A Reply to Ridiculous Things

The recent drama is not worth focusing on in terms of my main outlets so I will relegate such issues to substack.

When I joined the Orthodox Church in 2017-18, I took my existing theological essays to my priest and asked him to make sure my arguments were Orthodox before leaving them up publicly. My articles were fine, and within a year or so Met. Hilarion had even praised our work, and soon after we did many podcasts and talks with Met. Jonah, who also offered catechesis on my discord server that had been created and tooled by several tech savvy friends, which later grew into the largest Orthodox server. Eventually this server was put under the guidance of a clergy advisory board from a separate group of clergy in good standing.

The server became an unintended vehicle for the subsequent conversion of thousands of young people who prefer to use Discord as a social media outlet due to certain advantages it has over older outlets like Facebook, such as voice chat and voice lecture formats. Since 2017, many academics, philosophers, clerics and theologians have spoken there and provided catechesis for individuals unable to find an Orthodox Church. Soon after the server was created, it attained various canonical clerical oversight from priests and deacons, and I handed off the server to others to run in 2022.

I am still a member, but I do not run the discord as I do not have time for it. However, the fact still remains that it is a public discord forum anyone can join. The recent histrionic drama claiming it’s a “cult” is patently absurd. Any curious person can join and see what goes on in the server very easily: theological and philosophical debates are generally what is discussed. There is little political discussion and no discussion of “activism.” The server has always banned anyone arguing “fascism” or “Neo Fascist” views, which is precisely why many pagans and Neo-pagans regularly attack the work we do.

The phrase “Orthobro” was actually used as a pejorative by people who hate the work of apologetics and debate, and has nothing to do with some “movement.” People who do not like what we do, in sectors of the OCA and GOARCH, use this term to describe young men who have converted to Orthodoxy who hold traditional views on marriage and family and have an interest in theology, philosophy and geopolitics. Indeed, quite recently people were posting accusations online that an “Orthobro” accosted a cleric at coffee hour, but it turned out this individual was a believer in the ridiculous sect of “Christian Identity,” which I have always said was a heresy. Anyone familiar with my work would know this is ridiculous. Just as this event was a nothingburger, so also is the recent letter simply histrionics.

Thus, characterizing the server as “far right” is as absurd as calling the server “KGB,” as many traditional Catholics love to do. In fact, the accusation of “far right” simply means being opposed to masks in churches and the absurdities of the last few years. The recent “letter” accusing the server of being “far right” and “end times obsessed” alone shows how absurd and based on outright lies the letter is. In fact, the individual who write the letter was a “Pro-Russian, anti-ecumenist” as he himself confessed, and within 6 months has flipped to being a Pro-EP, open ecumenist who touts his support for the heterodoxy of Bulgakov (who absurdly wanted to combine Orthodoxy with Fichte). This unstable individual is seeking academic accolades (as his letter laughingly lists the books he’s read) and acceptance by his newfound friends in the quackosphere of Fordham, Uniates and Flat Earthers.

As if often the case with gamma male psychology, this individual lived his life on the discord due to his personal loneliness, and when booted for his instability after clergy reached out to him, he saw it as an opportunity to exact gamma male revenge - online. With autistic individuals, however, they often fail to see how they are being manipulated and when it comes to the ecumenist academics and clergy he addressed his letter to, he will learn the hard way how in reality they will be the ones to use him for dirt and avoid him when it isn’t useful.

Ignorance of human psychology can be disastrous, and when it comes to clerical cunning, the first thing he should have thought about when penning his letter was what each seasoned cleric would think after reading it: “As soon as this unstable individual who writes an effeminate 7 page letter with footnotes about being booted from an Internet forum is unhappy with something we do, he will write his expose of us.” That line is exactly what an intelligent cleric thought when they read his letter, even if they are making use of the comedic level “dirt” that was offered. Given that the server is a public forum anyone can join and our server has always made it a rule that you must be a member of a canonical Orthodox Church, the claim it was a “cult” is beyond absurd.

In 5 years or so of that server existing, many individuals have been banned, and in almost all cases, they are banned for good reason. In this case, it was also the correct move to ban this unstable person months ago, and his trek into ever-increasing quackery and delusion bears that out. As to his claim about releasing who he is, the clergy in the discord made it a policy that public teachers must be public individuals. This individual wanted to hide behind a pseudonym and be a public teacher: that is not practical and not the policy of the clergy on that server. Since this individual sought to publicly continue to teach, his new revelations (keep in mind he is a new convert) that included the notion that revelation is only found in Scripture, Vatican 2 sacramentology is correct and Coptics are not heterodox.

Unfortunately, the individual who was booted from the server was booted precisely for obsessing about latin sacramentology after being asked 3 times to let it go and not obsess over it, which we warned would lead him to Uniatism and liberalism, which, 6 months later, is exactly where he has ended up. When he was justly booted for confusing new converts (and he himself is a new convert) it became evident he suffers from autism and emotional instability. This instability is precisely why he flipped from non-ecumenist to pro-ecumenist in a few months, aligning himself with the most ridiculous pseudo-orthodox online figures who openly say it doesn’t matter if you choose Orthodoxy or Roman Catholicism.

In fact, the alliance of weirdos and liberalized clerics who oppose what we say also agree with most of these positions: latin sacramentology is identical to Orthodoxy, Uniatism and union with Rome are a good thing and should happen, Orthodox morals should change, etc. The very thing we warned about - that these ecumenist forces are ultimately about a false union with Rome, which these clowns called a “conspiracy theory” is also the very thing they openly promote, including their own EP.

In terms of my own views, I have never advocated violent actions and never will - I am first and foremost an entertainer. You can watch my recent appearance on Tucker Carlson as a comedian. I do comment on religious and social issues and I have the right to do so. I have never been a member of any “far right” political groups: I always mocked, opposed and publicly debated “alt right” (which doesn’t exist and hasn't for years). figures and viewed them as ridiculous and incorrect. All of these debates are still online. I also recognize that supporting traditional marriage, being opposed to abortion and being socially conservative is now called “far right,” so throwaway terms like this and “extremist” have no meaning without specific citations and examples. Honest people know this, and are well aware the term “extremist” can simply mean a person who believes in basic traditional values.

Here is Fr. Mikhail on the 1983 ROCOR anathemas of these positions:

Anyone rejecting this is immediately banned and we will not have any association with them.

Keep in mind we have also done many videos and interviews on this topic on my channels and outlets! For more on there related topics you can purchase my books here.