Agreement and Unity
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There is a very good discussion on The Light Fraction (Victoria Theodora) about unity and why people from Lexington drive by two Orthodox parishes to attend St. Athanasius.
Victoria’s latest contribution to the discussion was to respond to Karl wondering why unity did not mean agreement (that she did not think everyone should be Orthodox). She said:
Well, Karl, it probably has to do with the fact that I’m in sustainable agriculture as a profession.
Diversity is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for the proper functioning of any ecosystem. I suspect it’s the same for human ecosystems as well. Ecosystems are very messy places, but they are what resulted from the Laws of Creation (to coin a phrase). It’s desperately difficult to keep a monoculture functioning. When the church becomes a monoculture it gets corrupt.
Also, since God is ever so much larger than we are, even the Orthodox church only has the tiniest glimmer of understanding of God. I fail to see any reason at all to deprive others of their understanding just so they can agree with us.
I don’t think agreement and unity are the same thing at all.
Well, there is diversity, and there is division. I would never dream of making everyone believe that 20th century scientists have the lock on the origins of the universe or of denying the insights that I can gain from people who see it differently. Nor would I dream of making everyone agree that the Jerusalem Rite of processing, reading the Gospel and beating down the doors on Pascha is preferrable to the Russian tradition of simply processing around the church.
If, however, one does not believe that God is a Trinity, then one is in error. I may be able to gain some wonderful insights about all kinds of things from, as an example, a panentheist, but her beliefs about God are false (actually, “ultimate reality” since “God” is meaningless in pantheistic systems). That’s what it means to disagree about things that have real meaning. A ≠ ¬A (Yes, I know, Eastern philosophers dispute the law of non-contradiction, too. If the law of non-contradiction is false, then all of reality is an illusion; that’s their point. They’re wrong.)
Do I want people to agree with me on things that I know are true? Yes, because somehow their salvation is in some manner wrapped up with their rightly believing. Not in the same ways as an Inquisitor would think so (God have mercy), but somehow rightly recognizing the Real and no longer living in falsehood is part of our healing. That’s what the Orthodox are talking about when they talk about communion.