And, they sit right now in the hot seats surrounded by extremist muslim hords...in places like Chetyna, KosovO, Mcedonia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Uganda and Ethiopia .
They are always in danger...if ever there were a Church which has suffered EXTREME persecutions from satan...it is the Eastern Orthodox.
If ever they falter, even slightly...there are always those safe-little Christians in foreign lands who say...."BOO HISS-naaaaananana"... to the Orthodox Christians.
Instead of saying, "There but by the GRACE OF GOD, go I", these little safe Christians... look for what they perceive as Orthodox "flaws".
I heard pat robinson say one time on his TV show...that the Orthodox worship "idols"
Of course they don't worship idols.... and they also don't go on TV and cast aspersions on other Christians, who have suffered for their FAITH, either.
Please let me clarify. I have NO problem with Orthodox Christians. I have the utmost respect for Orthodox liturgy and mysticism. They have retained elements of Christian worship that many in Catholic circles have lost after Vatican II. In the U.S., Catholics and Orthodox Christians have worked together on a variety of issues, most promeniently in the pro-life movement. In fact, the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America gave an interview on the Catholic network EWTN during the March for Life which I saw, and he gave the mostly Catholic audience watching a blessing for their efforts.
The Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe are in a bad spot at the moment, between the Muslim terrorists who have plundered their churches and monasteries in the region, and the unsympathetic forces in the EU and NATO. It was a mistake for the U.S. to side with the Kosovar extremists in the late 1990s, but that was the result of the Clintons.
When I said that many of the Orthodox Churches colloborated with the Communists, I mean the Christians-In-Name-Only who only wanted to preserve their wealth and power by becoming part of the "official" state churches of the Communist realm, both Orthodox and Catholic. Many who refused to be part of these abominations started underground churches, just as there are in Communist China and Vietnam, and they were actively hunted by the secret police forces. They were tortured, forced to take part in demonic cermonies that mocked their Christian faiths, and executed. They were all martyrs.
My problem is with these very CINOs who sold their souls to the Communist devils. My problem is also with those who use ethnic conflicts, which may have started as a religious conflict, to tag a whole religion as "impure." People on all sides of this conflict are guilty of this.
In regard to so-called "Christians" who state that Orthodox Christians (as well as Catholics) are "idol worshippers," in my opinion, they have fallen prey to the half-truths of Protestantism and fundamentalism. It was sin and corruption, both in the Catholic Church at the time, and in the infant "Reformist" churches at the time that created these denominations. They profess a faith in Christ, but it is incomplete, as G.K. Chesterton once said.
I don't want to be misunderstood, and then lumped with these people who have thrown insults, bad words, and even persecuted the Orthodox Christians. As I have said, I have the utmost respect for them. Many are on the front lines of the civilizational battle that is going on right now. As I have called for in the past, devout Christians, and all who believe that Western/Christian civlization is worth fighting for, should band together and fight back the evils of secularism, atheism, militant Islam, and socialism/Communism that threaten us all. All of these forces all the tools of the Devil and his minions, in their ongoing spiritual warfare against devout Christians everywhere. We need to fight for what is true, good, and beautiful in this world.