EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis): Here is AB Elpidophoros’ chance to show he has ANY traits of a real leader! We are not asking him to do what Martin Luther King did and start a march for human rights at a time when it was very risky. Even supporting MLK’s fight for human rights in the 1960s took real courage that only a born leader, like Iakovos, could show; On the contrary, supporting the communist thugs of BLM in 2020 was an act of subordination to “deep state” orders and a sign that someone is a puppet…
Now Elpidophoros has a real chance to show true leadership and recognize what ALL the faithful know: that following the CDC’s new guidelines and wearing a mask (and particularly forcing schoolchildren to wear masks the whole next academic year) is absolutely reprehensible and shows a lust for power and a need for control over human lives rarely seen before… Instead of limiting vaccinations to those willing and promoting them to the elderly and most vulnerable, instead of making medicines (monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, etc) easily available, the establishment continues on its failed path…
A real leader has to be able to see a little beyond his own nose… AB Elpidophoros and anyone around him should see what is coming… What is coming is a huge revolt – especially from parents but from all true Christians – against the attacks on our most basic freedoms: masks, forced vaccinations, social distancing, and lockdowns.
The CDC mask reversal is a big sign of panic. The establishment all over the world is panicking because their policies have failed. Macron, Mitsotakis, Boris Johnson are faced with huge demonstrations daily. Angela Merkel does not dare force vaccinations!! In Australia, people have flooded the streets and the government is scared! The same will happen here in America – a country which is divided and half of it already lives freely, while the other half is ready to revolt against the loss of freedom! Take a look in California where the “establishment Governor” Gavin Newsom is a walking corpse! Take a look in NY where the failed governor Andrew Cuomo’s popularity is plummeting and his political career is over! Do you want to have the same fate as Newsom and Cuomo?
Make no mistake AB Elpidophoros: THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST CHANCE. You have a real chance to reverse course and prove that you can go against the powerful, to prove that you can be part of the future…The overwhelming majority of the faithful are against these attacks on our freedoms. It’s the role of the Church’s leader to express these feelings.
You will have no future in America or anywhere if you fail to show leadership this time!… You cannot go against the opinions of at least 80% of the faithful in such a critical matter and expect to continue to pose like their leader!..
P.S. What can you do practically? 1) Ask the faithful to do the right thing and avoid church services and events when they are feeling sick. 2) Encourage those willing to wear masks (or even “helmets” if they wish!) to do so – nobody is discriminating against them. 3) Encourage all the faithful to have ample supplies of all medicines available. 4) During the winter months when virus diseases spread easily, you can even go as far as asking parish councils to check the temperatures of all those attending services. But in terms of everything else guide all Churches to go back to normalcy! Enough is enough!
For the main facts and argumentation please read Buck Sexton’s excellent expose below…
=================================
The CDC’s ‘Mask Reversal’ is Bull**** and Everybody Knows It!..
By Buck Sexton
Mask mania is making a comeback, as predicted.
Democrats’ favorite cloth fetish mass hysteria was on a short hiatus while they tried to induce every person in America over the age of 12 to get a vaccine shot this past spring.
Fauci, Walensky– all the top lab coat tyrants were promising that vaccines would be the end of the pandemic. So we got to 160 million Americans vaccinated- plus there’s at least 100 million of us who have natural immunity from infection- and do we get our basic freedom back? Nope, now they are trying to roll it back.
Somehow “the Science!” has changed dramatically- again- in the blink of an eye, right when the Biden White House wants it to. So convenient!
The CDC has changed the mask “recommendations” even for the vaccinated. Biden and his team are ordering you to mask up in COVID hot zones, peasants. I’m sure health authorities will be checking the stats daily to see what qualifies. Such idiocy is almost impressive.
Rationality be damned, the CDC is also going to make your kids mask up all day, every day in class for the 2021-2022 school year. Aren’t the teachers all vaccinated, you might ask? That’s your first mistake. If Dr. Fauci is going to keep you safe from COVID, you ask no questions. Those are the rules.
