Capitalism’s Ideology By Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos of Nafpaktos and St. Vlassios

Nowadays, two prominent ways of life prevail in mankind, which have been transformed into two ideologies respectively; that is, Western individualism and Eastern collectivism. In Western individualism, characterized by liberalism, an unbridled freedom of the individual prevails, along with competition which is a detrimental factor to society overall. In Eastern collectivism state dominance prevails, which undermines people’s freedom. In both instances, man is overlooked as a persona, just as human society is not regarded as a society of human personae.

These two systems of living and ideological models are both made manifest in societal reality. Liberalism prevails in the West and its “headquarters” are the United States of America – the “Mecca” of globalization, while collectivism appeared in countries of the former Soviet Union, but also in countries of the Far East generally.

In both cases capital has a prominent place, except it is differentiated in who possesses it and who manages it. In liberalism, capital ends up among the few and it moves, mostly unrestrained, along the principle of market self-adjustment. In collectivism-communism, capital is state-controlled. In both cases the average person is victimized, the difference being that he is victimized either by the oligarchy of a handful of wealthy tycoons or by an insatiable State. Capitalism thus has only a callous face to show.

The view has been expressed that capitalism is the creation of Western individualism and especially of Protestant morality, as indicated by Max Weber, and that it aspires to the accumulation of wealth by a few, while Marxism, which originated from Marx’s views, is only a reaction to capitalism and is concerned with the whole of society. Deep down however, both these systems are the offspring of the same, Western metaphysics - given that Marx was a German Jew raised in the West - however his theories, which were born in the Western “sphere”, were transfused to the East, because that was where the practice of Orthodox Christianity existed, with its principles of common ownership and communal use and could therefore be implemented.

In our day, we have become witnesses to the crumbling of both these two systems, but equally of their ideologies. In the period between 1989 and 1991, collectivism-Communism collapsed in the countries of the former Soviet Union where State power dominated over people’s social and financial lives, while in our day, we are witnessing the collapse of liberalism with its mentality of “free markets” and the market’s “self-adjustment”, which functions to the detriment of society overall. Of course it should be noted that the bankruptcy of Communism cannot be regarded as a vindication of Capitalism, just as the collapse of Capitalism cannot be ascribed to Communism. It is the failure of capital’s ideology, which is totally disrespectful of people’s poverty.

At any rate, both these systems are contrary to the Orthodox teaching in its perfect form, since neither liberalism nor Marxism – as ideologies and world theories – can be accepted by Orthodox Tradition, in which extensive mention is made to avoid the passion of avarice, but also about the experiencing of love towards fellow-man, especially those who are suffering. This combination of love and freedom solves the problem altogether, given that the freedom of the individual/persona without the element of love will lead to unbridled liberalism, and the love of the whole minus the freedom of the individual will result in unbridled collectivism.

To anticipate a possible objection to the above, I will admit that unfortunately, the ideology behind the capitalist system with its two forms – the individualist and the state-controlled – has In certain cases influenced and continues to influence the lives of certain Orthodox communities. This can be discerned in several contemporary monasteries also, which, instead of being examples of coenobitic living and the revival of the original community of Jerusalem, are nevertheless operating along the contemporary capitalist system’s model, in which case, we could aptly label this phenomenon “Orthodox Capitalism”.

Whereas monks proclaim and basically adhere to the virtue of non-possessing and communal possession, still, they continue to amass – for better or for worse – both lands and funds for the monasteries and take risks by playing with that property, utilizing every capitalistic-liberalistic means to increment it. In other words, monks are striving to live with indigence inside wealthy monasteries and they develop both social and political power.

This situation reminds me of certain Eastern European countries – Romania for example – where the people went hungry and were in fact non-possessors (albeit involuntarily) and yet its leaders amassed wealth and built majestic mansions-palaces (for example Nicolae Ceausescu). However, this mentality is not favoured by the teaching of the Church and Orthodox monasticism, which asks of the monk to lack any personal possessions and the monasteries to be places of philanthropy, love and multi-faceted healing. In the Orthodox Tradition, Sacred Monasteries are spiritual infirmaries.

We clergymen and monks need to understand that everything legal is not necessarily ethical, but also that everything ethical – according to the rules of social ethics – is not necessarily Orthodox, from the aspect that Orthodox, Gospel ethics differs from secular ethics and is in reality ascetic by nature. We should not only condemn the amassing of material wealth by specific individuals; we also need to condemn the amassing of material wealth by “ecclesiastic communities” for display, as well as stigmatize the participation of ecclesiastic personages and communities in the games of the capitalist system and the liberal or neo-liberal market.

