Court blessing
Published by deviousdiva September 17th, 2006 in Religion.Another step towards the separation of church and state.
120 high-ranking judges did not turn up to the "traditional" blessing of the Council of State at the start of the new judicial year. Constantinos Kousoulis, head of the judges union, said that
many of the justices felt it was inappropriate for a religious ceremony to take place, as it might compromise the neutrality the court has to maintain
Only 30 turned up to the service but, perhaps to save Archbishop Christodoulos from embarrassment, the numbers were boosted by retired judges and court employees.
Full article in Kathimerini
Absolutely wonderful. See, even though all over the world they complain about America, America still prevails. I remember decades ago as a kid saying a christian prayer in school, and wondering what people who weren’t christians did during this prayer.
So, it only took Greece 50 years to catch up to America, but whether they like it or not, America’s influence will prevail.
Starbucks, McDonalds, no prayer in school, no religousness during holiday. Now, I’m praying that finally Christmas will be done away with and it will become "Winter Holiday" like in the states. Or that dreadful EASTER will be done away with here in Greece and we’ll have "Spring Recess" for the kids instead of the terrible "EASTER BREAK".
Oh America, praise you for your wisdom and allowing all faiths to not be offended except for…………………………..
The Christian faith. (it’s ok to insult us because we’re thick skinned)
.
Oh, America still prevails! I am still trying to figure out where you were when Greek princesses scandalized Western Europe by committing such atrocious acts as "bathing" and "using forks". You'd better not try to talk anybody of U.S.American successes in Greece because your last defeat by the Greek basketball team was celebrated far and wide around the globe, including Iran. Maybe Greece shall prevail over the U.S.A. in the sense that there was a time when no Christian churches existed at all, but rather pagan temples. Although I don't see any chance of them reviving - nor any reason - I have hard times forgetting the past. Take a look at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosius_I#Nicene_Christianity_becomes_the_state_religion "For the first part of his rule, Theodosius seems to have ignored the semi-official standing of the Christian bishops; in fact he had voiced his support for the preservation of temples or pagan statues as useful public buildings. Then, in a series of decrees called the Theodosian decrees he progressively declared that those pagan feasts that had not yet been rendered Christian ones were now to be workdays (in 389). In 391, he outlawed blood sacrifice and decreed "no one is to go to the sanctuaries, walk through the temples, or raise his eyes to statues created by the labor of man". The temples that were thus closed could be declared "abandoned", as Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria immediately noted in applying for permission to demolish a site and cover it with a Christian church, an act that must have received general sanction, for mithraea forming crypts of churches, and temples forming the foundations of 5th century churches appear throughout the former Roman Empire. Theodosius participated in actions by Christians against major pagan sites: the destruction of the gigantic Serapeum of Alexandria and its library by a mob in around 392, authorized by Theodosius (extirpium malum) and described in exultant detail by Christian propagandists, was only the most spectacular such occasion (see Brown). The destruction of the greatest temple in Alexandria gave encouragement to Christian vigilantism and mob action in other centers, often spurred on by the local bishops, as early hagiographies proudly relate. By decree in 391, Theodosius ended the subsidies that had still trickled to some remnants of Greco-Roman civic paganism too. The eternal fire in the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum was extinguished, and the Vestal Virgins were disbanded. Taking the auspices and practicing witchcraft were to be punished. Pagan members of the Senate in Rome appealed to him to restore the Altar of Victory in the Senate House; he refused. After the last Olympic Games in 393, Theodosius cancelled the much-diminished games, and the reckoning of dates by Olympiads soon came to an end. Now Theodosius portrayed himself on his coins holding the labarum. The apparent change of policy that resulted in the "Theodosian decrees" has often been credited to the increased influence of Ambrose, bishop of Milan. The personal piety of Theodosius cannot be assessed. It is worth noting that in 390 Ambrose had excommunicated Theodosius, who had recently ordered the massacre of several thousand inhabitants of Thessalonica, in