What really changed? Over the last 14 days, nationwide deaths are up 6% from COVID, and holding steady at under 300 a day, in a country of over 330 million. New York City currently has a couple of hundred people in the hospital- total- with COVID. Los Angeles has 9 per 100,000 residents hospitalized with the disease.
If you think those are pandemic numbers that justify mask mandates, you should wear a helmet every time you get into a car and take baths with a snorkel.
Enough is enough. It’s time for mass noncompliance wherever needed.
The answer to mask mandates is for every rational person to treat the rules like Democrats treat our southern border: Pretend to agree, then totally nullify the system with blatant, widespread refusal to enforce anything.
Make everyone everywhere a mask mandate exists tell you to mask up. Force them to force you. See if they have the guts, make them demand it of you. Don’t let the neurotics and power-mad authoritarians assume you’re with them.
And remember: the true red pill moment here is not in recognizing that the Democrats’ new mandatory vaccine and mask reversal policies are a grotesque overreach rooted in hysteria and lust for power-
it’s in realizing that the insanity of covid authoritarianism that is so obvious now has been there all along.
He ran out of chances long ago. There is not a snowball’s chance in Hades that he will take a stand against this tyranny. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that so many Orthodox Churches mandated face diapers, took temperatures, contact traced the people, forbid the kissing of icons and Crosses and the priest’s hand, used multiple spoons and/or chalices, separated people by six feet or more, forbid singing/chanting, or just outright closed the Church down. It was purely demonic and there is nothing that prompts me to believe that the same actors will not do the same thing if the all-powerful civil authorities instruct them to do so again. And the Archbishop will be the first to obey.
Lord have mercy!
What of those parishes not following protocols where priests, chanters, and faithful got sick following church services and some even died? If there is ANY chance that my wearing a mask might prevent someone else from getting sick, I will not hesitate, in church or anywhere else. This is not a matter of being a Democrat or Republican; it is a matter of being a Christian. This is not a matter of individual rights; it is a matter of the collective good. Particularly as Orthodox, we see ourselves saved in community, not as individuals, and the people of Israel, our spiritual ancestors, and the Christians of the early Church witness to us, we are not just responsible for ourselves, but in the words of Fr. Alexander Schmeman of blessed memory, “for the life of the world.”
If I were to ask you when do you envision an end to wearing masks what would your answer be? If I follow your train of thought you would probably answer that we should wear masks like the Jews wear yarmulkes, that is forever and ever… Humanity has been through endless viruses and survived just fine. Modern medicine has many therapeutic tools, powerful medicines, and many other ways to help people against viruses. If vaccines are proven (as they are now) not to work (or to very partially work) the answer is not to put humanity in chains and to suspend all our freedoms for the fear of viruses. The only logical solution is to protect the vulnerable, prepare the rest the best way we can, and live our lives freely as possible.
Covering one’s face is a disgusting limit to human freedoms. How disgusting? As disgusting as watching a Muslim woman in the middle of the summer walk on Jones beach, or any beach, with her half-face cover “niqab”… This is forbidden in some European countries already… Why is it forbidden? Because wearing face covers is against the most basic principles of our western civilization… But we Orthodox Christians, who are among the “founders” of western civilization, will accept wearing masks without a clear scientific basis?
When the Biden Admin. stops the endless flow of thousands of unvaccinated illegals coming across the border for the “collective good” as you put it, I will believe that wearing a mask may be in our best interest. Until then, it’s all political BS.
Disagree.
