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**GutleNus** · 05-06-2010, 02:58 AM

Just a couple of additional notes

I have wondered this also. Having been a TCK, I do understand that there is cultural issues at play with immigrants.

I don't know what a TCK is, but I can tell you from experience that kids who are immigrants from Russia (and I have a few in my parish), especially kids who come here as early/mid adolescents have an extremely difficult time adapting. In my experience they invariably end up in with the "wrong" crowd at school and elsewhere. The ONLY thing that has ever helped any of these kids get "back on track" (and I have a couple of glowing "success stories" in my parish) has been the Orthodox Church. Not even the prots can do what the Orthodox Church does for these kids because the Protestant culture is simply an extension of the North American culture that is at the root of their alienation issues.

She also meant that I would not recognise Orthodoxy there being the same as Orthodoxy practiced in America (of course, this is going off of her FIL's hearsay). I really have to question your friend's basic awareness of Orthodoxy - either here or there. As have many others, I lived through the reconciliation between the ROC here and the ROC in Russia. There were endless trips back and forth and discussions and meetings and trips and tours. There were a lot of differences (even the spoken Russian of the emigres was different than that of non-emigres) but one thing remained the same - one thing we had fully and completely in common and that was the Church. The movement between the two is seamless, the Church is the same here and there. There are, to be sure, some differences - but those differences are for the most part regional or social.

#1 is the one that I really was unable to dispute in words as Putin is EO, but I know that Protestants would have a difficult time viewing him as a Christian. I also don't know what the political issues in Russia are nor what the RO has supported or spoken against. My guess is that your friend is depending on Western "experts" on Russia and on Western news sources. I don't follow international events a lot - but I gotta say even I was shocked at how the West has completely missed and misinterpreted the Russian policies and actions. Try reading and listening to Russian news sources - there are plenty on the internet in English. Yes, in many cases the Church supports the government and the government supports the Church - but that's just because they are on the same page. When they depart from the same page, then the Church is certainly not hindered from speaking out (and she does). I seem to recall that there was something about the conflict in Georgia that the Church criticized the government over. Look at the English language website of the MP or the English language websites of the Russian news agencies.

Fr David

05-06-2010, 02:58 AM	#10
GutleNus Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 440 Senior Member	Just a couple of additional notes I have wondered this also. Having been a TCK, I do understand that there is cultural issues at play with immigrants. I don't know what a TCK is, but I can tell you from experience that kids who are immigrants from Russia (and I have a few in my parish), especially kids who come here as early/mid adolescents have an extremely difficult time adapting. In my experience they invariably end up in with the "wrong" crowd at school and elsewhere. The ONLY thing that has ever helped any of these kids get "back on track" (and I have a couple of glowing "success stories" in my parish) has been the Orthodox Church. Not even the prots can do what the Orthodox Church does for these kids because the Protestant culture is simply an extension of the North American culture that is at the root of their alienation issues. She also meant that I would not recognise Orthodoxy there being the same as Orthodoxy practiced in America (of course, this is going off of her FIL's hearsay). I really have to question your friend's basic awareness of Orthodoxy - either here or there. As have many others, I lived through the reconciliation between the ROC here and the ROC in Russia. There were endless trips back and forth and discussions and meetings and trips and tours. There were a lot of differences (even the spoken Russian of the emigres was different than that of non-emigres) but one thing remained the same - one thing we had fully and completely in common and that was the Church. The movement between the two is seamless, the Church is the same here and there. There are, to be sure, some differences - but those differences are for the most part regional or social. #1 is the one that I really was unable to dispute in words as Putin is EO, but I know that Protestants would have a difficult time viewing him as a Christian. I also don't know what the political issues in Russia are nor what the RO has supported or spoken against. My guess is that your friend is depending on Western "experts" on Russia and on Western news sources. I don't follow international events a lot - but I gotta say even I was shocked at how the West has completely missed and misinterpreted the Russian policies and actions. Try reading and listening to Russian news sources - there are plenty on the internet in English. Yes, in many cases the Church supports the government and the government supports the Church - but that's just because they are on the same page. When they depart from the same page, then the Church is certainly not hindered from speaking out (and she does). I seem to recall that there was something about the conflict in Georgia that the Church criticized the government over. Look at the English language website of the MP or the English language websites of the Russian news agencies. Fr David
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