EP in NYC ?

[Moros]

I'd like to see the Church get over this Rome fetish.

 

[Kripost]

As part of the reorg, we could retake Constantinople

Would it be ok to declare Hagia Sophia as an independent nation?

 

[MariaRegina]

As part of the reorg, we could retake Constantinople

Yes, that would be wonderful.

But look at the previous history. Didn't Britain and American ships just sit out in the harbor and watch as thousands of Greek and Armenian Turkish citizens were slaughtered by the Turkish-Muslims?

 

[nicodemus]

Maybe we could trade Turkey one of our cities in exchange for Constantinople. I would like to nominate San Fransisco and Provo.

But we'd have to transfer the relics of St. John of San Francisco and Fr. Seraphim rose before the trade.

 

[MariaRegina]

I would gladly sign over the whole states of Utah and California to Turkey, in exchange for Constantinople. How will they get back and forth to occupy their new possessions? Maybe a giant Habitrail...

There are a lot of muslims here in Los Angeles and in California. In fact, unless it was changed, as part of the 7th grade curriculum the students in public schools wear muslim dress and adopt an islamic name. This is dangerous, but it's being done.

In a muslim country if you were to adopt muslim dress and a name, you would be considered a convert. To then discard the dress and the name would be considered a sin of apostasy worthy of the death penalty. What are they doing to our youngsters?

 

[nicodemus]

A friend of mine that lived in Turkey for two years said there is a simple one sentence confession Muslims must make to be considered Muslim. If one professes that statement publicly with knowledge of what they're doing, then they're considered Muslim.

 

[Orthodox Andrew]

A friend of mine that lived in Turkey for two years said there is a simple one sentence confession Muslims must make to be considered Muslim. If one professes that statement publicly with knowledge of what they're doing, then they're considered Muslim.

The statement is to say in Arabic that you believe there is no god but Allah, and his messenger Muhammed.

 

[nicodemus]

that's the statement. i didn't type it because i don't like repeating it eventhough i know i don't mean it.

 

[Matrona]

The statement is to say in Arabic that you believe there is no god but Allah, and his messenger Muhammed.

That's the one--that creed is one of the five pillars of Islam. I did a paper last fall on Muslim theology and soteriology.

 

[nicodemus]

Let's get this ship back on course though.

I wouldn't want to see the EP in NYC. I'd much prefer to see it somewhere in Europe if for no other reason it just seems like it should be somewhere ancient.

 

[Matrona]

Let's get this ship back on course though.

I wouldn't want to see the EP in NYC. I'd much prefer to see it somewhere in Europe if for no other reason it just seems like it should be somewhere ancient.

It would have to be Greece. As far as I know, Greece is fairly stable, whereas I don't know how stable most of the Soviet-bloc countries are.

My idea is that we move the Ecumenical Patriarch to New York, place all the different jurisdictions here under the EP's direct control, and transfer the EP's jurisdiction in Constantinople to the Church of Greece. This would mean:

--No more Turkish oppression and public defamation of the EP

--The EP would be located in the closest thing to a "Rome" in modern times--the Ecumenical Patriarch is supposed to be in the 'world capital' and there is no city that fits that description quite like New York does today.

--Comparatively speaking, the United States is fairly open to religious freedom. Even if it does seem to increasingly be a formality...

--The move would increase worldwide awareness of Orthodoxy.

--The jurisdictional mess here could be worked out almost overnight, provided everyone enters the discussion to work out new arrangements with humble hearts desiring nothing but the best interests of the One Holy catholic and Apostolic Church, and Her faithful.

(In other words, as long as everyone acts their age, not their cassock size... )

--There'd be no more dispute between the EP and Archbishop Christodoulos (sp?)--the good Archbishop gets what he wants, and the EP gets a huge jurisdiction anyway.

--There wouldn't be any more dispute over whether the OCA is autocephalous. It would be absorbed into the new American Orthodox Church so there would be nothing left to argue about.

I can't really argue this logically, but I also think that having a patriarch on the North American continent would help rein in radicals like the OCL. Just having him here would help. I also can't figure out how far the jurisdictional soup goes outside the US, and however far it extends is how far I think the EP's new territory would probably need to extend. If that means he's patriarch from Ellesmere to Cape Horn, that's fine by me.