have the number of fighters needed in order to prevail. In 1821, the Greeks revolted and for a century the Hellenic world came alive again through the expansion of Greece which began liberating Greek populations in the Balkans.

The liberation of Greece after the War of Independence was not without its problems. From the very beginning, Great Britain and Germany began interfering in Greek domestic affairs. This set a precedent for the United States which intervenes in Greek domestic affairs at the present time.

The third anniversary of the Hellenic speaking world in 2021 comes with the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the theological school of Halki. The closing of Halki occurred within the context of the anti Greek pogroms of 1955 and the ethnic cleansing of the Greek Orthodox populations of Constantinople and the islands of Imbros and Tenedos during the 1960’s. Halki was closed so that the Turkish government could expel the Patriarchate and be rid of all Greek Orthodox inhabitants once and for all.

When the present Ecumenical Patriarch was elected in 1991 (here is yet a fourth anniversary the Hellenic speaking Orthodox world will commemorated in 2021) his top priority was the opening of the Halki School of theology. Despite widespread international attention on this issue, Turkey has refused to open Halki. The Patriarchate’s position it can be said has both improved and worsened in the past thirty years.

On the one level, it appeared the Patriarchate’s position increased by the diplomatic activity at the Ecumenical Patriarchate which brought a measure of protection from the Turkish authorities. Despite this however, the Ecumenical Patriarch became the target of terrorists who on several occasions bombed the Patriarchate while on other occasions Turkish officers conspired to assassinate both the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Armenian Patriarch. The Ecumenical Patriarchate’s position decreased (perhaps fatally) when it made the horrible decision to “grant” autocephaly to the uncanonical schismatic “Church” factions in Ukraine in 2018.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate created a schism in Orthodoxy and has succeeded (with the help of the State Department) in compromising the Churches of Greece and Alexandria both of whom have established communion with an illegitimate ecclesiastical entity whose hierarchy and clergy have no valid ordinations or consecrations. This is now the context in which the Hellenic world finds itself in.

On the year of the anniversaries, the Hellenic speaking world faces one crisis after the other. Throughout the centuries of Ottoman rule, Greece survived because of Orthodoxy. As Greece faces threats to its existence as a result of Turkish expansionism, the Greek Churches need to restore their standing within the Orthodox communion by revoking their recognition of the Ukrainian schismatics and reconciling with the greater Orthodox world.

Categories
Analysis

Considerations Regarding The Present Position Of Greece

by

Theodore G. Karakostas

It has been obvious for years that Turkey was the major beneficiary of the Obama-Biden administrations war on Syria. Furthermore, Turkey has benefitted from the anti Russian hysteria rampant in America and Europe. The Russophobia that has been stirred up for nearly a decade by the Democratic Party in America and their counterparts in Europe has been to the detriment of Greece.

It would not be fair to blame the Democrats entirely for advantages that Turkey has gained over the last several years. The Bush administration set the stage for the Syrian war by launching an unprovoked invasion of Iraq and creating the tensions that have led to American and NATO anti Russian policies. However, the focus on the present day problems of Greece as they pertain to Turkey lie directly with policies undertaken by the Obama-Biden administration.

First, the Obama-Biden administration brought about the anti Russian Coup in Ukraine in 2014. It is a fact that both political parties supported the encirclement of Russia by NATO. It was the Clinton administration that began expanding NATO in 1998 and these policies continued under the neoconservative administration of George W. Bush. But the final straw came with the overthrow of the pro Russian government in Ukraine and the installation of the regime of Petro Poroshenko.

The regime change in Ukraine occurred because Washington wanted to bring Ukraine into NATO. The Russians as such have been on the defensive and responded by growing close to Turkey. Russian-Turkish relations grew close in large part because the Russians were treated as an enemy by NATO and this was before the widespread anti Russian hysteria took off following Hillary Clinton’s election loss in 2016.

Secondly, the Obama-Biden administration firmly embraced war in Syria. As a result of the Syrian war both Europe and Turkey were flooded with refugees from the war. Both of them have become exhausted by the endless arrivals of refugees. Turkey however has gained a serious advantage from the refugee crisis.

