The Bacterium of Hatred and of Fanaticism

by Bishop Auxentios of Etna and Portland

 

 

This short commentary is taken from a letter written to a clergyman by His Eminence, Bishop Auxentios several months ago. His remarks are so important and have such universal application, that we asked him to allow us to edit them in such a way as to present them to a more general audience. He kindly agreed. We offer them for the edification of our Old Calendarist faithful, especially, and with the aim of enlightening those who make hatred, fanaticism, scandal, and judgmentalism the centerpiece of their ecclesiastical confession, thus causing irreparable damage to their own souls and often, without knowing it, deludedly thinking themselves righteous and somehow Christian in their misguided approach to spiritual life.

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In many of those beset with the bacterium of hatred and fanaticism, which lead to extremism and judgmentalism, there are often to be found, once we get past the harsh symptoms of their infection (gossip, rumor-mongering, calumny) and their deluded notion that they are somehow witnessing to the Faith, healthy and receptive cells. But our efforts to find these cells and to cultivate good in them must be persistent and strong. Thus, Metropolitan Chrysostomos, our former ruling Bishop, always told us that we must sometimes shock people with polite but uncompromising words of truth. In so doing, we should make them realize that in the Church, the Body of Christ, there is no place for hatred, fanaticism, and the evil consequences and tactics that these two things spawn. All of these are evil and antithetical to God. For one to rage with fanaticism or dare to say that he hates someone is to create deadly effects that poison the soul. We must guide all Christians to avoid those who entertain fanaticism and hatred and carefully portray for them what evil is seeking to destroy them. Simultaneously, we should seek to discover the good cells still living within them, nurturing in them the antidotes for hatred and fanaticism, which are toleration, love, patience, and the true traits of a Christian, which are rooted in humility and self-judgment, not in proud self-righteousness and the condemnation of others.

I find it more and more needful, as I administer our tiny diocese, to restore a Christian and Patristic mind-set in our faithful. In my mind, in our now united Church here in America, the matter is not one of an epidemic of hatred and fanaticism (although that certainly was true some years ago, before efforts at unification); it is, rather, a matter of the intensity of the disease. The veteran infected cells have built up such a hard wall of resistance, over the years, to any sense of the connection between love and Truth, that I am frequently appalled. As an example, we received an obscene letter from a certain outspoken and well-known extremist this last Nativity. In his communique, oddly offered as a “Christmas greeting,” he actually said, with an unrepeatably obscene expression, that we should abandon our teaching about love and unity among the Orthodox, since he saw “dirty human love” as corrupt and evil: incompatible with Christ and Orthodox Christian Truth. In fact, such views have their source in extreme Calvinism, not in Orthodox Christianity, and were introduced into Orthodoxy by some of the more Protestantized factions in the Orthodox Church. This incident prompted me to reflect on how horribly spiritual blindness can allow even sincere and good people to embrace religious ideas, in the name of misguided zeal, that are abhorrent to our Faith.

These hardened people, unfortunately, frequently become the carriers of a bacterium or virus that others so easily “catch.” People who should know better freely come to spout a line about the hatred of heretics, “cleansing” the Faith of heretics, and condemning others that is inimical to Christian sentiments. This awful stuff has, to my chagrin, been associated with traditionalism and even embraced as the essence of Old Calendarism for far too many! Yet if these pitiful, angry souls would read the words of St. Chrysostomos the New, as I urge them to do, and as our late and blessed Metropolitan Cyprian so urged the faithful, they will find that such awfulness is alien to our movement. We must educate others and tell them not to remain silent. If we are silent about hatred, fanaticism, bigotry, and the judgment of others, we will return to disunity, and love, toleration, and true rectitude in Christ will slowly die. Fortunately, we have good Archpastors here in America, and an encouraging and noble spirit in Metropolitan Demetrios. This is our hope. But the danger is there, and I am convinced that we should always remain aware of it. If we fail, God will abandon us and we will have no true witness.

 

Source: Orthodox Tradition, Vol. XXXIV (2017), No. 2, pp. 42-42.