Interesting reaction to "Orthodox" from someone in CF

[ArmenianJohn]

Someone recently inboxed me with a message that was essentially as follows:
"Thank you for giving me a 'like' on my post! I am so used to really being given a hard time by anyone on this forum with "Orthodox" by their name (except ******** — I have known her for years, since long before she adopted her "church name"; she is a sweetheart.) that it was kind of a shock to see you, an 'Orthodox', "liking" something I wrote."

I have heard similar sentiment from others. Does it concern you that people think or feel this way? Do you think there is truth to it or that people overreact?

Curious about your thoughts on the image of "Orthodox" to others.

 

[FenderTL5]

Depends on the subject; the category as well as the specifics.
I'm not gong to 'like' a post that's full of teaching that is contrary to our Church's teaching.
To that, I'm not concerned.

If it's in matters of civility, in general, then i would take a different interest.

 

[Tigger45]

FWIW I bet many can easily guess who ******** is.

 

[GoingByzantine]

As someone who used to hang out in GT alot more than I should have, and given the wording of this message, I have a strong inkling of who sent it to you. Im sure the mystery lady who adopted her "church name" can also guess who it is, as she is still very active on this forum and still as kind and insightful as ever.

Regardless of that, I do think that we need to try to be more charitable and kind in our dealings in the theology sections. At the same time though, we have to remain true to our faith in our exchanges. If that offends people, then I'm sorry.

 

[bèlla]

That hasn’t been my experience. The Orthodox community has always been kind and welcoming to me. While our approach to faith may differ, our heart for God unites us. I’ve received likes from several in the community and given the same.

I appreciate being in the company of believers who earnestly love Him. Our spirits testify to the other and we’re mutually edified.

 

[All4Christ]

FWIW I bet many can easily guess who ******** is.

Yes, she is an excellent influence on all here I’m thankful for her!

 

[peregrinus2017]

This is coming from me as who I am, though I am a Catechumen and desire to become like Christ, I recognize I am very far from there. If I come across offensive to anyone, I apologise.

I find many people on any forum I have been on to have very fragile egos. Something that I see in Orthodoxy is that theologically at least, there is not much interest in people's personal opinions.

From my experience, much of modern Christianity is founded on personal opinion, so when such opinions are not validated people get upset.

I don't know anything about the particulars or individuals relating to this post, so I am not speaking of anyone specifically. I usually keep my mouth shut (or finger in this case) because I recognize that I often don't come across very graciously myself. I think the problem is the very different mindset or phronema of Orthodoxy. That is not something that can be fixed without a willingness to work at understanding one another and getting over ourselves.

 

[dzheremi]

I'll buck the trend: I don't know who we're all talking about. But I'm sure she's very nice. Most people here are.

Anyway, I'm not sure why that would be strange, but maybe I'm a bit more removed from this place when it comes to the social aspect. It's not that other people are overracting or being too sensitive, but I don't personally think of "liking" (or "agreeing", or even rating "winner") a person's post, nor receiving any particular rating, to be any big deal. It means "I like/agree with the content of this post", not "I'm uniting with whatever group you're in" or something. So why shouldn't an Orthodox person like a Protestant's, or Catholic's, or Non-Denominational's (etc.) post, if they make a good point? Even if I disagree with a person on many things, it's highly unlikely that we'd disagree on everything. But I guess it's good that they would feel comfortable enough to send you that message.

 

[ArmyMatt]

I agree with Fender. it depends on the topic and the context.

 

[Willie T]

Bless you Kaylisa, you really are a sweetheart.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

Ha! Coding the names of sweet orthodox ladies at CF in a time where there's so few active users is kind of cute. Theres no doubt who the op has in mind not that I'm going to reveal names obviously

My response would be like this: does it concern you that only heterodox people seem to like your threads and posts? If not, why?

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I have no idea what and who we are talking about!? Reader Gurney is lost....