ETHNOCENTRICITY AND NATIONALISM
As someone who grew up in Serbia, I can testify that (in this day and age) belonging to an ethnicity such as Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek or Russian is commonly considered inseparable from being EO. While this is by no means a part of the official EO theology, no one in their right mind would deny this. As a matter of fact, I sincerely believe that many of the early church fathers would be appalled to see that this teaching and practice have crept into the church. But today, the situation is quite different. The late Serbian patriarch Pavle said: “Being a Serb is inseparable from being Eastern Orthodox… An atheist cannot be a Serb… One cannot be a Serb unless he is baptized”. Serbian bishop Atanasije Jevtic gave a similar statement, indicating that Serbian communists are not truly Serbs. St. Philaret of Moscow got so carried away by nationalism that he twisted Jesus' command and said: "Love your personal enemies, hate the enemies of Christ, destroy the enemies of the fatherland." We see this teaching being expressed more elaborately in the works of the XX century Serbian theologian Nikolai Velimirovic (whose works directly inspired the founding of such extreme neo-fascist organizations such as "Obraz"). In 1937, St. Nikolai even said that Hitler is an exemplary nationalist, and that Serbian nationalists should look up to him. He compared Hitler to the most revered Serbian saint – St. Sava. Hitler actually gave Nicolai a medal of recognition in 1934, for helping the restoration of a German military cemetery located within Nikolai’s diocese. Those who are familiar with Nikolai also know that he was an outspoken anti-Semite. Despite all this, Nikolai was been canonized as a saint by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2003, even though some in the synod objected due to his smoking habit, but not due his anti-Semitism.*
EO converts from the West, such as bishop Kalistos Ware (English by ancestry), openly lament the presence of nationalism, and Alexander Shmeman, a famous 20th century EO theologian, considered nationalism to be one of the most detrimental factors in EO today. Even though these theologians expressed the right attitude and teaching, it still does not change the fact that ethno-nationalism (a.k.a. ethnophyletism) pervades the mindset of many EO clergymen and lay believers.
I'm not sure what your specific experience has been so far, but if you've been attending an EO church in the U.S., you have probably noticed that they are either Greek, or Russian, or Serbian, or Bulgarian, or Romanian, or Ukrainian or belong to some other traditional ethnic variety, corresponding to the one in Eastern Europe or the Middle East (the relatively recently formed Orthodox Church in America is trying to remedy this, but it’s very small, and not recognized by most other EO churches). You can even have two EO churches in the same Chicago or Detroit neighborhood, but if one is Russian, and the other is Greek, they will not belong to the same EO diocese, or be subject to the same bishop, or have much else in common, practically speaking. They will even use different calendars, and celebrate Christmas and other holidays separately (more about the calendar issue here). If you are not an ethnic _______ (fill in the blank), or are not marrying one, it is likely that you will eventually start feeling like an outcast, or you'll feel (indirectly) pressured to start culturally assimilating to a degree, in order to be able to fully participate in the church life.
For example, in the Serbian Orthodox Church, you will see a great emphasis on Serbian historic figures such as St. Sava (the founder of the independent Serbian church), the saintly Nemanic dynasty (the medieval dynasty that made Serbia a major regional power and built many churches and monasteries), the “martyr” saints of Kosovo (medieval warriors who died fighting to defend Serbian independence against the Islamic Turks in 1389), and many more. Their dedicated calendar days will bring about big celebrations within the Serbian Orthodox community, while other Orthodox churches will seldom make references to these saints, if at all. To appreciate these saints fully, you have to be "in love" with the Serbian heritage, as most of their life's work revolved about what they did for Serbia as a nation, and not how they served the EO community everywhere (like the early church fathers did).
For example, take a look at the fresco on the right. The fresco is from the Serbian church of St. king Jovan Vladimir in Belgrade, Serbia. What you see is the depiction of "Heavenly Serbia". It consists entirely of prominent individuals from Serbian history. Some of them (such as Nikola Tesla) have not even verbally professed a genuine Christian faith, and some, like general Draza Mihajlovic, are controversial, to say the least, as Draza was the leader of a WW2 military outfit - the Chetniks - which committed war crimes against civilians, and wanted to create "Greater Serbia", an expansionist project planned at the expense of the neighboring countries.
