Vespers in the Church of St Francis in Assisi (Mikhail Botkin, 1871)
It is true that ordinary and normal Orthodoxy opposes syncretistic ecumenism in whatever form it takes. However, Orthodoxy also teaches respect and tolerance for all other faiths at the same time. In other words, we believe in being “good neighbours”, so, we do not proselytise those of other confessions, nor do we “witness” in the Protestant sense of the word. Rather, we are urged to live good lives and treat all others with the respect that we would like to receive, no matter if they are in the Faith or not.
That is why certain currents in contemporary American Orthodoxy are wrong, and we would do well to not listen to those trying to bring aspects of evangelical Protestantism into the Church. Those outside the Church (especially traditionalist Anglicans, a group targeted by some immature recent converts) are what they are, and we should not attack their beliefs, as the Again lot does. If you fish in troubled waters, the catch is not good, I say.
To stand for Christ and His Church is one thing, to proselytise and hector others is yet another. I approve of the former and condemn the latter. It is what our Lord taught us.
