OrthodoxBiz.com | Glen Chancy | March 2, 2009
Globally, Orthodox Christianity is known to be highly conservative concerning what is frequently referred to as “traditional Christian morality.” In Europe, for example, more progressive and liberal elements of society spare no effort in attacking the Church as a bastion of traditionalist repression, especially concerning homosexuality.
Ironically, however, in the United States an image seems to be growing of the Orthodox Church as more liberal towards sexual sins than, for example, the Evangelical denominations. Quite a few people, judging by chatter on the Internet, are getting the impression that Orthodoxy is similar to the Episcopal Church in respect to moral issues.
Part of this confusion stems from the book Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe by John Boswell. This book, published in 1994, asserted that certain Greek Orthodox medieval rituals were really ecclesiastical blessings of homosexual unions. Boswell especially singled out the Greek Orthodox Rite known as adelphopoiesis or “brother-making,” as one such example.
Since the book’s publication, Orthodox sources have roundly debunked Boswell. (One such effort can be found here.) Even so, a casual stroll through Google will find Boswell’s claims widely repeated on Websites associated with homosexual issues. (LGBT sites in the common parlance of today.) The fiction created by Boswell is useful for sexually active homosexuals, both within the Orthodox Church and without. Even those who don’t know much about the Orthodox Church, still understand its great antiquity and authority. By putting forward a claim that the ancient Christian faith celebrated homosexual unions, activists are attempting to invalidate any current opposition to their plans for forcing churches to fully recognize their lifestyle.
While this book has been useful to homosexual activists, its damage to the reputation of the Holy Orthodox Church has been largely contained. It’s an obscure book written by an academic and open to easy debunking, so the American mainstream has remained mostly unaware of its erroneous conclusions. Of far more concern is the current clique of Greek Orthodox bloggers centered around The Huffington Post.
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Please understand this very clearly. Michael Huffington is not a man stricken with same-sex attraction who is quietly struggling, by the grace of God, to live a chaste life. Rather, Michael Huffington has decided that it is perfectly acceptable to remain a communing member of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church while having illicit sex not only with women, but also with men.
Huffington claims there are quite a few other Orthodox Christians that agree with him on this. From the same article, Huffington describes how his parish took the news of his bisexuality:
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Following his own personal revelation from God about bisexuality, Huffington decided to devote his considerable fortune to producing movies to help convince others that an unrepentant homosexual lifestyle is perfectly acceptable to God. The most recent, and well-known of these films, is a documentary called For the Bible Tells Me So which was released in 2007.
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Michael Huffington was there to stand alongside the Archbishop at the award ceremony, and his name was featured prominently in the official press release. You can read the press release about the event on the Greek Archdiocese Website by clicking here.
Huffington seems to make quite an effort to keep reminding the world that he is Greek Orthodox. His religion is almost always mentioned in articles about him, even when focusing on secular topics such as his political advocacy.
It is difficult to believe that this is a coincidence. Constant repetition of his religious affiliation by Huffington, and his press enablers, seems designed to foster the impression that the Orthodox Church accepts him, his lifestyle of homosexual sex, and his Theological views. So far, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the United States seems to be reinforcing this impression through its silence.
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