We Christians, especially the clergy and monks, must display in practice that which we believe in and preach, otherwise we will be dishonest and hypocrites. We must fend off the temptation to be possessed by a particular, “Christian capitalist” ideology.

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The “god” of soccer and Jesus Prayer - Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpatkos

Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpatkos, pictured here (on the right) many years ago with Elder Sophrony Sakharov

The month of June was marked by the world cup in soccer held in Japan-Korea. Many people watched the games between the national teams for several hours a day and knew a lot about these games.

What impressed me was a “prayer” written by an anglican “priest” called Fletcher on the eve of the crucial match between England and Brazil. The prayer was broadcast by the BBC According to the “Eleftherotypia” newspaper (22 June 2002), the prayer is the following: “Rise up o Lord and prevent Brazil from dominating over us. Spread terror over them, Lord. Rise up and extend Your hand to suppress the force of Rivaldo and Ronaldo. Plunge Ronaldinio to confusion and, Allmighty Lord, if this does not work either, at least grant us a goal in the last minute, even if from an offside position. Help us, Lord, reach the final, even if it will be held on a Sunday and no one will go to church!” According to “Eleftheros Typos” (21 June 2002) the prayer also contained the phrase “make their goalposts look like … an airport runway and their goalkeeper small like an ant”. And the newspaper commented: “Mercy!”.

At first sight, the content of this prayer brings laughter and creates the impression that one should not take these things seriously. However, the subject has also some very interesting aspects.

For many people, soccer is a religion, a worship. Several expressions used are taken from religion. Spectators sit in the stands and their “gods”, the soccer players, contest as another twelve/eleven gods in the field for Victory. Since soccer is considered by many as a new worship, there is certainly their own god, the god of soccer. They pray to this non-existing god. In fact, there are phrases like “the law of soccer”, “the ball punishes”, “a magician player”. We read in “Kathimerini”: “So we witnessed this year the enlightened of the West break easily the superstition record – one (the coach of Italy) drops ritually some holy water given to him in a bottle by his nun sister; the other (the coach of Spain) kisses passionately, but secretly (so that he is not captured by the eagerly waiting blasphemous cameras) a small icon kept in his purse, probably of San Jose Goleador. But the first prize for superstition goes to the English, who for many years now have been worshipping Beckham as the thirteenth Apostle, and this is why they built him a huge statue in Trafalgar Square, to worship in his shadow and pray”. “The fans of all teams respect the customs of superstition -- they cross themselves, they murmur hocus-pocus, they tie their fingers, they pray to Allah. But whatever their religion or their soccer god, after all they remain faithful to the doctrine of self-idolatry” (30-6-2002, p.4). After Brazil’s victory they wrote: the German Bild: “God is Brazilian”. The French “Equipe”: “Brazil to eternity”. The “Washington Post”: “A divine carnival of victory. The conquest of the World Cup by Brazil was an opportunity for the glorification of the religion of soccer” (Eleftherotypia, Tuesday 2-7-2002).

Returning to the prayer of the anglican “priest”, let me point out that this shows another reality too, that unfortunately we have spoiled even the holiest moments in our life. Prayer is the most holy communication with God, it is an “intercourse between man and God”. But we pervert even this holy case. We make similar prayers when we ask God to help us in lowly aims and in our worse human passions, to succeed professionally, to gain something, to attract attention or interest, to multiply our money, to see someone punished, to satisfy unlawful and illegal pleasures and ambitions.

We have to understand that prayer is done mostly for the therapy of our soul. We cannot use the name of God for futile matters. Otherwise, we fool not God but ourselves.

                                                                                          

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Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos on the Jesus Prayer

Here is an interesting post on the Jesus Prayer by the Orthodox Metropolitan (and prolific writer) Hierotheos Vlachos of Nafpatkos. It was sent to me by my Facebook friend Fr. John Brian Paprock, an Indian Orthodox priest in Madison, Wisconsin.

Five Stages In Contemplative Prayer

The Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Be Merciful"

We have mainly five stages. This is, roughly, the course of the development of the Jesus Prayer. Each stage has its own grace.


+ Firstly. The reciting of the Jesus Prayer VOCALLY. We repeat the Jesus Prayer with our lips while trying at the same time to focus our attention on the words of the prayer.


+ Secondly. Then the nous takes the Jesus Prayer and says it noetically [WITHIN, MENTALLY OR SPIRITUALLY]. Our whole attention is found again in the words but it is concentrated on the nous [the soul's attention, the Eye of the soul]. When the nous gets tired then we start again to vocalize the prayer with the lips. After the nous has been rested we start again to concentrate our attention there.
St. Neilos advises: Always remember God and your nous will become heaven.


