Interesting how the Orthodox Christianity in the USA and in the so-called Orthodox Countries differ. In my home city, Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, there are dozens if not hundreds of Orthodox church buildings, each of which built in a very capital fashion, i.e, with thick walls made of brick, bleached on the outside, with elaborate domes (usually five per building, one symbolizing Christ and the other four symbolizing the four Gospel writers), and large crosses finished with gold. Inside, these buildings are adorned with gold, silver, copper; their entire walls are covered with frescoes and mosaics; they have expensive chandeliers, iconostases (wooden walls finished with bronze and displaying dozens of icons, some of them very big and, obviously, costly), and lots and lots of icons painted in oil or tempera. These buildings stand on the pieces of land that would, in the USA (given that its the capital of a republic, a megapolis that has all kinds of imaginable and unimaginable conveniences like restaurants, bars, shops, hotels, casinos etc.), cost millions and millions of dollars. These church buildings are very warm in winter; they have electricity, running water, and even overpasses that lead to dining or coffee rooms. Who is paying for all this? When I was there, I noticed that people put on a collection plate bills of 1, 2, 5, 10 hryvnyas (i.e.,
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 23:13:03 +0000
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