response to the assassination of his military governor stationed in the city, and that Theodosius performed several months of public penance. The specifics of the decrees were superficially limited in scope, specific measures in response to various petitions and accusations from the increasingly militant Christians throughout his administration. In 391 or 392 he officially sanctioned the destruction of the most famous of the temples in the East, the Serapeum at Alexandria. Bands of monks and Christian officials had long been accustomed to take the law into their own hands and destroy various centers of pagan worship, but the destruction of the Serapeum seemed to confirm that such actions enjoyed the emperor's tacit approval at least, and served to encourage such action in the future. Theodosius had been effectively manipulated into sanctioning the destruction of the Serapeum by local officials who had essentially engineered the crisis there for this very purpose." What wikipedia does not mention is that the majority of the Thessalonikians were Pagans before the massacre. The demographics changed abruptly after the massacre, and a large pagan temple was converted to the Christian metropolitan archbishopic of St. Demetrius. In a few words, don't complain of anything because this is not the U.S.A. The fact that you are still alive and not executed because of your faith - Balkan style - should be enough for you. There are lots of people of "other faiths" who were executed by the Christians, and unlike Rome, the Greeks did never allow the presence of arenas in Greek soil, and thus you won't find anything comparable to the Roman Coliseum as a place where people were thrown to the lions. Some of the Christian martyrs were outright fakes anyway, including St. Demetrius of Thessalonika: http://www.ucc.ie/milmart/demorig.html I think that I have said enough. You are thick skinned indeed, but your real problem is your thick scull that leaves little space for a brain. Otherwise you would not speak of persecution of Christians by other faiths, especially in Greece…
I support the separation of the Christian Church and State and the eventual disappearance of Christianity from Greek life. Christianity is largely a foreign acculturation on Greece and the Greek religious life. Despite accomodating itself to Hellenism over the span of several centures, and therefore becoming somewhat Hellenised, there remain elements to it (mainly of Hebraic-Babylonian origin) which essentially remain foreign to Hellenism: i.e. an extreme dualistic relationship between God and man, dogma and theological rigidity, metaphysical certainty, a Manichean moral outlook, disdain of the body, determinism and contempt of life, bowing to foreign gods in Jesus and Mary, teleological conception of time, universalism of values and so on.
Hellenism is different. It sees no purpose to life other than life itself. Life is a struggle: the tragic vision of life. Man is potentially God, theology is fluid, metaphysics is an exercise in speculation, the body is celebrated. Strength is worshipped and weakness is a sign of deformity. There is no good and evil, there is simply honour and dishonour, beauty and ugliness and courage and cowardice.
What scares me though is that when Christianity is respectfully laid to rest, Hellenism may not replace it.
"atrocious acts as "bathing" and "using forks". (say’s Petros)
Apparently, Mr. Petros hasn’t been on any of the trolley busses in downtown Athens lately. I’m sure those "princesses" would turn in their graves with the grooming standards of some of the current Athenian inhabitants.
Petros, please don’t blow a gasket. I picture you throwing your hands in the air saying "THA THA THA". But, really just chill out. My post was actually a satirical stab at America, and I AGREE THAT YOUR POST proves that it’s not America to blame for taking Christianity out of Greece, it’s just a world-wide phenomena that is occurring here as well.
And, hey, America will have it’s revenge on Greece (BASKETBALL) in Beijing in 2008 I promise you that Mr. Elenopoule’
Petros, please do us all a favour and GET A LIFE! You’re becoming very, very tedious.If you do insist on ranting, please do it on your own web page (Yahoo 360).
Since when does The US of A hold a monopoly on the separation of church VS state? And how is that relevant when this supposedly secular states president (Mr. Bush) rhetoric is drenched in biblical concepts such as Good Vs Evil. The church may be meddling with affairs that don’t concern it in Greece and I’m all for a greater separation but at least our leaders don’t try to explain and morally dress issues in terms of absolute good and evil. In fact tehy’d be laughed at. Imagine Mr. Karamanlis (The greek prime minister) coming out tomorrow and declaring that Turkey is part of an axis of evil. That would be hysterical!
