Extreme Disappointment

[GregConstantine]

relatively calm. A meeting is being held today at the Cathedral in Baltimore today of area clergy and IOCC. We'll wait and see what they say. There is a lot we can be doing.

 

[Wryetui]

I am very far from there and I have heard nothing from what's happening in Baltimore, could someone explain it a little bit to me, please?

 

[GregConstantine]

I will later. I would ask that those who do not live in Baltimore to refrain from trying to explain what is going on. The media, while not outright lying, it is exaggerating and engaging in hyperbole in it's reporting, especially CNN. So please let me as a resident explain. I'm at work now so I will explain later because it will take a long time.

 

[SeventhValley]

Dude relax. You do not have to save the city yourself. Do what you can but do not stress over it. There will always be poor and wars.

 

[GregConstantine]

Come back when your home, friends, and family are in danger and we'll talk then. I have no illusions of saving the city myself, but right now there are many other denominations that have acted quickly as soon as this started but the Orthodox have been slow to respond.

Do not tell me to relax

 

[GregConstantine]

BTW Seventhvalley do you ever actually read anything here?

 

[SeventhValley]

Just take it one step at a time is all I am saying. I am sure the Orthodox church is doing what it can since they are probably not a huge part of the neighborhood they are probably taking a wait and see approach. Definitely take care of your circle of friends and family I would never say do nothing.

 

[Gnarwhal]

what everyone else is doing, helping to clean up, rebuild, opening their churches for prayer, distributing food and water, walking through the streets offering prayer,offering counseling.

There's lots of stuff that needs to be done

Not to touch any nerves here, but aside from the bold, isn't that kind of contrary to the Orthodox ethos of "come and see"?

I know there are some missionary organizations within Orthodoxy, but by-and-large when I was checking it out a couple years ago everyone seemed to imply that the goal was to get people inside the walls of [a] parish, and activity in the community wasn't very high on the priority list.

Please forgive me if I'm wrong. Again, I'm not trying to antagonize, this is a genuine question.

 

[gzt]

No.

A distinction might be that the other, non-bolded parts are part of the works of mercy that we are called to do and not necessarily, say, missionary activity. It is perhaps true, though, that the first thing a parish has to do is get the doors open and start praying, so in that sense it is on the priority list. Another thing that may be true is that it's easier for a small place that is just starting out to encourage people to join in on works done by other organizations than to start your own distinctive Orthodox, say, food pantry. I mean, in my moderate sized town there's already a well-established food pantry organization run by a group of churches, if we have people interested in that we should join in either as individuals or as a parish rather than start our own.

 

[gzt]

Also, while "come and see" is an important part of this stuff, I don't think it defines our missionary activity. It's just one of our very persuasive arguments.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Okay, thanks for the correction. I suppose I just didn't hear much about that aspect of Orthodoxy when I was checking it out.

 

[gzt]

I think in some places they do start to be a little inward focused, but they're not supposed to be.

 

[dzheremi]

It seems from the media coverage that I have read (not from CNN, if that matters) that there is a lot of highlighting the work that the local Protestant denominations and Muslims have done in coming together to respond to this crisis. This is good, of course, but I wonder if it does not also highlight the relatively removed position that the Orthodox would be in, which could explain their slower response. I don't mean this as any kind of slander against the EO in the area, of course (I've checked the one Baltimore-area Coptic Church I know of, and they don't appear to have released any statement or done anything to help in an organized way, either), but I'm just wondering if the religious demographics of the area are working against the Orthodox if most people are either Protestant or Muslim, rather than Orthodox (I don't even know if that's the case, I'm just saying that's how it's framed by the media, with interviews with Baptist and Muslim leaders, but nothing about local Orthodox presence).

Regardless, I commend you, Greg, for wanting the Eastern Orthodox Church to be involved in this situation on a community level, and I sincerely hope you receive encouraging responses and see action soon. While I am also equally glad for the work the EO appear to be doing for Nepal, it seems that Orthodox Christians in general have a ways to go in this country for our churches' priorities to be the local community, regardless of the situation. I have faced similar lackluster responses in different situations, such as when I suggested a few years ago that we really need to have some degree of outreach conducted in Spanish given the demographics of the city and the region (so many TV programs locally and beamed in from Texas present Protestant ideas and even other religions like Islam to the people, and what is our response? Nothing. Nothing because it would be difficult to do. Mafeesh haga, they say. Damn Egyptians.)