Turkey has a couple of million refugees within its borders and is in a position to threaten the terrified nations of Europe with a further flood of refugees. Turkey has in fact made out quite well from the Obama-Biden administrations policies in Syria. Ankara has been able to establish close ties with Moscow (for now) while the Europeans are inclined to appease Turkey in order to avoid another refugee crisis.

Turkey’s position looks to increase even further with the anti Russian policies pursued by Washington. Historically, the Turks have always benefitted from anti Russian hysteria. During the nineteenth century, the European powers backed the Ottoman Empire in its wars with the Russian Empire. The support for the Ottomans after the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853 is the best example.

Greece and Cyprus face serious existential threats from Erdogan’s Turkey at the present time. There have been some positive signals from officials in Washington who have expressed support for Athens. However, positive statements are far from a formal commitment to Greece. The danger remains that the United States will seek to support Turkey as a counter to Russia.

Present day Russian-Turkish relations are a problem for Greece and Cyprus. The question needs to be asked whether the Russians would have gotten close to Turkey if NATO and the Americans had not provoked the Russians by attempting to expand to the Russian border. The Syrian war has also helped Turkey tremendously.

Turkey continues to occupy a portion of Syrian territory. Furthermore, Turkey has established an influence over its jihadist allies in Syria. With Turkish support, jihadist fighters from Syria travelled to Azerbaijan to help that terrorist sponsor fight against the Armenians in Artsakh. In addition, Syrian jihadists with the support of Ankara are present in Libya where they are fighting a rebel faction that is backed by the Russians.

Turkey was allied with the Islamic State and has become a collaborator with Al Quada. Despite these ties, and despite Turkish support for Syrian jihadists in Artsakh and Libya, Turkey has not been declared a state sponsor of terrorism. The problem for Greece, Cyprus, and Armenia is that Russia for the moment is allied with Turkey and America has not been willing to terminate formally its alliance and support for Turkey.

In the new Cold War that is emerging between Washington and Moscow, Turkey is a beneficiary despite its evolving jihadist character. The Trump administration held promise for Greece for a couple of credible reasons. This is based on the Trump administrations attitudes toward both Russia and the Syrian war.

The Trump administration was friendly toward Russia. If Washington had ceased in its anti Russian hysteria, policy towards Russia might have eased and which might have led Moscow to feel less threatened by NATO. Feeling threatened by NATO and on the defensive, Moscow has been trying to undermine that alliance by influencing Turkey. Therefore, NATO hostility to Russia may very well have led to Russian-Turkish cooperation.

The Trump administration was not permitted to adopt a friendly posture toward Russia that would have eased tensions. Furthermore, the Trump administration was opposed to the war in Syria. It should be remembered that Greece suffered considerably from the Syria war that the Obama-Biden administration supported once it began. The Greek islands were flooded with refugees on top of the migration from the Middle East that had already been well under way.

The Biden administration appears to differ from the Trump administrations policies in another significant way. The Trump administration viewed jihadist terrorism as a priority. Hence, the action taken by the Trump administration to destroy the Islamic State. The Trump administration cut off the flow of support that was being given to Syrian jihadists (the rebels were all terrorists) and stood aside as the Syrian government with the backing of the Russians defeated Islamic State in Syria.

In Iraq, the Trump administration armed and backed fully the Iraqi army which successfully liberated its own occupied territories from Islamic State. The Trump administration cannot be commended entirely. The betrayal of the Syrian Kurds will remain perhaps the most shameful act of the Trump administration in a gesture that fully appeased the Turks.

However, the Trump administrations commitment to fight jihadism might have been a precedent for future action against Turkey. The downfall of Islamic State has seen Turkey fill the vacuum as the center of jihadism. President Erdogan of Turkey could not have have been pleased by the claims of the Islamic State “Caliph” over political and spiritual leadership of the worlds Sunni Muslims. His own position and claims were heightened after the demise of Islamic State.

The Turkish President sees himself as the leader of the worlds Sunni Muslims (at least politically). The Turkish President desires the restoration of the Ottoman Empire. The building of a huge palace in Constantinople that would have filled the Sultans with envy, and the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque demonstrates the Turkish leader’s ambitions.

