Are orthodox churches racist?

Knee V

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I wanted to visit a Russian Orthodox Church, but I here'd that orthodox churches do not like mixing races? Is this true? How would people in the Russian Orthodox Churxh feel is a Asian or a African Americam came in there Church?

God Bless

There are always people who are racist. There are some parishes that are made of people of mostly one ethnicity. Some of those parishes aren't very welcoming to people who are not of that ethnicity. I have only been to one parish like that, and it was like that mostly because most of the people were very old (however the priest was a very humble, gentle, and welcoming man. I think that parish was his cross).

It is not true that Orthodox churches do not like mixing races. The stubborn parishes are the exception, in my experience. I think you should be alright if you were to visit just about any parish, no matter your race. My parish comes from the Russian tradition. While the bulk of us are white (and most of the Whites are not Russian at all), we have several people who are Hispanic and several who are Black. We also have one fella who is Indian (as in from India).
 
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Monica child of God 1

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I'm black and I'm Orthodox. I currently go to a Russian Orthodox church. Before that, I belonged to another jurisdiction of Russian extraction called the Orthodox Church in America. I have never had a problem being accepted and I'm not the only black person there, plus there are Latinos and Asians.

M.
 
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Joseph Hazen

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As others have said, that's rather like asking "Are Roman Catholics racist?" The most blatant racism I ever heard of outside of like, Hitler's Germany or something, took place in a Roman Catholic parish, from the priest, to another Roman Catholic. The woman who was discriminated against obviously knew that this was just that one parish's problem, and not something inherent in Roman Catholicism. It's the same with Orthodoxy. You might've heard this or that happen in this or that parish, but there's nothing inherent in Orthodoxy that would be racist.

I actually helped a black woman once find a parish to visit across the country that I'd never been to (actually she was Roman Catholic too). She told me she felt very welcome and, though she had been nervous about exploring Orthodoxy, felt completely welcomed. She ultimately decided to remain Roman Catholic (for now anyway, I still wonder about her) but her reasons had nothing to do with racism in Orthodoxy.
 
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Ortho_Cat

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I wanted to visit a Russian Orthodox Church, but I here'd that orthodox churches do not like mixing races? Is this true? How would people in the Russian Orthodox Churxh feel is a Asian or a African Americam came in there Church?

God Bless

Phyletism was condemned as a heresy, but you still see traces of it here and there.
 
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zoebliss

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I wanted to visit a Russian Orthodox Church, but I here'd that orthodox churches do not like mixing races? Is this true? How would people in the Russian Orthodox Churxh feel is a Asian or a African Americam came in there Church?

God Bless
lolwut???

NO. i'm indian & i'm russian orthodox. the home parish were i grew up in in hawaii is so racially diverse. whoever told you that russian orthodox churches are racist is a liar. anyway, you sound like you are trolling.
 
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Dorothea

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The Orthodox Church I attend is the most racially/culturally diverse congregation I've ever seen...and I've seen quite a few.

Cool. My parish is diverse as well. We have a wonderful black family from the Caribbean islands, another black family, but I don't know their background. We have a Greek man and his Indian Orthodox wife and their daughter, lots of Romanians, a few Palestinians, Greeks, and Russians, and one Albanian background - the priest. :) And, of course, just a few American converts.
 
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My priest is about as un-racist as possible. We have everybody from a to z at our parish and they're always welcome. In fact, we had an African couple visit, Etheopian Orthodox both, who left their sandals outside in the narthex as is their tradition. Everyone found them fascinating and very welcome...just frustrated that they couldn't take communion.....

Like Joseph mentioned, there is a lot of racism out there, and it's in the catholic church as well. There are highly-hispanic parishes (I've been to them for kids' first communion, kids who were in my class as a teacher) and WOW they looked at me like I had Ebola Virus! The priest looked at me like he'd like to see me have a stroke. Don't let Catholic claims that Orthodoxy is "all ethnic" fool you. They have HEAPS of ethnicity-dominated areas. It's unfortunate, but it happens, that the Church can get this way.
 
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Dorothea

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My priest is about as un-racist as possible. We have everybody from a to z at our parish and they're always welcome. In fact, we had an African couple visit, Etheopian Orthodox both, who left their sandals outside in the narthex as is their tradition. Everyone found them fascinating and very welcome...just frustrated that they couldn't take communion.....
I love that tradition! I wish we all did that!

