And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.   Matthew 10:36
 
Awareness is half the battle of winning against an antagonist. Unfortunately, as Orthodox Christians, when it comes to Muscovite tactics, we are not only unaware, we are inept. Dealing with the Post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church is fraught with challenges. Not least is succumbing to accusation of judgment of our Russian brothers and sisters. In expounding so zealously on the lost path of the Moscow Patriarchate leadership I endeavor not to lose sight of the flock these leaders direct. Remarking on patriarch Cyril and his collaborators is in no way a de facto charge critical of the Russian Church membership.

The Orthodox Church and Geopolitics
 
Hagiographos Elias Damianakis
Archon Maestor Great Church of Christ
Archonelias.com
 
“Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and under his fig tree” (I Kings, 5:5).
 
The Orthodox blogosphere is ablaze with conspiracy theories of geopolitical infiltration into the Orthodox Church. The Moscow Patriarchate and Russian propaganda have whipped up the rapidly morphing territorial challenges facing the former iron curtain into an opportunity to ferment disunity. Bishops, clerics, and theologians of various ethnic persuasions submit personal interpretations, opinions, and condemnations based on discernable self-interests and not so obvious fallacies. Several prominent bishops with long standing outright and blatant posturing, proxies of Russian state proclaiming the “inconsistency” of geopolitical interference in Orthodox church administrations. Directing their ire at the Ecumenical Patriarchate. I can’t help but question these learned men: Seriously?