+ Thirdly. The Jesus Prayer then comes down into THE HEART. Nous and heart are now united and combined with each other. Attention is centered in the heart and it is immersed again into the words of the Jesus Prayer which has an invisible depth.


+ Fourthly. The Prayer becomes now self-activating [PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING]. It is done while the ascetic is working or eating or discussing or while he is in church or even while he is sleeping. "I sleep but by heart waketh" is said in the Holy Scriptures (Song of Songs 5:2).


+ Fifthly. Then one feels a divine soft flame within his soul burning it and making it joyful [LOVE, DEVOTION, WARMTH AND VISIONS OF DIVINE LIGHT]. The grace of Christ lives in the heart. The Holy Trinity is established. "We become the habitation of God, when He lives within us, established in the memory. Thus we become the temple of God when Remembrance of His is not disturbed by earthly cares, and mind is not distracted by unexpected thoughts. Fleeing all that, the Friend of God withdraws into Him, chasing away the passions which invite intemperate thoughts, and occupying himself in a way which leads to virtue." (Saint Basil the Great) Thus he feels the Divine Presence within himself and this grace passes through the body which becomes dead to the world and is crucified [THE NOUS RISES ABOVE BODY-CONSCIOUSNESS DURING CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE]. And this is the extremist stage which is sometimes connected with the Vision of the Uncreated Light of the Holy Trinity.


Archimandrite Hierotheos Vlachos
"A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain"

Met of Nafpaktos Vlassios Hierotheos: The Church and the Olympic Games

The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens are a top world event and our country is preparing feverishly because the whole world will be watching Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

The Church of Greece was faced with the problem of whether the Church should participate in the preparations for this great sports event. The Church had two options. The first was to not participate at all, because the Olympic Games, the way they are held today, have lost their purpose and their mission, because instead of cultural events they have been transformed to commercial enterprises of extravagant magnitude. The other view was that the Church should participate in this event because, among else, it has the opportunity to give a meaning to it.

After discussions in the Synod committees, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece leaned towards the second view, risking taking a decision that could be considered utopian. In what follows I will present some of my views supporting the decision of the Holy Synod.

Of course, I am not naïve to ignore the present state of sports events and the fact that the Olympic Games have been entangled with economic interests and a commercialization of sports. At their best, sports are infused by humanism. At their worst, they are related to a drug mentality with self-destructive consequences for each athlete. Even the change in terminology demonstrates the great problem; from athletic contests, that is, events associated with the words “athlos” and “ego” in Greek, i.e. a struggle for the improvement of one’s personality, to “games”.

However, I argue that because the Olympic Games will be held in Athens, the seat of the Holy Synod, the Church of Greece can not abstain from this top world event, despite its possible disagreements over the way these Games are held. There are theological and other reasons supporting this view.

1. Orthodox theology, which is the voice of the Church, is not an abstract ideology, is not impregnated and inspired by monophysitism and manichaism. This means that orthodox theology does not deal with ideas but with life and in particular with man who lives in a specific place and time and seeks his salvation. Furthermore, the Church does not deal with one side of human life, i.e. the soul, the spirit; it cares for the whole man who consists of soul and body. Therefore, we Orthodox are driven neither by idealism and manichaism -- a neglect of the body, of nature, etc. – nor by idolatry -- a worship of the body and of nature.

2. In Orthodox theology we refer to the skin coats that man put on after his fall and were blessed by God. One may argue that the skin coats, which according to the teaching of the Fathers of the Church are corruption and mortality, are everywhere in nature. The entire life, as it is today, is a post-fall effect which the Church is asked to transform. Art, culture, marriage, science and in general all human behavior are placed in this context. Sports are placed in this context too. Can anyone imagine sports, as they are today, in a pre-fall state?

So, the task of the Church is not to deny the fallen state but to transform it. The Church, with its theology and the whole therapeutic method, with its asceticism, seeks to transform the irrational to rational, to give purpose to the full existence of man, the after-the-fall one, to give meaning to his life. Actually, the birth of sports, as encountered in the bull-fights, which consists of the transcendence and transformation of the irrational element, man’s domination over the passible and the bestial element, may also be the object of church life.

3. As mentioned above, the modern Olympic Games have lost their original purpose, because the Games held in ancient Greece were associated with the holy -- sacrifices and theater, both of which, as well as the Games, were placed in the perspective of man’s purification and the search for God. Today, the Olympic Games have been divorced from religion and culture and have been linked to a sterile humanism and to commercial enterprises. Nevertheless, the Church, which has a dynamism, life, has the potential to transform and alter everything and to bring sports back to their true purpose.

