Toll Houses + Unhealthy polemics at NFTU is not good.

[Hieromonk Enoch]

"I really hope you're kidding!"

Nope. I'm not.

[Matthew]

God have mercy! The blind leading the blind. But then such a condition is perhaps a blessing... it is what woke most of us up that something was terribly amiss in the EP and ScOBA world Orthodoxy. So, we were able to seek out the TOC and understand the genuine is only in the TOC.

[Hieromonk Enoch]

Just wondering about the title of this thread. What exactly would be healthy polemics on an issue that many Orthodox Christians feel is fundamental to the tradition of the Church?

[Matthew]

Forgive me, Maria, if I am wrong and making ill-founded assumptions here, but I will hazard a guess: I think that what you (Maria0 meant is that a polemical spirit or attitude is in itself an unhealthy mode of addressing any issue, whether it is a controversial topic or a mundane one that would elicit little reaction. I think you mean therefore that we can ask the important questions about disturbing or controversial issues, but that it ought to be done in a redemptive approach, that is, it be formulated in a manner that is intentionally going to further healing and knowledge of what is correct. This degree of consideration is what is lacking in what is generally a polemical manner of address. Perhaps this is not quite what you meant, Maria, but it is what I think you might have been driving at.

[Maria]

Forgive me, Maria, if I am wrong and making ill-founded assumptions here, but I will hazard a guess: I think that what you (Maria0 meant is that a polemical spirit or attitude is in itself an unhealthy mode of addressing any issue, whether it is a controversial topic or a mundane one that would elicit little reaction. I think you mean therefore that we can ask the important questions about disturbing or controversial issues, but that it ought to be done in a redemptive approach, that is, it be formulated in a manner that is intentionally going to further healing and knowledge of what is correct. This degree of consideration is what is lacking in what is generally a polemical manner of address. Perhaps this is not quite what you meant, Maria, but it is what I think you might have been driving at.

Since NFTU is viewable by the public, care should be taken to publish reports that can be substantiated, and errors should be corrected as soon as discovered.

For example, a recent editorial comment posted at NFTU about Pope Benedict's Italian book on the Nativity of Christ has not yet been corrected. Apparently two UK newspapers (Daily Mail and Telegraph) reported that Pope Benedict had mentioned that there were neither singing angels nor animals present at the Nativity of Christ, and the US media (CNN and NY Times) carried these stories without any verification.

Another example is the prideful use of derogatory nouns and adjectives in some of NFTU editorial comments. If NFTU hopes to reach out and convert people to True Orthodoxy, then it is important not to use words that could offend such as:

Papist
Uniate

Finally, in the reader comment sections, some people have posted unsubstantiated remarks, gossip, and speculation that can undermine the fragile faith of others. However, recently Father Anastasios Hudson has been posting corrective comments which have helped to remedy these situations.

[Matthew]

Yes, unsubstantiated or false reports are one issue we discussed previously and I am, of course, in full agreement with you on that. Fr. Enoch was asking about the phrase in the title of this thread "unhealthy polemics" which is not the same thing as false reports or bad information. I was trying to explain about what you must have had in mind about polemics. In which case, the language of strife is to use pejorative language like "papist" "papophile" etc. Again, I wholeheartedly agree that inter nos[/i, it is allowable to use words like that, however, entirely unwise if we would attract heterodox to the TOC. You do not attract bees with vinaigre.

[Justice]

I have recently accepted the Toll Houses as completely Orthodox. There have just been so many orthodox saints that describe their experiences.