Oooo! Pkpp. I disagree! Are you aware the virus was never isolated? Try snd buy a sample to study. Are you aware that your freedom is slipping away each day? How much research are you doing independent of mainstream news? Are you aware who the real boss of mainstream news is? Are you aware that churches before Lyndon B. Johnson were NOT non profits? Non profit status allows for the government to stick their big foot inside our churches and tell them what they can and cannot do. The hierarchy is very comfy living the “non profit church status” life. If you like your comfort diaper you can wear it. I will not. I refuse to have a temperature gun facing me as I enter a church. How dare the hierarchy bows down to Caesar!
pkpp—- We also need to perpetuate the Gospel- we need camps in the summer without masks- we need kids to be kids- we need to breathe- ok if we sneeze or suffer from allergies- there are tissues– take our temperatures- but keep us opened= trust if we’re vaxxed– we’re in Church- not a supermarket… the children must stop suffering… PERIOD
I agree with you and thank you. But honestly, the last thing I want is for him to do the right thing…because I don’t trust him, don’t respect him and don’t like him. And I don’t want people to be fooled into thinking that he may have repented. No, let him keep showing to what his loyalty is.
Αγαπητοί μου Einsteins,
Αναφαίρετο δημοκρατικό σας δικαίωμα να παίζετε τη ζωή σας κορώνα γράμματα με τον COVID19, αφού αρνείστε να εμβολιαστείτε. Η ερώτηση μου απλή: Ποιος όμως σας έδωσε το δικαίωμα να παίζετε με τις ζωές των υπολοίπων συνανθρώπων σας; Κανένας. Οπότε είστε πέραν επιτοπίου εγκεφαλικής επισκευής. Δυστυχώς το μυαλό σας δουλεύει με ανάποδα γρανάζια. Μου θυμίζετε τα παλιά μονοκύλινδρα τρακτέρ LANZ. Όταν έπαιρναν ανάποδες στροφές, αντί με την πρώτη ταχύτητα να πάνε μπροστά, αυτά έκαναν όπισθεν. Εσείς που πάτε; Μπροστά; Πίσω; Αριστερά; Δεξιά; Μήπως κατευθείαν στις ΜΕΘ; Κλείνοντας, Ι challenge you to translate my comment in English.
Κε. Λυγγέρα, η ανύπαρκτη λογική σας σπάει καρύδια από μεγάλη απόσταση. Ο ίδιος ο Biden στη σημερινή συνέντευξη τύπου παραδέχτηκε ότι οι εμβολιασμένοι μεταδίδουν την ασθένεια. Πως θα ξέρετε ότι αυτός που έθεσε σε κίνδυνο την (όχι και τοσο πολύτιμη) ζωή σας είναι εμβολιασμένος ή όχι; Καληνύχτα σας και όνειρα γλυκά…
https://orthodoxeducation.blogspot.com/2020/07/masks-in-church-are-blasphemous.html?m=1
Well written! If my church demands masks, I will not attend. I would prefer you call the “virus” a BioWeapon as that’s the true name. it has never been properly analyzed to be called a virus. (Koch’s postulates). The vaccine is not truly a vaccine in medical terms, it’s gene therapy. Lord have mercy on us!
@Helleniscope
Αναφαίρετο δημοκρατικό σας δικαίωμα να εκφράζεστε ελεύθερα. Με την παράλογη λογική σας να μην εμβολιάζεται κανείς και όποιος προλάβει τον Κύριο είδε….πριν την ώρα του! Η ζωή του καθενός είναι πολύτιμη, αρκεί να μην χαραμίζεται εγκλωβισμένη σε ανούσιες πολιτικές ιδεοληψίες σαν την δική σας και ο νοών νοείτο. Εννοείται ότι ήταν η τελευταία μου φορά (από τις ελάχιστες) που επισκέφτηκα την προκατειλημμένη μέχρι το κόκαλο ιστοσελίδα σας. Καλημέρα σας και ευτυχείτε.
Κε. Λυγγέρα δεν χρειαζόμαστε αναγνώστες που δεν καταλαβαίνουν ούτε ελληνικά ούτε αγγλικά. Η ιστοσελίδα μας δεν υπακούει αδιάκριτα στις εντολές καμίας εξουσίας και έχει στόχο της να ελέγχει και όχι να εξυπηρετεί αυτές τις εξουσίες. Δεν είμαστε γενικά εναντίον των εμβολιασμών όταν αποδειχθεί επιστημονικά η ασφάλεια τους. Αλλά σε κάθε περίπτωση υποστηρίζουμε το συνταγματικό δικαίωμα του οποιουδήποτε να αρνηθεί όποια ιατρική θεραπεία… Εάν αυτά δεν δέχεστε πηγαίνετε να ζήσετε σε κάποια κομουνιστική χώρα.
