Motte and Bailey Fallacy The recent statement on the war in Ukraine by ROCOR's Bishop Irenei leaves much to be desired. We'll look at the text in a moment. For now, though, let me begin by saying that his statement is illustrative of something I've noticed in a number of conversations both in the Church and in the larger culture about the moral life: the motte and bailey fallacy.
This is something I’ve been wondering about… While I appreciated hearing a ROCOR bishop at least saying the war was bad, the elephant in the room is that these ROCOR hierarchs often stop short of actually condemning those aspects of their church that are culpable…
I find it very ironic that the ROC/ROCOR have made such claims to holiness in recent decades on the shoulders of those martyred during the Soviet era. Yet, when they are faced with a similar choice to collude with the authorities or stand for what is right, they seem to completely lack the moral fortitude. This is their hour and they can’t rise to the occasion. This renders the martyrs nothing more than some kind of nationalistic fairy tale to legitimize spiritual authority and not what they should be: a call to repentance
While there is certainly blame to go around, I find disheartening the willingness of some Orthodox Christian to remain silent in the complicity of the ROC in the invasion of Ukraine. Recently, I read something from a social scientist looking at the departure of young adults (and others) from Evangelical Christianity. I'll try and find the post the thesis of which is young people are looking at how Evangelical live and concluding that since Evangelical Christians don't seem to believe the faith they preach, why should they (young adults).
This is, I want to emphasize, not simply a problem among Evangelical Christians. Orthodox Christians are open to the same criticism. How many of us have responded to the war in Ukraine is one example. The unwillingness of many of us to comply with mask mandates during Covid is another. How many said no to wearing a mask not for health reasons but on Constitutional grounds and this in spite of the consistent policy of ALL the bishops to obey the local health mandates?
When we refuse to put the common good before our own comfort or support a manifestly unjust war, we tell people, "Nah, we don't believe the stuff we preach."
Even recently I’ve heard Orthodox folks, even inquirers, justifying the war in Ukraine and blaming policies of the USA, saying Putin is at least nominally a Christian and Zelensky is bad/shouldn’t have been elected, etc. There’s always these appeals to the morality of Russia in terms of their supposed stances on “traditional values” and their support of the church in the face of a secular humanist world. They cite actual instances of nazis in Ukraine, Ukrainian corruption, and the persecution of the UOC as justifications.
This is bizarre to me on so many levels.
Do people forget the scripture, “you will know them by their fruits?” Are wars (and the reluctance/refusal to end wars) the fruit of a society walking with Christ? Regardless of American foreign policy or Ukrainian misbehavior, nobody forced Putin to invade. These excuses make it seem like Russian authorities have neither will of their own nor have any restraint. Also, if people did their homework they would see that even UOC churches have been terribly destroyed by their supposed “brothers” in Russia. (Odessa’s cathedral anyone?) UOC believers have been killed defending their country too. Russia obviously doesn’t really care about the well-being of UOC believers even though many Orthodox seem to justify Russia’s actions by citing the situation of the UOC. It’s just silliness.
And let’s not forget the fact that actual Russians are dying needlessly in this war. Do these young (and not so young) men getting conscripted deserve such a fate? No they do not. Do their families deserve this heartache? No they do not. The war is actually hurting Russians and causing great suffering there. It’s no small thing…
I think the real reason so many people won’t speak up is because they have actually bought into the propaganda and an entire worldview of Christian nationalism both in their home countries and abroad that exchanges the gospel of repentance for the force of law, power, and influence within the state.
Some Orthodox Christians (adopting arguments current in the culture) have for example argued for the ordination of women to the priesthood...
The argument that I always heard was that if Christ wanted to ordain women, he would have ordained the Virgin. After all, She was infinitely more qualified than any of the apostles. I don't see how this can be refuted.
Thank you Father Gregory. I thought I was one of the few feeling this way. Indeed I have been a parishioner of the Chiswick (Rocor) church for many years along with my family. I am not Russian. When I heard what patriarch Kirill said about the war, despite my many sins, my conscience could no longer feel comfortable with attending a liturgy that ‘commemorates’ someone who blesses the killing of so many innocents, especially children (there is a limit to what my conscience can accept!). I think every Christian’s conscience must have shivered at those words but some people seem to find it easy to quench that inner voice for the sake of the comfort of attending a church that they feel familiar with.
In terms of my conscience, I’ve decided months ago to stop attending the Rocor church, for nothing else but respect for the victims and suffering people of Ukraine. How can I attend a church that commemorates someone who blesses a war in which so many families suffer horribly? I have children too and how can I not put myself in those parents’ shoes? Can there be a bigger contradiction in Christianity than blessing the killing of human beings? Is it just me feeling empathy for those people? I am no better than anyone else: I think it’s a simple human response to such tragic events and I am sure every child in their innocence, would agree with me.
