The article is unmitigated nonsense, especially this:
“Second, because changing the church’s teaching on marriage in this way would unweave the larger Catholic view of sexuality, sin and the sacraments — severing confession’s relationship to communion, and giving cohabitation, same-sex unions and polygamy entirely reasonable claims to be accepted by the church.”
We’ve allowed ecclesiastical divorce for, well, almost 1400 years recognized civil divorce from no later than about 325 and as we all know, there is zero chance that Orthodoxy will be “...giving cohabitation, same-sex unions and polygamy entirely reasonable claims to be accepted by the church.” or that we have been “...severing confession’s relationship to communion....”! The doctrines of akrivia and economia are among the most ancient in The Church. The West, on the other hand, under the influence of Blessed Augustine’s Manichaeism, moved further and further away from these fundamental Christian principles through the centuries and yet social depravity in the Christian Commonwealth seems to have come to full “flower” in the West under the guidance of its governments and elites.
But of course, the likes of a Douthat, as is true of most Western Christians, never gives The Church in the East a second thought, never thinks that maybe, just maybe, there’s something to learn there!
Like I said, what nonsense!
To clarify, are you saying Eastern Orthodox allows divorce?
And, allows divorced/remarried individuals communion?