Dear Christian man, I have to admit that you are far ahead of us in most things, but don't you think that you have gone too far in some aspects? I think that you rushed the development of underwater habitats, New Orleans could have been better over the ocean surface. I'd rather not elaborate upon the hygiene standards or whatever. BTW, next time that you go to the U.S.A., can you take a look at the usage of the adjective "Methville". I'd be really thrilled to know from a first hand account. Alright, Greece is not a paradise, but comparing us with the U.S. of A. goes too far by all means. Christianity is not a panakea, quite the opposite, despite the attempts of the Pope to revive Christianity, he can't achieve much without to make repeated references to Greece, in such characterstic statements as "As far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we find ourselves faced with a dilemma which nowadays challenges us directly. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true? ". This was in the speech that outraged the Muslims, you can read it in HERE: http://zenit.org/english/visua.....?sid=94748 In the end, the question is not whether Greece is better than the U.S.A. and especially if "Greek logos" is better than the "American dream" because the success of the American dream depends on the adherence to the Greek logos. The question is whether we deserve the title of "Greek" just because of a geographic and partially genetic relation after all, we certainly need to do more to be worthy of our name. No matter how much the U.S.A. advances in material terms, without the Greek logos everything can come down in the blink of an eye, and it shall be too late when you shall realize that. If you follow a God that acts unreasonably you lose, as the Pope can attest. If you act reasonably you can succeed, but the question of whether you need to believe to a reasonable god as well is heavily disputed and impossible to assert positively: Gods' presence cannot be proven or disproven reasonably after all…
good lord
WHATS ALL THIS ,,,
ALL FIVE OF YA ,, HAVE BEEN HITTING THE OYZO
AND YOU BROTHER BURU ,, THE WORST OF THE LOT
TAKING ON JESUSLAND ,
THATS LIKE DESECRATING, DISNEYLAND ,,
…………………………………………………………….
==RELIGION IS THE OPIUM OF THE MASSES==
……………………………………………………………..
OF COYRSE IT CREATES COMPLEXES
AND OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL FEARS
SO EXCEPT FOR THE MASSES
PSYCHIATRISTS AND PSYCHALOGISTS
MAKE QYITE A BUNDLE.
NO TO MENTION ALL THE MAJOR
MILITARY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIONS ESPECIALLY AMERICAN-RUSKI TOO
WHO LOVE YOU
AND WORSHIP YOU
IF YOURE OF ONE DENOMANATION
AND CARE TO BLOW SOME OTHER
DENOMANATIONS HEAD FOR
HAVING DIFFERENT BELIEFS,,
MY OPINION … I PREFER MONEY GENTLEMEN
COMMENTING ON BLOGS IS FREE CHEAP THERAPY
SO COME TO MY OFFICE AND ILL CHARGE YA
AND WELL TALK ABOUT IT ,, I TAKE DINERS.
Petros,
Why do you Greek people like to litter so much. You have such a wonderful country and a proud history, but why disgrace it by leaving garbage everywhere. Now, I know that in some areas of the U.S.A., you find garbage (litter) also, but certainly not in the nicer, wealthier areas of the USA.
But, in Greece, socio-economic status does not seem to play a part in whether you litter.
Two examples: I visit Ekali quite often and find just as much litter there as I do in other parts of Athens…
Can anyone explain why Greek people just don’t care about their homeland’s cleanliness?
Petros HouhoulisCould I politely ask you to edit your comments ? People do tend to get a bit fed up (as you can see) by long rants on blog posts. Also, will you please stop posting the URL of that site. I will hold your comments in moderation until you stop linking to it. I do not wish to be associated with it. You know which one I mean.
Christianity and its secular offshoots, Marxism and Liberalism, are metaphysically identical. As Oswald Spengler wrote, “Christian theology is the grandmother of Bolshevism”.
