“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,

and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

But it shall not be so among you:

but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,

but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28, KJV)


The word the Athenians used for their Assembly was Ekklesia, the same word used in the New Testament for Church
(and it is the greatest philological irony in all of Western history that this word,
which connoted equal participation in all deliberation by all members,
came to designate a kind of self-perpetuating, self-protective Spartan gerousia -
which would have seemed patent nonsense to Greek-speaking Christians of New Testament times,
who believed themselves to be equal members of their Assembly.)

- Thomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter




ΦΙΛΟΤΙΜΟ: THE GREEK SECRET


Thursday, May 24, 2007

Let's Go To The Video Tape...

In case you didn't know, the General Assembly of May 21 was video taped. If you were one of the many who spoke that evening, your words are forever memorialized on tape. Now there isn't anything wrong with a meeting being either video or audio taped. It can certainly add to accuracy when our memories fail or insure that action is taken on items discussed.

It would have certainly been helpful though, had the gathering been told there was a video camera in the room taping the proceedings. It just seems fair and proper to make such an announcement informing those present not only that taping would take place but also the purpose of the taping. Instead, those in attendance who did not know that the meeting was taped are left in the dark and those who saw the taping take place are left to draw their own conclusions as to why.

Consequently conspiracy theories run amok: "It's so the Metropolitan can see what we are doing..." "They want to know who the troublemakers are..." "They are trying to see who else they can excommunicate..." "What are they going to do with the tape?" A simple explanation at the beginning of the meeting letting the assembly know would have gone a long way. Then again, secrecy and clandestine behavior have been the standard so why would anyone expect any kind of courtesy? "Send your stewardship, shut your mouths and don't ask questions, we've got everything under control." How much longer do we sit back and take it?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is indeed very sad to see that ever since this Proistamenos came into our community, transaparency in our communal affairs and governance, has disappeared.

Indeed a sad state of affairs for our community.

This Proistamenos and those who blindly follow him, continue their disservice to our great community.

How long can we afford it?

Nick J. Colessides

Anonymous said...

Is this all not just a lost cause? Do we not have the parish council that was elected by the majority of this community? Do we not deserve the parish council we have elected? Do we not continue to cowtow to the Proistamenos?

Until the fear of the iron fist of clergy is shed there will be inaction on the part of this community. It is better to have fought and lost then to lay down and die. When that is the belief of this community then perhaps action will be taken.

Until then I fear for the future of this community.