A couple of observations; the fans the author refers to represent the Seraphim together with whom we are joining in the Liturgy. The center of the fans, usually metal, are embosed with the face of an angel and the many vanes around the edge of the fans represent the many wings of those angles. It s the wings of the Seraphim which are fanning the Holy Gifts for the Holy People of God.
Standing at the reception of communion is the ancient way of the Orthodox Church. This is not a sign of disrespect among Orthodox people, but rather a sign of joy because as a general rule (except at the consecration for most of the year) we do not kneel during the Divine Liturgy on Sundays because Sunday is the "Eighth Day", the Eternal Resurrection Day. In the West, the tradition of kneeling for reception of communion is likewise very ancient and I certainly can see how a people who were not accustomed by tradition to stand for the reception of communion might, by no longer kneeling, come to the conclusion that standing somehow, on the one hand, was disrespectful to Christ and on the other that that was OK because Christ isn't "really there".
Yes, you are exactly right, and I have noticed that when I have been to Eastern Catholic or Orthodox liturgies, the reception standing is very reverent; some would even make a metania before approaching the Holy Mysteries, as I saw done at an Athonite style monastery here in Texas. I also think that the ritual accompanying communion in the East tends to emphasize the sacred character of the Mystery, especially the two servers holding the napkin beneath the Cup, and the more elaborate words of administration said by the priest.
For us in the West, it is the change from kneeling, associated with the traditional posture for presenting oneself to the monarch as an act of submission (and even today I think people genuflect or curtsy when meeting Queen Elizabeth, for example--I certainly genuflected when I met Pope John Paul II early this year) to standing, a posture more associated in the Western mind with meeting one's equals, is the problem. It suggests the triumph of the Revolution.
BTW, along the same lines, as mentioned in either this or another thread, dress has much the same connotation: one would dress one's best if one were to meet HM the Queen, would one not? So what does dressing in anything less than "Sunday best" mean when we go to receive Holy Communion? Who do we think we are meeting there?
The author of the article mentions this concept in his article. He says, "In fact, Holy Week mirrors the six days of creations with astonishing exactness.... Then, on Easter morning, there begins the new creation of a humanity that is now able to free itself from its inherited burden of guilt."