Racism is a much shorter word to type, after all. For that is what monoculturalism really is, racism, albeit of a subtle and spiritual kind; although more gross forms of it sometimes occur. This racism is all the more pernicious because it shelters under the politically correct myth of MULTIculturalism but in fact is its exact antithesis; a ghetto mentality that is fearful of The Other.
Now, this is subtle and easily misunderstood. Orthodox in the west are right to be wary of the Borg of western liberalism, (non Star Trek fans look it up in Google—the Borg Collective's proud boast was Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated). Assimilation and intermarriage has often led to a falling away in faith commitment, a drowning in the fetid waters of post-Protestant secularism. This lies at the root of the fear of many pious Orthodox of immigrant backgrounds that the only alternative to seeing their children lost to the Church is to try and build an impregnable wall of piety and culture round about them, and this, of course, the ghetto immigrant church community readily provides.
Of course, this doesn't work, but it doesn't stop the wall of separation being built taller and taller around a shrinking and ageing congregation. Within one more generation, or maybe sooner, such parishes will have disappeared. In the meantime the pious separatists become more and more confirmed in their view that those outside the Church are a threat, spiritually inferior dangerous influences. When this is compounded with those nationalistic identities which pit one ghetto Orthodox community against another (cloaked in ecclesiastical speak) then the idea takes root that we ‘here’ are better than The Others ‘there.’ This is the little seed that grows into the ugly weed of spiritual racism.
If one's only possibility of becoming Orthodox from a non-Orthodox background is to join such a community, then putting up with an incomprehensible liturgical language and accepting that one will always be a second class proselyte ‘convert’ (because one has not been raised in it and therefore one is at a permanent disadvantage) is the only course of action possible.
If one really tries hard and affects an ersatz (imitation) of Greek / Russian / Arab / Serb / Romanian, etc., culture, and if this is really good and nearly indistinguishable from ‘the Real Thing,’ then some measure of equality and respect may be assured; but if not, watch out! You may be asked: ‘What are you doing here? The English Church (Ahem! They mean the Church of England!) is up the road.’
Monocultural spiritual racism then also spreads like a virus to infect ‘convert’ communities. If the English, the Scots, the Welsh, and the Irish huddle together under the banner of Celtic Christianity or Saxon Christianity, or some other such nonsense, then the same exclusivist monocultural spiritual (and sometimes not-so-spiritual) racism may prevail in these communities as well.
Such Orthodox may be more than happy to organise conferences, retreats and pilgrimages but not be at all disturbed that the great majority of Orthodox from other ‘ethnic’ (now a term of abuse) parishes do not attend, although they may pay lip service to the regret that the ‘Cypriots fish and chip shop owners’ have not turned up. After all, if they had come along, they would have wanted big chunks of the Liturgy in Koiné Greek or Church Slavonic, wouldn't they? Honestly? Well, yes, probably, but at least then they would have been there as part of the one Body of Christ.
Which neatly brings me to the solution—the cutting loose of yet one more dead canine. We are ALL part of the one Body of Christ. No member of that body is superior to any other member by reason of culture, ecclesiastical precedence or accident of birth (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). We are all Orthodox because we are in Christ. We are not Greek Orthodox because we are in Hellenism, Russian Orthodox because we are in Slavism, or Antiochians because we subscribe to Arabism.
This is a spiritual problem you see. People need to be Christians in and out of the Church. It's quite simple really. In Christ there is neither east nor west; and race, culture, gender and social class in all their rich diversities do not define our primary identity as children of God.
If we are children of God by baptism and new birth, then ALL origins, cultures, genders and social classes belong to us. Our ‘comfort zone’ should not be amongst those who are like us but rather amongst those who are different from us but who bear as we do the image and likeness of God. This diversity must be fully represented in our church communities. If it is not, then that is automatic evidence that something is seriously wrong and needs immediate attention.
How does your church community stack up?
The word "racism" seems applicable in terms of an exclusionary attitude, or the preference of one group over other groups and the unfair treatment of other groups. I think, in part, this might be an unfortunate and built-in danger when a religion or church regards itself as the only true church--there is a prideful reaction and identity that stems from the concept (or fact) of apostolic succession. In America, this probably intermingled with other issues of immigration such as minority status, adjustment difficulties, language barriers, and low self-esteem. Whatever was lacking economically or educationally could be compensated for by emphasizing inclusion in the true church--an inclusion which deteriorated into a racist ghetto among some immigrants and their children (and their children's children).