 

[ArmyMatt]

Not to touch any nerves here, but aside from the bold, isn't that kind of contrary to the Orthodox ethos of "come and see"?

I know there are some missionary organizations within Orthodoxy, but by-and-large when I was checking it out a couple years ago everyone seemed to imply that the goal was to get people inside the walls of [a] parish, and activity in the community wasn't very high on the priority list.

Please forgive me if I'm wrong. Again, I'm not trying to antagonize, this is a genuine question.

nah, you are good man. we want to get folks inside the walls, so they can become active members and do the ministries in the Church they feel called to do, and that will Godwilling get more people in the walls.

 

[~Anastasia~]

No.

A distinction might be that the other, non-bolded parts are part of the works of mercy that we are called to do and not necessarily, say, missionary activity. It is perhaps true, though, that the first thing a parish has to do is get the doors open and start praying, so in that sense it is on the priority list. Another thing that may be true is that it's easier for a small place that is just starting out to encourage people to join in on works done by other organizations than to start your own distinctive Orthodox, say, food pantry. I mean, in my moderate sized town there's already a well-established food pantry organization run by a group of churches, if we have people interested in that we should join in either as individuals or as a parish rather than start our own.

That's very much how it is in our parish.

Yes, we WANT people to "come and see" and we encourage that.

But separately we do those things to reach out to people. Many of the ones we help aren't really able to come to Church - shut-ins, those in nursing homes. We constantly collect food, but we also give it to a local established food pantry, so I guess you could say that we don't get any "credit" for it from the recipients - they don't realize it comes from our Church. But no one seems concerned about that. As gzt said, it's obviously not with a missionary purpose in mind - just alms giving.

 

[Cappadocious]

Perhaps some of the protesters are Orthodox, but they were not there as Orthodox, but as protesters.

How do you know that?

 

[buzuxi02]

How do you know that?

No graffitti of a cross with inscription: ic xc ni ka, was found. Nor any reports of overturned cop cars tagged with the motto "Orthodoxy or death" .

Was quite surprised that they actually played a baseball game in an empty stadium. im not sure thats never happened before in the history of any sport in north america.

 

[GregConstantine]

I would say as someone living here that while the Orthodox demographics are small, we are probably the same if not a little bit more in numbers than the local muslims. There is a large Greek community in Baltimore that has been here for a long time. There is a section of Baltimore called "Greektown". There are prominent local business people and politicians that are Greek (and by default, Orthodox, if only nominally). IOCC is HQ'd here. Peter Angelos who is the owner of the Orioles, is Greek, as an example.

I did hear that a press release has been or will be given by the local Orthodox clergy. They had a meeting today which I was invited to but couldn't attend because of work.

 

[GregConstantine]

what you said about outreach in Spanish, yes! there is a growing Latino community in Baltimore. I've suggested the same thing, I was greeted with smiles when I made that suggestion.

We do have a long long way to go, I sincerely hope that these events in Baltimore will be a catalyst for change.

I also want to say on a side note, Baltimore gets a bad rap generally speaking, it had one before this, but, there are many many more great things about Baltimore. It is rich in history and is one of America's great cities. I want to encourage all here who have not been to Baltimore to come and visit, I'd be happy to put anyone up and show you around!

 

[dzheremi]

I liked Baltimore when I visited about 16 years ago or so. It seems like it probably has similar problems as any large, diverse city. My own city (Albuquerque) is a bit smaller (about 550,000, though the metro area is about a million, I'm told), but has a bad rap too, for very similar reasons (police killing unarmed people, and lately mentally ill homeless; several of the many cases of police brutality have made it into the national and international press in recent years, and a recent DOJ report found that the APD has a higher officer-involved shooting rate than NYC). We had our riots some time ago over the most recent high-profile case (James Boyd), and like you I had to spend a few tense days cooped up in my apartment, as I live close to where a lot of the action went down with protestors and cops, so my street was blocked off by police in riot gear, with weapons at the ready and barking orders through megaphones. I went out the day after the largest march happened and saw overturned police barricades, trash, and what appeared to be tear gas canisters littering the street. Not a particularly fun or easy climate to live in. You and the entire city of Baltimore are in my prayers, for whatever it is worth. Please stay safe.