If she's so rebellious she can't get over this obstacle you won't get her over any other.
Why Do Orthodox Christian Women Cover Their Heads?
- Thread starter WoodArch4033
- Start date
Not true. If I'd compelled my wife to come to church and wear a head covering from the start she would have been put off and likely gone her own way. With time and patience she decided to attend church and wear a covering of her own accord.
Your point (unless I'm reading it wrong) is that if a woman can't be convinced to wear a head covering right off the bat then she is a hopeless case. I'm telling you from personal experience that if I was a hardliner about head coverings from day 1 then the church would be one member smaller than it currently is.
This is as may be. But also there is a tactful way to approach asking someone to wear a veil. And I don't know why women have to be so dramatic about everything. If a guy goes into church, none the wiser, wearing a hat and gets told to take it off, he takes it off. Can't a woman be told to cover her hair without storming off and never coming back?
There's certainly tactful ways to go about it. I just object to statements like the above that my personal experience contradicts. Yes it's a silly hill for women to die on and essentially nothing more than a dress code that in other circumstances they would have no problem obeying. The issue is that they've been brainwashed and women are very susceptible to such brainwashing on seemingly trivial matters without really understanding the underlying issue.
As lay people however I agree with those who say we need to be very careful about being sticklers on issues that could prevent someone who is curious from experiencing the liturgy and growing closer to God and the Church. It's just easy to pick on very visible things like a head covering. When in reality, if someone is dressed appropriately but daydreaming the whole liturgy, they are worse off than a woman showing her hair who is earnestly trying to get closer to God even if they have some secular or feminist hang-ups. This is not to say that we should compromise on tradition to cater to the masses, but such battles need to be picked carefully and with discernment, and under the guidance of the parish priest.
Yes, modern women have been programmed to treat any imposition like a head covering as sexist oppression. They have indeed been brainwashed.
I agree with being very discerning about approaching issues that become feminist or otherwise modernist talking points. It is not our goal to go out of our way to offend modernist sensibilities just for the sake of antagonizing people, however brainwashed they be. We also do not compromise on tradition for the sake of appeasing modernism (modernism is totally incompatible with Orthodoxy anyway). The best thing is to be discerning in one's approach, think about what is truly important and what is not compared to other things, be diplomatic with other people, and when people have modernist sticking points, share a laugh about the modernism with your Orthodox friends.
Yes. My Bishop was the one who told me not to let small obstacles get in the way of someone's salvation. For example, the issue of circumcision in the early days of the Church was an example of an obstacle that was removed so more could be saved.
Works are supposed to be an outward manifestation of one's faith... simply having someone do the actions of the faithful without having any faith is worthless, and if it actively angers someone then it is indeed counterproductive. The answer is patience, patience, and more patience.
Yeah the Greeks are getting worse and worse unfortunately. Also the 'law' that was just a passed is a horrendous act as well.