We used to have an Ethiopian Orthodox family that visited on a pretty regular basis a couple years ago, and their daughter was in my Church school class. :) And she was permitted to partake of the Eucharist. The black family from the Caribbean islands converted to Coptic Orthodoxy, but moved from Boston to CO a couple years ago, and came to our church and are members here and partake on a regular basis. :)
 
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I thought, "wow, that is an awesome tradition!" and how it reminded me of Moses with the Burning Bush, etc. Then I got to thinking about how long we stand, how I have Plantar fasciitis, and I thought how hard it would be to stand for two hours without my comfortable shoes and orthotics....

Never mind, muchachos, I'm sticking with the current setup! ^_^

Not sure if you've heard of Plantar fasciitis, but it's VERY VERY common in teachers. We get it a lot from standing, and tall people get it the most. I'm 6'5" and 245 lbs. So I'm no little guy. And I stand A LOT.

In fact, this sounds petty, but when I was first looking into Orthodoxy, honestly, the idea of how standing would hurt my feet with this condition just worried me like crazy! I know it sounds goofy

But luckily, with a stiff and very uncomfortable foot brace, a series of nasty injections right into the foot, and orthotics, it's 100% healed...not one ounce of pain now....and I want to keep it that way!

No Coptic stuff! ^_^

I love that tradition! I wish we all did that!

We used to have an Ethiopian Orthodox family that visited on a pretty regular basis a couple years ago, and their daughter was in my Church school class. :) And she was permitted to partake of the Eucharist. The black family from the Caribbean islands converted to Coptic Orthodoxy, but moved from Boston to CO a couple years ago, and came to our church and are members here and partake on a regular basis. :)
 
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Dorothea

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I thought, "wow, that is an awesome tradition!" and how it reminded me of Moses with the Burning Bush, etc. Then I got to thinking about how long we stand, how I have Plantar fasciitis, and I thought how hard it would be to stand for two hours without my comfortable shoes and orthotics....

Never mind, muchachos, I'm sticking with the current setup! ^_^

Not sure if you've heard of Plantar fasciitis, but it's VERY VERY common in teachers. We get it a lot from standing, and tall people get it the most. I'm 6'5" and 245 lbs. So I'm no little guy. And I stand A LOT.

In fact, this sounds petty, but when I was first looking into Orthodoxy, honestly, the idea of how standing would hurt my feet with this condition just worried me like crazy! I know it sounds goofy

But luckily, with a stiff and very uncomfortable foot brace, a series of nasty injections right into the foot, and orthotics, it's 100% healed...not one ounce of pain now....and I want to keep it that way!

No Coptic stuff! ^_^
:D Yes, I've heard about that. Luckily I didn't have that after falling down the stairs and spraining my ankle this past January. They checked for that. I don't envy you!

Again, in the Greek church, there's a little bit less standing. We are the lax church, and there's red carpet down and been there since the parish bought the formerly baptist church 14 years ago. :sorry:
 
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If they can get memory foam tempur pedic flooring, I might bite LOL

Our parish was built like 60 plus years ago. It's 100% as Orthodox looking as you can get...dome, etc.

I'm ok with the foot situation now. it's been gone for about a year, thanks be to God!

:D Yes, I've heard about that. Luckily I didn't have that after falling down the stairs and spraining my ankle this past January. They checked for that. I don't envy you!

Again, in the Greek church, there's a little bit less standing. We are the lax church, and there's red carpet down and been there since the parish bought the formerly baptist church 14 years ago. :sorry:
 
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gracefullamb

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There may be some members that are racist, anti-semitic or even ethnocentric but that is that individual's sin and not The Church's belief. The Church is not racist, nor does it condone such things. Like others have stated about their parish, my parish is also very multi-cultural and no one has ever been treated illy due to their race in it.
 
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Dorothea

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If they can get memory foam tempur pedic flooring, I might bite LOL

Our parish was built like 60 plus years ago. It's 100% as Orthodox looking as you can get...dome, etc.

I'm ok with the foot situation now. it's been gone for about a year, thanks be to God!

well, that's good! :)
 
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Colleen1

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Cool. My parish is diverse as well. We have a wonderful black family from the Caribbean islands, another black family, but I don't know their background. We have a Greek man and his Indian Orthodox wife and their daughter, lots of Romanians, a few Palestinians, Greeks, and Russians, and one Albanian background - the priest. :) And, of course, just a few American converts.

Neat :)
 
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