EO converts from the West, such as bishop Kalistos Ware (English by ancestry), openly lament the presence of nationalism, and Alexander Shmeman, a famous 20th century EO theologian, considered nationalism to be one of the most detrimental factors in EO today. Even though these theologians expressed the right attitude and teaching, it still does not change the fact that ethno-nationalism (a.k.a. ethnophyletism) pervades the mindset of many EO clergymen and lay believers.
I'm not sure what your specific experience has been so far, but if you've been attending an EO church in the U.S., you have probably noticed that they are either Greek, or Russian, or Serbian, or Bulgarian, or Romanian, or Ukrainian or belong to some other traditional ethnic variety, corresponding to the one in Eastern Europe or the Middle East (the relatively recently formed Orthodox Church in America is trying to remedy this, but it’s very small, and not recognized by most other EO churches). You can even have two EO churches in the same Chicago or Detroit neighborhood, but if one is Russian, and the other is Greek, they will not belong to the same EO diocese, or be subject to the same bishop, or have much else in common, practically speaking. They will even use different calendars, and celebrate Christmas and other holidays separately (more about the calendar issue here). If you are not an ethnic _______ (fill in the blank), or are not marrying one, it is likely that you will eventually start feeling like an outcast, or you'll feel (indirectly) pressured to start culturally assimilating to a degree, in order to be able to fully participate in the church life.
For example, in the Serbian Orthodox Church, you will see a great emphasis on Serbian historic figures such as St. Sava (the founder of the independent Serbian church), the saintly Nemanic dynasty (the medieval dynasty that made Serbia a major regional power and built many churches and monasteries), the “martyr” saints of Kosovo (medieval warriors who died fighting to defend Serbian independence against the Islamic Turks in 1389), and many more. Their dedicated calendar days will bring about big celebrations within the Serbian Orthodox community, while other Orthodox churches will seldom make references to these saints, if at all. To appreciate these saints fully, you have to be "in love" with the Serbian heritage, as most of their life's work revolved about what they did for Serbia as a nation, and not how they served the EO community everywhere (like the early church fathers did).
For example, take a look at the fresco on the right. The fresco is from the Serbian church of St. king Jovan Vladimir in Belgrade, Serbia. What you see is the depiction of "Heavenly Serbia". It consists entirely of prominent individuals from Serbian history. Some of them (such as Nikola Tesla) have not even verbally professed a genuine Christian faith, and some, like general Draza Mihajlovic, are controversial, to say the least, as Draza was the leader of a WW2 military outfit - the Chetniks - which committed war crimes against civilians, and wanted to create "Greater Serbia", an expansionist project planned at the expense of the neighboring countries.
The ethnic component is so pronounced that in Serbia (and I’m confident this is the case elsewhere as well) at times it took primacy over the spiritual life in the church. For example, the recent tragic Serbian-Albanian conflict in Kosovo (which claimed tragic victims and losses on both sides), where hundreds of thousands of ethnic Serbs were expelled from their homes, and many church properties were destroyed, became a focal point of the EO Serbian writings and sermons of the time (and it still occasionally is, especially around certain holidays). The priests took up the Serbian cause, and the speeches were focusing on preserving "Serbdom", while true Christian spirituality was seldom found.
The example of the famous Hollywood actor Jim Belushi, who is an EO believer, is certainly interesting in the light of this subject. Belushi is an ethnic Albanian. However, the closest EO church in his neighborhood was a Serbian church. He faithfully attended it, until his support for ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo conflict became incompatible with attending a Serbian church.
EO ethnocentricity puts emphasis on preserving a particular culture and nationhood, at the same time making God into a guy to whom we pray to take up the nation's cause, and give us favor in our battles with our political enemies, some of whom could be EO as well.
The example of the famous Hollywood actor Jim Belushi, who is an EO believer, is certainly interesting in the light of this subject. Belushi is an ethnic Albanian. However, the closest EO church in his neighborhood was a Serbian church. He faithfully attended it, until his support for ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo conflict became incompatible with attending a Serbian church.
EO ethnocentricity puts emphasis on preserving a particular culture and nationhood, at the same time making God into a guy to whom we pray to take up the nation's cause, and give us favor in our battles with our political enemies, some of whom could be EO as well.
*To be fair to Nikolai, he was imprisoned by the Nazis once they occupied Yugoslavia, which I'm sure made him regret his initial support for Hitler.
Let's make a brief summary of what we've read so far.
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