Begging the Question …

"I, (name) do solemnly affirm that I will uphold the dogmas, teachings, traditions, holy canons, discipline, worship and moral principles of the Greek Orthodox Church, as well as the Charter and Regulations of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and that I will fulfill faithfully and sincerely the duties and obligations required of a member of the Parish Council. So help me God."


Let’s see if we understand this latest situation:

• We have been informed recently and somewhat suddenly that a parish council member has decided to resign.
  
  
• This parish council member was appointed to serve on the replacement board after Metropolitan Isaiah disbanded an elected board in this community in 2002; since then he has stood for election and taken the oath as a parish council member several times.
  
  
• The stated reason for the resignation is due to disagreement “with the process and content of the Charter that [the]…Affirmation of Office” requires.

Some pertinent issues arise:

• The council member in question was deemed worthy by our clergy to serve, despite being obviously conflicted as to his oath, and yet the clergy and the Metropolitan ratified his candidacy and election during the past seven years.
  
  
• Curiously, another parish council member was dismissed in 2007; one of the reasons given was behavior deemed by the clergy and hierarchy to be inconsistent with the oath administered to elected parish council members.
  
  
• Several willing and qualified candidates in recent times have been presumed by our clergy to be ineligible to even stand for election, and were described by our Proistamenoi as being incapable of taking that same oath.
  

Isn't there a double standard here?