The ascension to power of the Democratic Party of Joe Biden remains problematic. First of all, Greeks have forgotten the historical betrayal of Hellenism by the Democrats when it counted. The anniversary of January 31 came and went without notice by the Hellenic world. On that date in 1996, the Turks made a claim over the Greek islet of Imia. Maps and Treaties showed the islet was Greek territory but the Clinton administration through its “mediator”, then Undersecretary of State Richard Holbrooke pressured Greece to remove its flag and to withdraw.

Secondly, the Democratic Party today is a party of political correctness whose understanding and appreciation of history, religion, and national conflicts is highly questionable. At least with the Trump administration the possibility existed of a continued anti terrorism policy that could have been aimed at Turkey at some point. The Democratic administration of Joe Biden is so inherently anti Russia, one has to consider whether it will consider any other foreign policy issues such as the problems posed by Turkey.

Greeks have failed to appreciate one serious difference between the Trump administration and all preceding administrations (Republican and Democratic alike). The Trump administration unlike its predecessors DID NOT bully Greece into making concessions to Turkey. This is in contrast to the Clinton administration’s pressure on Greece during the Imia affair, and the Bush-Cheney administrations bullying of Cyprus to accept the Annan Plan

As tensions mounted between Greece and Turkey as a result of Turkish aggression during the summer of 2020, many media critics attacked the Trump administration. The New York Times in an editorial lamented the absence of Richard Holbrooke. Greeks should remember Holbrooke as the bully who pressured Greece to surrender the islet of Imia.

The ignorant criticism directed at Trump on the matter of Greek-Turkish tensions is actually favorable for Trump. Trump’s refusal to get involved may have enabled the Mitsotakis government in Greece to maintain its tough and defiant stance against Turkey. Trump’s record on Greek issues is by no means perfect, but it was better than any of his predecessors.

Much criticism was directed at Trump over his relationship with Erdogan. But those critics have yet to name even a single American President who could ever be considered pro Greek. The Eisenhower administration presided over the anti Greek pogroms in Constantinople with no reaction to the Turkish crimes. The Johnson administration took no action against Ankara for the ethnic cleansing of Greeks from Constantinople in 1964. In fact, the Johnson administration personally threatened Greek Ambassador Alexander Matsas after the Greek government refused to accept a deal that would have given Turkey a base in Cyprus and would have forced Greece to give up the island of Castellorizo.

The Nixon-Kissinger administration brought about the invasions and ethnic cleansing of Cyprus. The Carter administration lifted the embargo on Turkey that was imposed by Congress after the invasions of Cyprus. The Reagan and Bush administrations viewed Turkey as a strategic asset during the Cold War and in Operation Desert Storm. The Clinton administration recognized Skopje as “Macedonia”, pressured Greece in Imia, and took no action after the murders of Cypriot protestors Tasos Isaac and Solomos Solomou in 1996.

The second Bush administration was hostile to Greece and Cyprus considering its attempts to force Cyprus to accept the undemocratic and racist Annan Plan. The Obama-Biden administration hurt Greece by the aforementioned policies mentioned above. The Trump administration for all its failings was better for Greece and Cyprus than any of the above mentioned administrations.

Regarding prospects for the future. There is still reason for some optimism despite some disappointment. The Erdogan government may very well reject any diplomatic gestures from Washington as the Turkish President is not known for humility or rational thinking. The strength of the Kemalist Army Officers in Turkey was they understood Turkey’s strategic advantages were based on maintaining close relations with America, NATO, and Israel. Turkish strategic positions for the West mean nothing if Ankara does not cooperate.

Turkey has harmed its relationship with Israel and its relationship with America and NATO remains cool despite their efforts to revive the old relationship. Israeli policies remain immoral and problematic owing to the support it continues to give to the genocidal government of Azerbaijan. The future of Russian-Turkish relations are also uncertain. Undeniably, the warm relations between Russia and Turkey is problematic but the possibility of a rupture in relations remains strong.

First, there is the precedent of what transpired in 2015. Even then, Russian-Turkish relations were warm. But the conflict of interests in Syria led Turkey to shoot down a Russian plane. Furthermore, the Russian Ambassador in Turkey was assassinated by a Turkish jihadist.