I ran the Greek through a translator, and it looks like we have a troll posting in Greek.
Is “γίγας” the proper word for troll?
Εμείς του Helleniscope γνωρίζουμε ότι πάντα στα κειμενά μας θα υπάρξουν
αντίθετα σχόλια και είναι καλοδεχούμενα φτάνει να μην υπάρχουν απρεπείς χαρακτηρισμοί , και πολύ φτωχές ειρωνίες, που εκθέτουν εκείνον που τις
γράφει. Οι διαγωνιζόμενοι ελέγχονται από τους αναγνώστες οι οποίοι βαθμολογούν τον καθένα μας ανάλογα.
Όταν έχουμε άγνοια των πραγμάτων και επιχειρούμε να κάνουμε τους ειδήμονες , θα πάθουμε αυτό που έπαθε η αλεπού που προσπαθούσε να κόψει τα ώριμα σταφύλια που ήταν ψηλά και επειδή τελικά δεν μπόρεσε να τα φθάσει είπε εκείνο το περίφημο: “ όμφακες εισίν” , δηλαδή είναι άγουρα
και έφυγε με την ουρά στα σκέλια. Αν διδασκότανε οι άνθρωποι στα σχολεία
τους μύθους του Αισώπου ( νομίζω σε κάποιες χώρες διδάσκονται) σίγουρα
θα είχαν ακονισμένο μυαλό……Εγώ πάντως έχω το βιβλίο και τα βράδια το
απολαμβάνω.
PKPP-
No disrespect, but my body my choice.
Sound like the familiar cry of women who support killing babies in the womb or post birth? Only this isn’t a matter of killing anyone, but a matter of forcing ppl to do something against their free will under false pretenses.
I’m sorry to be so honest when I speak truths however, your health is not my responsibility. Nor is my health, your responsibility. When did it become the responsibility of big money sucking fat government??? That said, when I have gotten sick, I don’t usually go purposefully gallivanting around town trying to spread my germs. But all sense of reasoning, critical thinking and sanity has been thrown out the window. These are fear tactics my friend. Who would you rather place your faith in-man or God?
This division is a spiritual battle in both the physical and the heavenly realm. Make no mistake. This is much more significant than about obeying secular rules. We are called to obey God’s order. HE is the only God to which we as Christians should bow. He is using this opportunity as a test of our faith to see who is aligned with our King and Savior Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, this issue long ago was purposefully designed due to the politics of money, power and greed. Nothing else. When you have millions of ppl living off the tit of any government, which was never intended to be sustainable, a plandemic had to be developed as a bio-weapon to kill off the population. The rest of us will be treated just as the Jews were during the Holocaust. Their intention is for us to have a tattoo which is the sign of Satan in the final days before the second coming of Christ. I pray for His triumphant return in which ALL knees shall bow (even those who know Him not).
Neither the deranged AB Elpidoforos nor Pat Bartholomew, will ever speak out against these atrocities and crimes leashes against humanity as they are puppets to a secular based world.
Just wait and see. Everyone involved has already been entered in HIS diary of Crimes Against Humanity. They will not be able to escape. Everyone involved. From the higher ups to the local parish priests and their tooty fruity parish council members pushing the agenda. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands as someone stated. Also stated, obedience to Christ requires disobedience to the magistrate. Therefore, all Christians everywhere whose governments interfere with their worship are bound to disobey. I’m not a saint. Just a sinner like all. Not a theologian either. I am just fed up. Pathetic to see one of the largest, strongest(not anymore) communities on the east coast, Flushing, listen to these priests and the BLOATED parish council president. Sheep still kissing icons and the gospel with their masks on. As pops use to say, “Siktira apo etho”!