Of course, it is not easy to change the framework and the structure of the organization of the Olympic Games. However, as the history of the Church illustrates, it may achieve the greatest changes through man’s rebirth, while also participating in the social process. Those reborn by the divine Grace offered within the Church abolish slavery, change institutions, transform social forms, alter the civilizations they encounter and create new ones with a superior meaning and purpose. According to scholars, Byzantine iconography originated from the portraits of Fayum and the divine Liturgy was modeled on the dramaturgy of ancient theater.

Similarly, today, we can change many things through the rebirth of the athletes. Even if we are not able to change the framework of the Olympic Games, we have the obligation to assist in many ways the athletes participating in them and to orient correctly those wishing to be involved in sports.

4. The hosting of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens poses many challenges to the Church, and the Church can not ignore or neglect them. The pastoral care of the Church knows no limits, the Church converses with the whole world in order to transform it, without, of course, being adulterated itself. I would like to mention some of these challenges.

The first is that during the Olympic Games many Orthodox from all over the world will come to Greece. The Orthodox Church should meet them in an atmosphere and a spirit of love and hospitality.

Another challenge is that, apart from the Orthodox, many people will come interested in learning the history of this land. So the Orthodox Church will have to demonstrate that there is a continuous tradition over time, which did not stop with the conquest of Greece by the Romans in 146 BC.

A third challenge is that some paganistic traditions might show up, trying to claim that they are the successors to Hellenism, that Christianity is related to Judaism and not to Hellenism, and that the Orthodox Church only cares about securing paradise and not man’s life.

A fourth challenge is its publishing activity. It must present its teaching about the body, asceticism, exercise and show its cultural wealth through the publication of books, pamphlets, etc..

There are other great challenges which cannot be included in this short article. The fact is that the Church cannot remain pastorally inert in front of the challenge of history, despite the well-known problems of the Olympic Games.

5. If the Holy Synod had decided not to deal at all with the Olympic Games, I am sure there would have been many theologians, especially those who now seem to be concerned about the participation of the Church in this organization, who would have accused the Church of pietistic mentality and fundamentalism. This is so because they would consider it misguided for the Church to deal only with the salvation of the soul and leave the other life out of its activities and its transforming power.

It has not been possible to present in this short article all the reasons justifying the participation of the Church in the organization of the 2004 Olympics in our country. Despite the reservations we may have about the methods of championism today, and the way of organization of the Olympics, it would have been worthwhile to set a Synodical Committee on Olympic Games even if only because the Church has to address pastorally the arrival of thousands of athletes, officials, spectators and tourists, which poses various positive or negative challenges

June 
2002                                                                       

Elder Paisios explains Philotimo ( from the book “Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain” by monk Christodoulos of Mt Athos )

Father Paisios told me an incident from his childhood years:

“When I was a child and my soul was still pure, I loved Christ very much. I used to walk in the woods carrying a cross in my hands, chanting and praying and wishing to become a monk. My parents told me that I should first grow up and then leave to go to the monastery. One day, as I was taking my usual walk in the woods, I met a fellow villager. 

When he saw me carrying the cross, he asked me; “what is this?” “The Cross of our Christ,” I replied. Since he did not have any positive thoughts in his mind, he said to me, “Arsenios, you are silly. You don’t mean to say that you believe in God. He does not exist. These religious stories are made up by some priests. We have evolved from the monkey. Christ was simply a man like all of us.

When he finished, he got up and left. His twisted thoughts filled my innocent soul with black heavy clouds. Being alone in the woods, I began to think that maybe God does not exist. As I was feeling confused, desperate and extremely asked, I asked Christ to give me an indication of His existence, so I could believe in Him. But He did not respond. Feeling exhausted, I lay on the ground to rest. 

Suddenly, a positive thought, full of philotimo (responsive gratefulness), entered my innocent soul; “Hold on for a second! Wasn’t Christ the kindest man ever on earth? No one has ever found anything evil in Him. So, whether He is God or not, I don’t care. Based on the fact that He is the kindest man on earth and I haven’t known anyone better, I will try to become like Him and absolutely obey everything the Gospel says. I will even give my life for Him, if needed, since He is so kind.

All my thoughts of disbelief disappeared and my soul was filled with immense joy. The power of my grateful thought (philotimo) dissolved all the ambiguous ones. When I started believing in Christ and decided to love Him as much as I could, solely out of philotimo (responsive gratefulness), I experienced a miracle that firmly sealed my grateful thought. Then, I thought, “I do not care any more if someone tells me that God does not exist!”