Russia and Turkey are on opposite sides of the conflict in Libya. Turkey sponsors and supports the Syrian jihadists. Those are the forces that the Russians opposed in Syria. Turkey is a jihadist state while Russia claims to be the heir of Byzantium by flying the old imperial flag which displays the double headed eagle. Ideologically and spiritually, Russia and Turkey have conflicting agendas.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has asserted that Greece is within its rights to extend its territory in the Aegean Sea to twelve nautical miles. Russia has condemned the opening of the beach of Varosha in the occupied territories of Cyprus. The Russians also reminded the Turks of the role of the Russians at the Battle of Navarino in 1828.

Greece cannot help but be weary of the Russians as long as they are in a formal friendship with Turkey. But Athens should recognize that the Russian government has expressed a desire for friendly relations with Greece. Athens should maintain friendly relations and maintain that its position on all national issues are non negotiable.

Greeks should remember that NATO has refused to criticize Turkey for its acts of aggression against Greece. Under no circumstances is western support for Greece guaranteed. It should also be remembered that Prime Minister Mitsotakis asked the Europeans to impose sanctions on Turkey specifically in connection to Turkish acts of aggression against Greece. The Europeans only imposed sanctions based on Turkish purchases of a Russian defense system.

When the Greek Prime Minister asked the Germans to stop selling arms to the Turks, they refused. The Greeks find themselves in a very tough situation as usual. But the Mitsotakis government has found itself in a position where it has been able to successfully stand up to Turkey.

Greece would have been in a stronger position without the cold war rivalry developing between Washington and Moscow. These type of rivalries always lead to Turkey’s strategic value going up. The best hope that exists is for the Turkish President to destroy his country’s relationships with both Washington and Moscow. The Turkish President is a narcissist and is capable of instigating a crisis with any country at any time.

Regarding American policies, Greeks may come to regret the departure of Donald Trump. Donald Trump’s pro Russian stance might have made a huge difference in 2015 after the Turks shot down that Russian plane had he been in office. If Russian-Turkish relations sour again, how likely is it that the Biden administration would stand on the sidelines and let the Russians move against Turkey?

Categories
political

Critique of NATO and Turkey

https://sallux.eu/Sallux%20-%20European%20security,%20Turkish%20aggression%20and%20Article%205%20NATO%20-%20WEB.pdf

The above is a link to an outstanding analysis of the problems that western security interests have with Turkey. It is an almost unprecedented analysis of the history of Turkey and the problems that it has been creating under the Erdogan regime. It is very welcome in referencing the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides as well as referring to Turkish aggression against Armenia, Cyprus, and Greece.

The article correctly recounts Turkey’s long support for ISIS and its support for Islamic extremists and points out the regimes desire to expand to create a new Ottoman Empire. The article in detail recounts Turkey’s interventions in Armenia, Syria, and Libya and refers to the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. Where the analysis starts to run out of gas is in its conclusion that NATO should simply withdraw its guarantee of support in the event that Turkey is attacked.

While this conclusion is well intended, in point of fact will do nothing to deter Turkish aggression. Turkey needs to be expelled from NATO and cut off entirely from the European Union. Turkey does not face any external threats so the threat to withdraw guarantees to its defense has minimal consequences for Ankara. NATO has to go all the way to expel Turkey outright.

In the event that Turkish-Russian relations go cold perhaps this will make a difference but for the time being Turkey faces no real threat. Russia is referred to in the article and it is suggested that western governments fear expelling Turkey from NATO because they believe Russia will gain Turkey as an ally. The authors of the article however discount this conclusion.

The article does suggest that NATO and Europe are taking the Turkish threat more seriously than previously thought. Hopefully, they will come to conclude that appeasement of Turkey does not work and that Turkey should be expelled permanently from NATO and all associations with the European Union should be terminated. Ultimately, it is quite possible that NATO could very well be compelled to declare war on Turkey. The article rightly lists Turkey’s numerous offenses against the Kurds and in Syria.

The article is definitely worth reading.

Categories
faith

Why the Orthodox Church does not ordain women

“and I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.”

1 Timothy 2:12

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is planning to hold a webinar on “female religious leadership” featuring women from other faiths. According to the press statement from the “Orthodox Times”, a source that has been seriously compromised on other issues, “many faiths have a complex relationship with female leadership.” It is apparently being inferred that the Orthodox Church should ordain women.

