fschmidt wrote:Thanks, I didn't know anything about the author. After reading your post, I discovered that he actually wrote a book against True Orthodoxy:
He is intelligent, so I will probably read this eventually, but first I should go through the reading list in this forum.
There are other books written for the inquirer or catechumen who may have a tendency become a fundamentalist. Note that there is a huge difference between a fundamentalist and a traditionalist.
Fundamentalism
In a catechumen's zeal to become the perfect Orthodox, he (and it is usually men) will visit various monasteries, where he will spend a weekend or their entire two to four week vacation away from his family. When he returns from this Orthodox "Marine boot camp", and if he is married, then he will usually start a very rigid schedule of prayer (all night vigils) and a new diet (vegan if during Lent) that can drive any non-Orthodox Christian wife batty, especially if the husband forces his unhappy wife to join him. If his wife was indoctrinated by her fundamentalist family to believe that Orthodox Christians are weird heretics, then when she talks with her family, they will side with her and urge her to walk away from her husband, so divorce is right around the corner. This is why many Orthodox Priests insist that both husbands and wives inquire together, so that they are on the same page.
Many men, when they first encounter Orthodoxy, also want to become members of the clergy, but married men must obtain permission from their wives before embarking on any journey that involves Holy Orders. If the wife is not an Orthodox Christian, then this desire to become a Reader, Subdeacon, Deacon, or Priest must be put on hold.
Fundamentalists encountering Traditionalists
Fundamentalists are usually in for a huge shock when they walk into a True Orthodox Church because many True Orthodox have grown up in the Orthodox Church, so they do not have a fundamentalist-Protestant perspective nor do they suffer from scrupulosity as do many Roman Catholic fundamentalists.
To give you an example, people raised in the Orthodox Church understand that the fast is not strictly enforced on everyone. One does not fast when sick because the body is already burdened, nor does one fast when pregnant as there is a need to feed both the mother and the developing child. Another example is prayer. A married man who must earn a living to support his family most likely will not be able to attend all the church services: morning Divine Liturgy, afternoon Vespers, and the all night vigil before feast days. The new zealous catechumen who wants to become a saint as of yesterday may try to do a full schedule of prayer, but his health and the health of his wife will suffer. Balance is definitely needed, and a priest can really help calm the inquirer and his family, and urge him to take one baby step at a time. Here humility and patience are both needed, while the wife needs hope.