This is one of those times where I’m going to be selfish with my blog and use it to earmark things that I’m going to want to get back to. But besides my shameless egoism, I recommend both of these — one long read and one short — as the kind of baseline knowledge that for me is what the Ortho-blogosphere is all about. I’m not smart enough to figure out all this stuff myself, so thank goodness other people are and that they post.

The first is Orthodixie’s three-part series (only the first and second parts have been posted so far) about converts into Orthodoxy. I’m a convert, most of the other Orthodox I know are converts, and yet the particular problems of American converts seem like they don’t get much attention.

Specifically, here are some of the dangers I’ve either seen or experienced:

• trying to understand the mysticism without falling into superstition and occultism
• engaging in personal spiritual warfare without falling into judgmentalism, prelest or arrogance
• operating so far outside of what’s considered normal in American culture (even Christian American culture) without becoming either defensive or misanthropic

I found Fr. Joseph’s thoughts and impressions to be very illuminating, sensible and — as near as I can tell from my own experience — right on the money. For instance, see if this quick snippet doesn’t make you wince:

You’ve seen them. The man grows long hair and beard, forgets how to smile. The woman covers herself from head to toe. Her modesty smothers her dignity. They both stop bathing. There’s no visible joy in their life. Their wrists are covered with wool knots. They eat only broccoli; tofu is reserved for feast days.

***

The second must-read is Dr. John Mark Reynolds “A Serious Definition of the Religious Right”. It won’t take long (but if you’re feeling cocky, feel free to go back and read “Education and the Problem of Our Times”), but the reasoning approach to this cultural firestorm is greatly welcome. The two words — “Christian” and “conservative” (or “religious” and “right”) — have somehow teamed up to become greater than the sum of their parts. There’s a stereotype associated with the two words in conjunction, and it is nearly invulnerable to appeals to reason and sanity. The two words are invoked in much the same way as Nazi Germany or Adolph Hitler — to end all arguments of any hint of redeeming human value. Leaving aside for a minute the arguments that Christian conservative extremists might have brought some of this on themselves, or whether or not there is exactly the same amount of unreasoning hatred directed from the right to the left (which I would dispute, by the way) — leaving all this aside for the moment, this is still the way it is in the political arena that most of us inhabit right now. Which is to say, not the arena of town-hall meetings and formal debates, but office discussions, grocery store small talk, back fence chit-chat. And we all know that in that arena, you gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. I’m not going to sacrifice all fellowship with my co-worker or a one-time friend in the grocery line, but maybe I can at least let them know that this mysterious and terrible force of evil called the Religious Right is, in fact, me. And if they are not too repulsed or agitated to speak further on the matter, a person could do a lot worse than try Dr. Reynolds way: ask them for their definition. But if you’re going to do that, have your own memorized as well.

Rant to follow
Well, I just spent more words on that than there are in his post, but can I end with something that has been on my mind since entering the Ortho-blogosphere? I am sorry that our culture is so politicized right now. It’s regrettable, and I lose peace over it. But I’m not comfortable with what I perceive by some Orthodox, who seem comfortable in presuming that the hatred directed toward the religious right somehow has nothing to do with us. Or, worse, that we can rise above and smudge differences, viewing both sides as the choice between Crest and Colgate. Or, worst of all, that we can hand-pick a few attractive bits out of the liberal world-view and ignore the foundation of secularism and self-centeredness that underlies it. I can bemoan with my brothers and sisters that I didn’t come into the faith at a time when the warfare could be clearly determined and the bad guys would make sure to wear the t-shirts that said, “I (heart) doing away with the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ!” and “WWEDD? — What Would Emperor Diocletian Do?”

Oh well. God is the Lord, and this is the time I’m alive. But it seems like that means I don’t get to wait for the set of determining factors that belonged to the earliest centuries. There is a war on. I need to consider my salvation and my defense before the dread Judgment Seat of Christ. And I also need to look with an unblinking eye at the attacks that are being made against all American Christians, not just the ones who take Eucharist or say the Jesus Prayer. Because someone is right and someone is wrong in all this. I don’t see what’s to be gained in pretending that both or neither are. In the world right now, there is no sizable bastion of active, intelligent Christianity like America. (That isn’t a triumphalistic statement. Merely an attempt at accuracy — said with the most profound sorrow at the fall of Christianity in Europe and elsewhere.) That being the case, I don’t see where we are supposed to derive our smugness that liberalism will blow over, or that we aren’t in a precarious situation. We seem to me to be fairly close to the state of the collected army at the end of the Ring series — gathered weakly together against absolutely unstoppable forces. If surrender seems good to you then do it, if you choose to fight than for goodness sake, equip yourself for a battle to the bitter end. But whatever you do, don’t pretend that there are no soldiers, no traitors, no combats ….

Well, as I said, that’s a rant. I try not to do that, so hopefully this one wasn’t just self-indulgent. Lord have mercy on us.