During liturgical services, Orthodox Christians recite the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed which includes the declaration that “I believe in One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” Orthodox means “correct belief” and “correct worship”. Orthodox was a term used to defend the Church and its truths from heresies and sects that deviated from the truth of the Holy Gospel. The statement put forward from the Orthodox Times makes mention of women in secular history who achieved great things.

This however is not relevant to the Orthodox Church. With all due respect to the guests who will appear on the Archdiocese’s webinar, what their own faiths do and teach is not relevant to the Orthodox Church. The Biblical passage cited above from Saint Paul should be enough to terminate any discussion on possibly ordaining women.

As we are aware, Saint Paul was converted to Christ on the road to Damascus when he received a vision that caused him to lose his sight and also heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him. The persecutor of Christians formerly named Saul became the Apostle Paul who embarked on an extraordinary journey to spread the Gospel and endured beatings and torture before being martyred during the first century AD. Saint Paul’s great authority was recognized by the Church when it included his many Epistles in the canon of the New Testament.

Christ himself called twelve disciples to follow him, all of whom were male. On previous occasions, advocates of a female priesthood have sarcastically said that the Apostles were all Jews as well. Yes, but when Paul and the Apostles converted the Greeks, Romans, and others to Christianity the priesthood was conferred upon men who were not Jewish. Gentiles were ordained to the priesthood while women were not, and this is an important fact.

Women were not present at the Mystical Supper and so from the very beginning the right to celebrate the eucharist was conferred upon men. There is no record of women in the earliest days of the Church protesting or feeling “excluded”. The Most Holy Theotokos, the most important woman who has ever lived enjoys great honor in the Orthodox Church because she became the “God bearer”.

Mary, the blessed Mother of God is honored in several feasts of the Church throughout the calendar year. This includes the feast of the Annunciation, the feast of the Dormition, as well as feasts including her conception, birth, and presentation in the Temple by her parents Joachim and Anna. In the Orthodox Church, we have the service of the Paraclete when we pray to the Mother of God in times of distress and difficulties and ask for her intercession on our behalf with her son and our God. The Mother of God was a creature as we all are and also being the “God bearer” she is uniquely suited to act on our behalf with her son who is God.

It is preposterous to suggest that the Orthodox Church has a “complex relationship with female leadership”. The Orthodox Church has countless female Saints which are honored and who are prayed to. Countless female Saints have been martyred and have lived lives of piety. Female Saints include Saint Catherine who with her education confounded the philosophers as well as Saint Mary of Egypt. Saint Mary was once a great sinner who by repentance and a life of devotion achieved Sainthood and is recognized during one of the Sundays of the great fast.

In addition to the long list of female Saints, the Orthodox Church has female monastics. When during the history of the Church have any female Saints or monastics ever advocated for the ordination of women? They have not. Women in the history of the Church have always spoken up against heresy.

During the iconoclastic crisis which lasted from 726 AD until 843 AD when the Emperor and the Patriarch were smashing and destroying icons, women were protecting them and venerating them. Women in the Church resisted and opposed heresy. They did not advocate for the ordination of women because such an idea would have been properly construed and condemned as a heresy.

The ordination of women is a heretical idea foreign to the faith of the Orthodox Church. It is an idea whose roots are found outside the holy scriptures, sacred tradition, the holy fathers, and Church history. It is an idea emanating from the errors of modernism.

Modernism and secularism seek to challenge the sacred and divine origins of the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church was founded by and is headed for all time by the incarnate logos and word of God Jesus Christ. The holy orders of the Orthodox Church which include the offices of bishop, priest, and deacon can be traced to the era of the New Testament Church.

The Orthodox Church has triumphed over persecution by the pagan Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Communists. The enemies of the Church have been conquered by the power of Christ. Yet, there are those secularists who would imply that the Church has been discriminating against women while simultaneously defeating her persecutors and miraculously transforming societies.

Modernism does not assist the Church in her sacred functions and divine mission. Modernism seeks to hinder the salvific mission of the Church by attempting to mix holy tradition with secularism. Modernism created problems in the Orthodox Church by changing the calendar in some local Churches and introducing ecumenism and other ideas foreign to Orthodox ecclesiology.

