Breaking the Silence on Sexuality within the Orthodox Church

Open Letters

Open letter to OCA Holy Synod from college students and young adults

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    August 12, 2011 — Martyr Anicetus of Nicomedia

     

    To: Holy Synod of Bishops, Orthodox Church in America

    From: 15 Orthodox college students and young adults

     

    “Men and women with homosexual feelings and emotions are to be treated with the understanding, acceptance, love, justice and mercy due to all human beings.”

    — 1992 Synodal Affirmations On Marriage, Family, Sexuality, and the Sanctity of Life, Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America

     

    Your Beatitude, Your Eminence, Your Graces,

     

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“It Gets Better”: Orthodox Version

In my frustration about the lack of an Orthodox Christian “It Gets Better” video in response to gay teen suicide, I began to wonder what such a response would possibly be like coming from Orthodox clergy or hierarchs. But whenever I sat down to try to write one ( imagining myself in the kamilafka of any of our bishops) the result ended up satirical. So I made a special effort to make it non-satirical, to empathize with someone in the “traditional” position on sexuality and to postulate a compassionate response from that position. The following is what I came up with. I had to make up a fictional “help line” to make it reasonable. I, of course, don’t agree with this response, and I can spell out its flaws very specifically (and may be called on to do so). But this little exercise in empathy may serve the purpose of showing that those of us who support the inclusion of gay people in the church understand to some degree the position of those who don’t. I find it telling that not even something like this has appeared in response to the teen suicide awareness. Only silence.

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Open Letter to Met. Jonah

Joseph Clarke

joseph.clarke@yale.edu

January 10, 2011

The Most Blessed JONAH

Your Beatitude,

Most Blessed Master, Bless!

I write concerning your letter of May 2, 2010 to the Armed Forces Chaplains Board regarding the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which profoundly affects my life as an Orthodox Christian.

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Further to Metropolitan Jonah

The following was written by my partner, Eric, in response to Metropolitan Jonah’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” letter, from the perspective of a non-Orthodox-Christian who rightly points out that it affects him as well. The hyperlinks in his addendum unfortunately didn’t come through when I copied this, but I can send some or all of them in a private message to anyone who’d like them. Let me know via private message or email–Dave

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Open Letter to Metropolitan Jonah

December 28, 2010
24 Purvis St.
Watertown, MA 02472
davensati@msn.com
 
Most Blessed Jonah
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
P.O. Box 675
Syosset, NY 11791
 
Your Beatitude:
 
Most Blessed Master, Bless!
 
This letter is in open response to your letter of 20 May to the Armed Forces Chaplains Board regarding the debate on the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy for the U. S. military, which has appeared on the Internet. You will likely remember me from our days together at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, from our visits in Boston when you were doing graduate study at Holy Cross here in the later 1980s, and though our numerous mutual acquaintances.
 
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Open Letter to Metropolitan Jonah

Most Blessed Jonah
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
P.O. Box 675
Syosset, NY 11791

December 28, 2010

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

Your Beatitude,

Most Blessed Master, Bless!

It is with a heavy heart that I resolved to write you this open letter. I have refrained from addressing you with these issues ever since your first speech as a newly elected Metropolitan at the closing banquet at the All-American Council. For the most part, I must confess that I harbored under the hope that some of your remarks may be attributed to the novelty of your position and that you will, with the input of your flock, reconsider some of the things you were saying at the beginning of your ministry. Even after your signing of the extremely unfortunate Manhattan Declaration I still chose to keep my peace.

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Metropolitan Jonah’s letter to the Armed Forces Chaplains Board

Link to PDF of letter: www.speakupmovement.org/church/content/userfiles/oca_letter.pdf

Metropolitan Jonah, Primate

 

To the Armed Forces Chaplains Board
RE: Revision of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy
May 2, 2010

Sirs,
As the Endorsing Agent for most of the Orthodox Chaplains for all US Military services, I have been asked to clarify the Orthodox position, which must be upheld by our Chaplains, on homosexuality, the “gay lifestyle,” “gay marriage,” and the conditions under which our chaplains may minister to individuals who espouse such positions. It is also important to state the conditions under which our chaplains may remain in the military if indeed there are important changes made in the military’s attitude toward these activities.

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An Orthodox Presbyter’s Response to the Manhattan Declaration 16 Dec 2009

A PERSONAL RESPONSE TO THE CALL TO SIGN THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION
“An Orthodox Priest”

16 December 2009

I will not sign the Manhattan Declaration. It is not an Orthodox document. The theology behind it is not Orthodox. The approach to pastoral ministry it represents is not Orthodox. The fear, arrogance, and lack of compassion are not Orthodox. I am tired of hatred disguised as fidelity. I am tired of simple-mindedness and naiveté masquerading as wisdom. I am tired of politics being shoved down our throats by those who do not know the difference between political conservatism and Christianity. I am tired of Orthodox Christians who cannot differentiate between Calvinism and Orthodoxy, of being co-opted by the Christian Right, the Family, Focus-on-the-Family, the Republican Party, and the myriad evangelical converts to our Faith who have yet to unpack their religious baggage and whom we allow to cajole the Church into an alliance with extremists.

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Manhattan Declaration – Grouped Signatories 27 Nov 2009

List of Religious Leaders Signatories of the Manhattan Declaration, as of 27 November 2009

URL: http://manhattandeclaration.org/the-movement/leaders-list.aspx (The original link in this post no longer exists.  This link gives a current list of leaders signing the document.)

There have been six Orthodox leaders (all part of either the OCA or the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of NA) to sign as of 27 November 2009:

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