Christianity was the first religion that endorsed ideas as universalism, egalitarianism, peace, world brotherhood, and universal altruism which laid the groundwork the ethics and politics of the socialists, communists and capitalists. There are also other similarities between these thought systems. They have a linear conception of time: humanity is heading towards a Promised Land, a Utopia, the ultimate goal, where justice and truth will prevail. They are also religions of of the underclasses, the dispossesed and the guilt ridden. They promote the people that are least worthy to rule. Essentially, they are anti-aristocratic, in the Greek sense of the term, whereby society is ruled by the aristoi, the people of excellence. Under this regime society regresses. Also, these systems detest difference and plurality. They are inherently racist as they are premised that all men are god’s creatures (Christianity) or man is simply an econonic unit pliable to the material dialectic (Communism and capitalism) draining man of all spiritual significance. Ethnic differences are to be quashed or suppressed to satisfy the new order.
Well, Christian man, I could start by citing Plato who said that people are not evil by design, but because of ignorance. In simple words, the modern Greeks are not taught to throw their garbage at the garbage bin - amongst other things. The Greeks are making a lot of effort to "educate" their offsprings, the Greek state is not as much good at it, but both make the same mistake. Greek education typically evolves around either the worship of the ancestors or the acquisition of a degree that shall make future life easier. Being part of the society and need to adopt a certain social behavior is not part of the Greek educational process. If you really want to have your offsprings educated properly, you'd rather send them at a Scandinavian country like Finland, or - in your case - one of the Northern U. States of A. or Canada. P.S. You haven't got into the very surface of the problem. You seem to ignore the modern "Kopros tou Augeia" in the island of Psitalleia, or the even worse (albeit imported) of an infamous group of people who chose to live ON TOP OF GARBAGE, perhaps DD should address the issue to you. Hopefully she shall also explain to me what is wrong with my favorite website…
Petros, I have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to the rubbish issue. Anyway, it is way off topic so could you both bring it to an end.
As for the website, you know very well why I do not want to be associated with it, so please stop it. In the space for URL you are meant to put your own website or blog, not any old sleaze that you happen to like.
I can’t believe I am being forced to be babysitter here again. I asked you politely. I won’t ask again. Have some respect for my space.
Oh, c’mon now, I am quite certain that if you scrub your memory you will recall the case of those Albanian Gypsies in Votaneikos garbageland, as well as the other one in Herakleion who were “cleaned up” from the wasteland courtesy of some agency responsible for the removal of solid waste. I won’t rise the issue of website again - tricky me - but people can see that I am trying my best to excuse my thesis, while you don’t waste the chance to patronize as if I am a little kid! Anyway I guess that you are very busy keeping an eye on everything, and I don’t want to make your life harder, but keep in mind that “Sovarofaneia” is a different thing from “Sovarotita”, alright?
dear petros ,
episis ,,…………..
………. keep in mind that
………………………… “aei tsakisou apo aei xasou ”
………………..also is very different
AH AND LEST I FORGET THE ONE WITH THE SCRUFFY PICTURE
PLEASE ,,YOU MIGHT BE FROM CALIFORNIA,,
AND VISIT EKALI,, AND GARBAGE MIGHT BE AN INTERESTING
subject,,,
BUT ,,PLEASE KEEP ONE FACE AND ONE PERSONA
YOU DONT HAVE TO HAVE
A MULTIPERSONALITY FOR OTHERS
TO TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY,,
OR ELSE YOU THINK OF US WHO READ
YOUR COMMENTS AS GARBAGE
TRYING TO BOTH JEKYLL AND HYDE……………..=Z=
When I was a teenager studying for my A-levels I would often go to the central library and in the reading room there would always be some nutcase obsessively scribbling down reams of notes in tiny handwriting, filling up page after page of their notebooks with the latest evidence to support their conspiracy theories. It looks as if the modern version of these self - proclaimed "experts" have discovered copy and paste.
Zardoz,
Who is this scruffy person you refer to? And by the way, I really LOVE the creativeness to your posts. Are you a poet?