Advocates for the ordination of women are indifferent to the complex and unnecessary divisions that continue to plague the Orthodox Church since they were introduced in 1923. The advocates of this modern heresy have displayed a non Christian tendency for narcissism. Putting their own secular interests and ideas above and beyond Jesus Christ and holy tradition.

The Orthodox Church does not ordain women because of fidelity to the Gospel, apostolic succession, and holy tradition. Neither Christ, nor the apostles, nor the holy fathers who followed the apostles, nor the male or female Saints who have given their lives to the Lord either through martyrdom or devotion to the monastic life, or the bishops and priests who carry on their sacred work under the guidance of the holy spirit have expressed any desire to overthrow sacred tradition as certain sectarians are now doing.

What other faiths do is of no concern to the Orthodox Church. We have watched what has happened to the Episcopalians and various Protestant factions. The destructive paths they have taken by not only ordaining women, but in permitting same sex marriages, and promoting transgender ideology only demonstrates that these entities were never part of the “Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.”

The Orthodox Church adheres to holy tradition, not political correctness.

Categories
political

Azerbaijan human rights abuses

http://humanrightscolumbia.org/peace-building/atrocities-artsakh-nagorno-karabakh

The Program on peace building and human rights at Columbia University has published a report (see the link above) on human rights violations perpetrated by Azerbaijan against Armenia. Azerbaijani aggression (with the backing of Turkey) was responsible for the war with Armenia. The failure of the international community to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable may have set a precedent for Greece.

As Turkish aggression remains a problem for both Greece and Cyprus, Athens needs to examine the injustice suffered by the Armenians. Nagorno Karabakh is a territory with an Armenian majority and is rightly ruled by the Armenians. Armenians refuse to be led by any Turkish Republics and have fought hard to maintain Armenian rule over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenians however did not receive the kind of support they needed from either the United States or Russia. This indicates that Turkey is still immune from any real pressure despite the triumph of radical jihadism in Turkey, and despite the fact that Turkey and Azerbaijan have cooperated closely with Syrian jihadists. Greece has to keep in mind that neither of the great powers appears willing at this point to challenge Turkey.

Greece must begin using diplomatic leverage to pressure Washington and Moscow to stop supporting Turkey. Recently, Russian Orthodox priests went so far as to bless the nuclear power plant that Russia has helped to build in Turkey. The whole Church question in Ukraine has complicated Greek-Russian relations but the Russians should be a little more sensitive to the plight of Armenian and Greek Christians who are on the receiving end of Turkish expansionism and aggression.

Greece closest friend and ally is Armenia. Greek officials use their influence (assuming they have any) at the European Union to lobby on behalf of the Armenian cause in the caucuses and to condemn Azerbaijani aggression. The government in Baku made its own hostility to Greece apparent when the Greek Ambassador presenting his credentials to the host country’s President was insulted and derided. The Azerbaijani President made clear that Azerbaijan supported Turkey in all conflicts with Greece.

Greece should be using its leverage with Washington and Moscow not only to promote Greek issues, but Armenian issues as well. Greek and Armenian interests coincide both nations are likely to suffer the same fate in the event that Turkish ambitions are ever realized at the expense of Greece, Cyprus, and Armenia.

Categories
faith

Christian morality and politics

Christian morality transcends all political ideologies and political parties. Truth itself is above all theological. Theology refers to the knowledge of God. Theological truth refers to the absolute truth of the universe which was created by God.

It is good that social conservatives espouse Christian teachings on matters such as marriage, pro life, and gender. It should not be forgotten however that there are other issues of morality that need to be addressed. Racism and anti semitism are also immoral.

The Holy Gospel commands Christians to “love they neighbor as theyself”. Saint Paul wrote that in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Greek”. Racism remains a problem in America today and Christians have a moral obligation to condemn it without embracing the unreasonable demands and stances of groups such as “Antifa”.

The Orthodox Christian faith is the antidote to the problems afflicting the western world today. The truth of the holy Gospel emanates from the divine in contrast to secular political ideologies which are man made. Supporting one political faction or another is fine as long as it is understood that political parties (even conservative ones) can never serve as a substitute for the Church of God.