As the story of the Elder regarding his grateful thought did not completely satisfy me, I asked him with a certain curiosity to tell me about the miracle he experienced I the woods. Father Paisios was found in a difficult position and replied that he could not tell me about it. This way, he indicated that I, too, should not look for miracles, but rather trust my feeling of philotimo (responsive gratefulness), as it is the key which opens the door to every good.

Later on, Father Paisios told me that he had seen the Lord.

He had this to say about Philotimo:

“The righteous Christian does not practice good acts for his own benefit, i.e. in order to be rewarded or to avoid hell and gain paradise, but rather because he prefers good to evil. Everything else is a natural consequence of the good that fills our soul without having asked for it. This way, good has dignity; otherwise, it originates from the cheap attitude of “give and take.”

Elder Paisios on Philotimo and Leventia

In ancient Greece, two virtues were particularly philosophized about and discussed for their unique value, and were summed up as "kalos k' agathos" or "beautiful and good". These were two internal characteristics that extended towards all their external ways of life. The singular balance of beautiful and good made up a man who was both healthy in soul and body, in other words, an Athenian gentleman who was a perfect and ideal man.

Though all cultures, to a certain extent, possess their own set of virtues that are unique, it is commonly held that modern Greeks are especially abundant in two virtues that are almost untranslatable in the English language, yet bear a certain resemblance on a deeper level to the virtues of the ancient Greeks. These two virtues are Philotimo and Leventia.

Whereas in ancient times more emphasis was placed on external beauty as a sign of virtue, Christianity helped the Greek people de-emphasize the external factor of personal beauty for a deeper internal love of beauty within one's soul. It removed a more "selfish" characteristic and emphasized instead, in imitation of Christ, a certain "selflessness" that places the welfare of others above that of one's self. Such self-sacrifice bordered on a particular form of martyrdom that was deemed heroic, noble and full of integrity. These are the characteristics of a person who possesses philotimo. It is a person who is filled with love, humility and hospitality.

The Greeks are also a suffering people who have had much acquaintance with being oppressed, especially in recent times under the Ottoman Turks. These times called for a special courageousness to behave bravely and with honor to overcome oppression. Even in the midst of hardships and humiliation, one was expected to develop an internal form of excellence that would not show one as ever defeated, but always show one victorious even in the midst of apparent defeat. This is best exemplified once again with self-sacrifice on behalf of others. These are the characteristics of leventia.

In his appeals to the Greek people who would visit him, Elder Paisios would invoke these two virtues in order to reach their "collective unconscious". It has been said that if you want to encourage Greek men to agree with you and bring them higher to a more lofty ideal, you have to appeal to their philotimo. Furthermore, if you want to give Greek men encouragement to fight for what is right and true, then you would appeal to their leventia. Though leventia is more commonly applied to young men, in truth it could apply to all men. Typicially when a child or teenager displays characteristics of being a leventis, he is called a palikari to show that he is in the preliminary stages of being a leventis through his determination in displaying a good and manly heart.
Elder Paisios was absolutely correct when he once said that "Greeks may have a pile of faults, but they also have a gift from God, philotimo and leventia; they celebrate everything. Other peoples do not even have these words in their dictionaries." Philotimo, according to Elder Paisios, means "the reverent distillation of goodness; the radiant love of the humble man bereft of himself, but with a heart full of gratitude to God and his fellow man; because of his spiritual sensitivity he tries to repay even the slightest good that others do to him." Leventia means courage, honesty, generosity of heart, directness, manliness and in general the willingness to lay down ones life for others.

Here are just a few ways Elder Paisios used the term philotimo to appeal to his listeners:

- "Those who have philotimo, because they move within the heavenly sphere of doxology, joyfully accept their trials as well as their blessings, and glorify God for them. Thus, they are continuously receiving God’s blessing from everything and are melting internally out of gratitude towards God, which they express in every spiritual way possible, like children of God."

- "Unfortunately, in our day, words and books have multiplied and experiences have diminished, because the worldly spirit, which pursues all conveniences and avoids all bodily effort, influences people. Most of us find rest in much reading but little or no implementation. We simply marvel at the holy athletes of our Church without realizing how much they’ve labored, for we have not toiled so as to be able to understand their toil, to love them and to struggle out of philotimo in order to imitate them."

- "Those, however, who struggle with philotimo and do not give themselves rest, removing their egos from every one of their actions, help very positively. For only then are the souls in need of help given rest, and only then will their own souls find inner rest, in this life as well as in eternity."

- "When one realizes one's sinfulness and the great mercy of God, the heart cracks, as hard as it may be, and real tears fall of themselves and then man prays and weeps without effort. This is because humility works continuously together with philotimo and drills on the heart so that the springs increase, and the hand of God continually strokes the hard-working and philotimo child."