My wife and children continue going to the Rocor church, she feels it’s important for the kids to keep a sense of continuity… it’s also true that she doesn’t inform herself much of what is happening in the Ukraine. We respect each other but this situation has split up our family spiritually, it’s quite sad and hard as the Sunday liturgy was that important moment in the week for the family. Though I’ve started noticing that my wife finds it increasingly difficult to understand why the patriarch could speak like that.
I too felt discomfort with bishop Irenei’s words. I think that at that level of authority in the church it may be very difficult to speak up (in defence) for those innocent injured and killed in Ukraine. It would ruin all those benefits that come with being a bishop with a connection to patriarch Kirill.
The last times I went to the Rocor church and expressed my doubts, the priest told me that actually the church is not commemorating Kirill, but just the ‘role’ of the patriarch of Moscow even if it says ‘Kirill’ (??). That didn’t quench my conscience’s uneasy feelings at all and made me wonder who encouraged the priests to say something so contorted and nonsensical.
Met. Onuphry of Ukraine seems to have done the obvious and simple thing: stop commemorating Kirill because God said ‘do not kill!’. The metropolitan did not see the commemoration of Kirill as a simple (and abstract) commemoration of a general clerical role as they wanted me to believe in Chiswick. And so did many others. I know that many ex Roc churches in Moldova struggled with Kirill’s words too and went over to the Romanians. A large Roc parish in Amsterdam went to Constantinople…
What saddens me is that I have (had?) friends in the Rocor church who have always praised Putin to me (and encouraged me to think that the West is ALL evil). They continue going to the Rocor church and wonder where I have gone… I miss parts of our relationships, though at the same time struggle with the idea of keeping in touch because my soul is profoundly tired with fanaticism. More than anything else, I think this war has highlighted to me that I am not Russian and that my culture of origin has much to offer to me, in a Christian sense too. There is a lot of beauty in the Russian culture too (of course!) but sadly the ambiguous words of the rocor bishop attract a lot of the fanatical characters to the Chiswick church, those who represent often a side that doesn’t match the good heart of the non-Putin Russia.
My opinion is that Rocor should separate from Roc at this stage giving a clear indication as to why in order to restore hope in the simple Christians. Of course this would cause a loss of benefits and comforts for some… but isn’t this what Christians are called to do: sacrifice comforts for the sake of truth and the love of others?
This is something I’ve been wondering about… While I appreciated hearing a ROCOR bishop at least saying the war was bad, the elephant in the room is that these ROCOR hierarchs often stop short of actually condemning those aspects of their church that are culpable…
I find it very ironic that the ROC/ROCOR have made such claims to holiness in recent decades on the shoulders of those martyred during the Soviet era. Yet, when they are faced with a similar choice to collude with the authorities or stand for what is right, they seem to completely lack the moral fortitude. This is their hour and they can’t rise to the occasion. This renders the martyrs nothing more than some kind of nationalistic fairy tale to legitimize spiritual authority and not what they should be: a call to repentance
Thanks for the comment Elizabeth.
While there is certainly blame to go around, I find disheartening the willingness of some Orthodox Christian to remain silent in the complicity of the ROC in the invasion of Ukraine. Recently, I read something from a social scientist looking at the departure of young adults (and others) from Evangelical Christianity. I'll try and find the post the thesis of which is young people are looking at how Evangelical live and concluding that since Evangelical Christians don't seem to believe the faith they preach, why should they (young adults).
This is, I want to emphasize, not simply a problem among Evangelical Christians. Orthodox Christians are open to the same criticism. How many of us have responded to the war in Ukraine is one example. The unwillingness of many of us to comply with mask mandates during Covid is another. How many said no to wearing a mask not for health reasons but on Constitutional grounds and this in spite of the consistent policy of ALL the bishops to obey the local health mandates?
When we refuse to put the common good before our own comfort or support a manifestly unjust war, we tell people, "Nah, we don't believe the stuff we preach."
Even recently I’ve heard Orthodox folks, even inquirers, justifying the war in Ukraine and blaming policies of the USA, saying Putin is at least nominally a Christian and Zelensky is bad/shouldn’t have been elected, etc. There’s always these appeals to the morality of Russia in terms of their supposed stances on “traditional values” and their support of the church in the face of a secular humanist world. They cite actual instances of nazis in Ukraine, Ukrainian corruption, and the persecution of the UOC as justifications.
This is bizarre to me on so many levels.