Extremism of all sorts is something to be condemned. At present, the political left in America and Europe seems to be the more anti Christian. The left however does not have a monopoly on anti Christian ideology. Take for example, the Golden Dawn Party in Greece which is now thankfully nearly extinct.

Golden Dawn was an openly Neo-Nazi and racist party. Not only did it advocate Holocaust denial and racism, it was openly pro pagan and pro satanic. Some Orthodox Greeks out of ignorance voted for this party under the assumption that it was preferable to the atheistic left, when in fact it was even worse.

Recent events at the capital in Washington D.C. indicate that extremism is not confined to the left. The attack on the capital was inherently irrational and stupid, and in the end succeeded only in angering and alienating much of the American population. In fairness, extremism on the American left appears to be more established than extremism on the right which has been disavowed by conservatives.

The Holy Gospel teaches us to “know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. Orthodox Christians should attempt to see things with as much objectivity as possible. Admittedly, this blog is more suspicious of the left at this time than of the right, but that does not mean that that it is not also suspicious of the right to a certain extent, as can be seen by the behavior of rightists several weeks ago.

The problems in America and the world today are above all spiritual. Political parties cannot address spiritual issues. Only the Church can properly address the spiritual crisis that has fallen upon the world. Therefore, the Orthodox Churches in America have a unique opportunity to rise to the occasion to bear witness to Christ and to offer the message of the Gospel.

Categories
political

The Democrats pagan agenda

“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”

This is an excerpt from an executive order that came down from the White House. What this is saying is that boys in school who consider themselves to be girls should have access to the girls room, the girls locker room, and should be able to participate in girls sports. This is exactly what many of us feared was going to happen in the event of a democratic victory in Presidential elections. Without defending the attack on the Capital, one can honestly say that Donald Trump has already been missed.

From a conservative-libertarian standpoint, all consenting adults should be free to live as they like. This includes the right to have whatever surgery they like. The problem here is that this radical agenda is being imposed on the rest of society including children. It is an established fact of reality that a man cannot become a woman, and a woman cannot become a man.

If some people believe otherwise that is their right and it is their right to “transition” if they so desire. But they do not have the right to force the rest of us to abandon reality. They most certainly do not have the right to impose this agenda on children. Some years back the Democrats used to accuse the Republicans of waging a “war on women”.

That was amusing then considering that accusation was coming from the party of Bill Clinton and the Kennedys. That accusation is even more bizarre and hypocritical coming from a party that has supported permitting men to use the ladies room. Not being content with permitting men to use the ladies room, they are now ready to send boys into girls restrooms and locker rooms.

This is why it is difficult from a Greek Orthodox standpoint not to view the Democrats as a threat to freedom of worship. Christians believe that God has made man in his own image. Male and female he created them, as the Book of Genesis tells us. Any believing Christian (or Muslim or Jew) that objects to this madness is going to be considered a “transphobe”. Public life for Christians (and non Christians) has just gotten more difficult.

With the coming to power of the Biden administration, voices from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in New York have responded with great enthusiasm. One does not not need to elaborate any further on this particular fact.

One recalls reading an issue of Time Magazine in 2016 to read about the Russian Presidents visit to Mount Athos. Another article in that same magazine had an article from a woman who wrote about her “pregnant brother”. The article was accompanied by a picture of a bearded woman breastfeeding an infant.

That is when the secularists and “social progressives” completely lost their minds. Normal people whether they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or atheists have always recognized a reality common to all. That it is impossible for men to get pregnant and to give birth.

Normal people recognize that an individual who can get pregnant and give birth is a woman! This fact should have confirmed the trans movement as farce. A woman who “transitions” into a man and gives birth is ultimately a woman because MEN DO NOT GIVE BIRTH!!!

Rather than bowing to reality, the political left chose to declare war on reality by insisting that men can in fact give birth. Furthermore, the political left and the lunatics who now control the Democratic Party consider people who live in reality to be “transphobic” because we do not believe men can give birth or that men and boys should be using female restrooms and locker rooms.

The Biden administration has just taken a shot at those who adhere to the Christian faith. The pagan agenda of the Democratic Party is being unveiled.

Postscript

Message to Donald Trump. All is forgiven. Fight Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, stay healthy, and run again in 2024.