ReplyDeleteConnected to that, I would like to add another word: "ethnic cleansing." By this, I certainly do not mean violence but rather something along the lines of "forced emmigration" of unwanted peoples. Herein, we can see the problems of converts to the Orthodox Church. In some of these churches or in some pockets of the American landscape, conversion meant total assimilation into the culture and nationalism of the local church and the mother country. Those who converted as a matter of faith, theology, and rites, might find themselves so psychologically alienated that they were forced into a life of exile regarding fellowship. I am not saying that any Orthodox groups did this intentionally (although some may have), but that it may have been an unconscious process proceeding from the racist attitude.
In my opinion--and I am not an expert--the Orthodox thereby opened their church doors to many converts who were mainly attracted to the cultural phenomena and who were already anti-Catholic or anti-Pope. This was the comfort level. This is what they trusted. To object to the liturgical use of Slavonic, for example, or to question some of the superstitions, was to defy tradition and their sense holiness. And, such objections and questions probably only served to reinforce the racism of a people who had so horribly confused Church with nationalism.
I used to be friends with a Russian Orthodox lady. She was fluent in English. She was a simple woman, but yearned for a greater understanding of theology and the liturgy. She confided in me one day, as though she were saying something so politically incorrect that she feared the walls would hear her, that she wished her church would use English instead of Slavonic in the liturgy. She said that she herself could not really understand Slavonic very well. I wondered how many other Russian-descent persons in that church could not understand what was going on, but insisted on Slavonic as a matter of nationalism. The racism problem, therefore, is not only harmful to those who are victimized by it, but also to those who perpetuate it ("their own kind").
Paragraph by paragraph, my responses:
ReplyDeleteI think that the racism inherent in some of the ethnic Orthodox churches is due to most of the factors or experiences you describe. Where I take a different view, and this because of my personal experience as an Orthodox 'convert', is that the 'born Orthodox' rarely think of Orthodoxy as 'the true Church' in the way that Western Christians think of that idea. To the average, non-studious native Orthodox, they know they have the 'true Faith' but that only adds to their feeling of uniqueness, without any theological implications. They may hear things like 'apostolic succession' trumpeted about in church events, but from their point of view, it is the fact that they have stayed Greek or Russian or whatever, in spite of immense pressure to integrate into the unethnic masses that surround them, that makes them special and approved by their ancestors (and even by God).
The 'soft' ethnic cleansing that you observe in the ethnic Orthodox churches is quite correct, in my opinion, but it is only a specialised version of 'religious' ethnic cleansing that is still 'soft' but goes on within the Orthodox Church at large everywhere you go, and with no apologies. 'White' converts to ethnic Orthodox churches often leave because they cannot or will not accept the ethnic focus of their chosen church, and they either go to all-convert churches, or leave Orthodoxy altogether. Many are tempted back into Roman Catholicism, which feels more 'universal' somehow, even to me. But anyone who converts to the Orthodox Church and does not will to give up un-Orthodox mindsets, eventually is forced to emigrate. Both kinds of 'ethnic cleansing' are soft, because in no (or very few) cases is the 'cleansing' done officially, but only socially. A growing isolation caused by ethnic congregations that are not porous enough to admit 'whites' does in fact achieve the ejection of all but the staunchest converts.
Your observation that Orthodoxy 'collects' disgruntled Roman Catholics and general anti-Roman Catholic converts is absolutely correct. Orthodoxy seems to be a comfortable holdout against papal claims, and as such, that aspect probably contributes to a kind of 'religious elitism' among Orthodox, especially converts.
Your last observation about language is also quite correct. Most ethnic Orthodox do not fully understand the liturgical languages in use, except (as in the case of the Ukrainians) when their modern vernacular is used in worship. In my Greek church, I am considered a freak of nature because I understand Church Greek and not vernacular Greek (except only slightly). The Greeks, at least, are happy to be hazy in understanding, because they know they're God's chosen and He will save them with or without their understanding the process. It is this childlike confidence which can both attract and repel us. In my heart, I feel comforted, yet intellectually I know that it is precisely this overly comfortable attitude that has prevented the real work of evangelism and establishing the Kingdom of God. Yet, as an Orthodox, I also trust that God makes use of our weakness even more than our competence, to save us. But we are all still subject to His judgment, if we know what is the right thing to do, and don't do it.
Thanks, Melanie, for your visit, and your comments.