I think that Katherine makes an excellent point in her comment to the effect that other countries that have a distinct Orthodox culture have had centuries to form them. We also have to think about a temporal difference in how culture is incubated now versus in the past. In the past, when all effort was geared toward essential functions (growing, harvesting, preparing and preparing food; building essential tools, etc.), recreation had more of a utilitarian aspect. Barn raisings, quilting circles, cooking, etc. provided an opportunity to reinforce values through direct mentorship and apprenticeship. The food and materials available locally to a group of people and the pattern of their use incubated what we think of as cultural practices.
With the rise of industrialisation and a population shift toward urban areas, people lost connection with the practices and stories that made their heritage unique. Many of our jobs do not require the same kind of consuming attention that a homestead and a skilled craft would require, so we have to create diversions such as television, movies, sports, music, etc. We have created a "permanent present" where there is "no organic relationship" to the past; our understanding of the past is not experiential, it is factual or declarative. Engaging in traditional cultural practices, now (for most of us), is almost voyeuristic because the practices aren't essential to our way of life.
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| St. Moses the Black - image from the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black |
Since Orthodoxy is experiential in nature, to think about an American Orthodox culture would require that 1) we agree on what it means to be Orthodox, and 2) those values would permeate our living and not just be window-dressing. There are a lot of cultural movements I see around me that seem to be harmonious with what I understand to be an Orthodox lifestyle, such a shift away from consumerism, a movement toward a plant-based diet, caring for our communities (especially for those most needy), building a culture that affirms and protects Life for everyone (and all of the implications here: abortion, war, death penalty). These don't map neatly onto the way that people assign themselves to social/political opinions. Indeed, most of us make very clear distinctions between our work lives, our home lives, our social lives, and out church lives. To create an American Orthodox culture (presuming we want one), the Orthodoxy will have to permeate all the facets of our lives.
As I've written before, I think that an American Orthodox culture would mirror broader American culture in the way it is formed. Borrowing from cultures all over the world, Americans (at our best) select the best of what everyone brings to the table and reinterpret it as part of a pastiche. Since culture is (in my opinion) primarily a way of teaching value, what I find most exciting to think about is the great wealth of examples that such a pastiche culture could offer. Not only do we have the ancient mother churches and their traditions to draw on, but we also have enterprises such as the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black and the Ancient Christianity and Afro-American Conference that draws on the redemptive suffering of American chattel slaves. Matthew Namee's work with the Society for Orthodox Christian History in America and the podcasts he does for Ancient Faith Radio are a wonderful way to help discover this past and incorporate examples (good and bad!) in our understanding of ourselves as Orthodox Christians and Americans (for example, were you aware that the first naturalized American was Orthodox?).
Melinda Johnson has done an excellent job helping to create a groundswell of Orthodox artists and writers who are expressing their Orthodoxy in their work. Her guidance with The Sounding blog at OCN has also created an opportunity for Orthodox commentary on the whole range of American experience. I hope and pray that we continue to see this work grow!
As I've written before, I think that an American Orthodox culture would mirror broader American culture in the way it is formed. Borrowing from cultures all over the world, Americans (at our best) select the best of what everyone brings to the table and reinterpret it as part of a pastiche. Since culture is (in my opinion) primarily a way of teaching value, what I find most exciting to think about is the great wealth of examples that such a pastiche culture could offer. Not only do we have the ancient mother churches and their traditions to draw on, but we also have enterprises such as the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black and the Ancient Christianity and Afro-American Conference that draws on the redemptive suffering of American chattel slaves. Matthew Namee's work with the Society for Orthodox Christian History in America and the podcasts he does for Ancient Faith Radio are a wonderful way to help discover this past and incorporate examples (good and bad!) in our understanding of ourselves as Orthodox Christians and Americans (for example, were you aware that the first naturalized American was Orthodox?).
Melinda Johnson has done an excellent job helping to create a groundswell of Orthodox artists and writers who are expressing their Orthodoxy in their work. Her guidance with The Sounding blog at OCN has also created an opportunity for Orthodox commentary on the whole range of American experience. I hope and pray that we continue to see this work grow!
6 comments:
Excellent and thoughtful post. Your point about culture being formed through common work is spot on.
If you haven't yet, would you like to join the Orthobloggers group on Facebook? This topic would make an excellent synchroblog!
Thank you Katherine! I've enjoyed reading and sharing your blog today too! Thank you, also, for the invitation to join the Orthobloggers group. I'm really only an occasional blogger, but I'm a sucker for community.
I'm not sure what synchroblogging is though!
This is a great response to Melinda's post. It's obvious you've been thinking this through. Totally agree, especially with the part about culture being the way to teach and promote values (commented something to that effect back on Melinda's blog.)
There are a couple steps to changing the problem. The first is admitting there's a problem, and the second is designating a centralized place -- a sort of watering hole -- where it's getting talked about. I'm kind of hoping that the OCN blog turns into that, but if not them, someone else.
What fascinated me as I read this was the idea that culture used to be tied so much more closely to the essential functions of life. Everyone has to survive, and we all need roughly the same things for survival. I was thinking about fracture lines in the current "Orthodox culture," and I can see that these lines are possible in part because we aren't all trying to do the same thing any more. Staying alive. We're trying to keep the less tangible parts of ourselves alive, and they are by definition less uniform.
Thanks Grace! I am very hopeful that the work being done by the Assembly of Bishops will tease out some of those differences, especially as they tackle pastoral differences among different jurisdictions. With respect to a watering hole, Orthodox internet media are certainly providing that function now, especially as our Orthodox communities are sometimes isolated. Without meaning any ill-will toward AFR or OCN though, I hope that someday those outlets might become obsolete for Orthodox Christians if we were able to actually achieve the kind of Orthodox enculturation I'm dreaming about here. I know that *if* my local parish had a full cycle of daily services and *if* I made it to them, I'd be much less likely to need any diversions.
Melinda - Perhaps as you continue to consider American Orthodox Culture, you could write about the fracture lines you see. The ones that jump out at me tend to be political (but that could just be my experience). Have you already come up with a list?
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