Do people forget the scripture, “you will know them by their fruits?” Are wars (and the reluctance/refusal to end wars) the fruit of a society walking with Christ? Regardless of American foreign policy or Ukrainian misbehavior, nobody forced Putin to invade. These excuses make it seem like Russian authorities have neither will of their own nor have any restraint. Also, if people did their homework they would see that even UOC churches have been terribly destroyed by their supposed “brothers” in Russia. (Odessa’s cathedral anyone?) UOC believers have been killed defending their country too. Russia obviously doesn’t really care about the well-being of UOC believers even though many Orthodox seem to justify Russia’s actions by citing the situation of the UOC. It’s just silliness.
And let’s not forget the fact that actual Russians are dying needlessly in this war. Do these young (and not so young) men getting conscripted deserve such a fate? No they do not. Do their families deserve this heartache? No they do not. The war is actually hurting Russians and causing great suffering there. It’s no small thing…
I think the real reason so many people won’t speak up is because they have actually bought into the propaganda and an entire worldview of Christian nationalism both in their home countries and abroad that exchanges the gospel of repentance for the force of law, power, and influence within the state.
Some Orthodox Christians (adopting arguments current in the culture) have for example argued for the ordination of women to the priesthood...
The argument that I always heard was that if Christ wanted to ordain women, he would have ordained the Virgin. After all, She was infinitely more qualified than any of the apostles. I don't see how this can be refuted.
Thank you Father Gregory. I thought I was one of the few feeling this way. Indeed I have been a parishioner of the Chiswick (Rocor) church for many years along with my family. I am not Russian. When I heard what patriarch Kirill said about the war, despite my many sins, my conscience could no longer feel comfortable with attending a liturgy that ‘commemorates’ someone who blesses the killing of so many innocents, especially children (there is a limit to what my conscience can accept!). I think every Christian’s conscience must have shivered at those words but some people seem to find it easy to quench that inner voice for the sake of the comfort of attending a church that they feel familiar with.
In terms of my conscience, I’ve decided months ago to stop attending the Rocor church, for nothing else but respect for the victims and suffering people of Ukraine. How can I attend a church that commemorates someone who blesses a war in which so many families suffer horribly? I have children too and how can I not put myself in those parents’ shoes? Can there be a bigger contradiction in Christianity than blessing the killing of human beings? Is it just me feeling empathy for those people? I am no better than anyone else: I think it’s a simple human response to such tragic events and I am sure every child in their innocence, would agree with me.
My wife and children continue going to the Rocor church, she feels it’s important for the kids to keep a sense of continuity… it’s also true that she doesn’t inform herself much of what is happening in the Ukraine. We respect each other but this situation has split up our family spiritually, it’s quite sad and hard as the Sunday liturgy was that important moment in the week for the family. Though I’ve started noticing that my wife finds it increasingly difficult to understand why the patriarch could speak like that.
I too felt discomfort with bishop Irenei’s words. I think that at that level of authority in the church it may be very difficult to speak up (in defence) for those innocent injured and killed in Ukraine. It would ruin all those benefits that come with being a bishop with a connection to patriarch Kirill.
The last times I went to the Rocor church and expressed my doubts, the priest told me that actually the church is not commemorating Kirill, but just the ‘role’ of the patriarch of Moscow even if it says ‘Kirill’ (??). That didn’t quench my conscience’s uneasy feelings at all and made me wonder who encouraged the priests to say something so contorted and nonsensical.
Met. Onuphry of Ukraine seems to have done the obvious and simple thing: stop commemorating Kirill because God said ‘do not kill!’. The metropolitan did not see the commemoration of Kirill as a simple (and abstract) commemoration of a general clerical role as they wanted me to believe in Chiswick. And so did many others. I know that many ex Roc churches in Moldova struggled with Kirill’s words too and went over to the Romanians. A large Roc parish in Amsterdam went to Constantinople…
What saddens me is that I have (had?) friends in the Rocor church who have always praised Putin to me (and encouraged me to think that the West is ALL evil). They continue going to the Rocor church and wonder where I have gone… I miss parts of our relationships, though at the same time struggle with the idea of keeping in touch because my soul is profoundly tired with fanaticism. More than anything else, I think this war has highlighted to me that I am not Russian and that my culture of origin has much to offer to me, in a Christian sense too. There is a lot of beauty in the Russian culture too (of course!) but sadly the ambiguous words of the rocor bishop attract a lot of the fanatical characters to the Chiswick church, those who represent often a side that doesn’t match the good heart of the non-Putin Russia.
My opinion is that Rocor should separate from Roc at this stage giving a clear indication as to why in order to restore hope in the simple Christians. Of course this would cause a loss of benefits and comforts for some… but isn’t this what Christians are called to do: sacrifice comforts for the sake of truth and the love of others?