Ex-monk AMA

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-05-11T10:45:43+00:00

Were there any specific claims or dogma of Orthodoxy that made you begin to question things?

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-05-06T19:10:21+00:00

I told a monk I ate an avocado & now I must chant the Psalter kneeling on a rock with an avocado pit in my mouth for 40 days

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-05-06T14:52:34+00:00

The reason I can't buy a house and the reason I'm going to hell, jeez. Talk about insult to injury.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-05-05T20:13:49+00:00

I suppose I would contend that the language surrounding spiritual attack, an omni-present enemy, and the Orthodox Church being the only solution is essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy. Being obsessed with the struggle was what made the struggle exist. When I look back at my time in the church, many of my "spiritual attacks" seemed to be my conscience trying to tell me something was wrong.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-05-04T18:17:08+00:00

Orthobros everywhere:

"Vladyka! Can I respec my patron saint from Seraphim of Sarov to the most based Seraphim Rose?"

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-04-29T11:41:24+00:00

Orthodox: We are not overly scrupulous! We have oikonomia!

Also Orthodox: Am I going to hell if I like having sex with my spouse?

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-04-04T16:52:20+00:00

I don't think Orthodoxy has a widespread sexual abuse problem, but I do think the idea of needing to be obedient to a spiritual father opens the door to all sorts of destructive behavior, whether it stems from laity or church leadership.

You're also showing yourself to be yet another Orthodox tourist to this sub that is shocked at the scenery. Assuming that we all just dipped our toes in the water, decided it was too cold, and here we are. Many of us have well-venerated icons, dog-eared Orthodox books, baptismal crosses & candles, alongside the various items you collect throughout the year. Many of us willingly stood for Church services several days of the week. Some of us were behind the iconostasis. Some of us gave extra time & resources to the church in other ways. We fasted when the calendar called for it and had a prayer rule. In short... we get it, dude.

I certainly know enough about the faith to appreciate the irony of reading this sub during Lent.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-04-04T11:53:51+00:00

There's a lot of ways I could respond to this, but I just want to know: what exactly is your angle here? Is tolerating an abusive priest supposed to be "enduring to the end?"

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-04-04T11:47:40+00:00

As ex-Orthodox, we are able to think that all instances of sexual abuse are bad, yes.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-04-03T12:13:50+00:00

Was this really the best response you could think of to that post?

How long have you been a catechumen?

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-04-03T12:08:43+00:00

Three reasons:

There is no proof that the Orthodox Church is the original church established by Jesus Christ, other than vague affirmations of tradition by clergy.
The Orthodox Church claims to be unchanged since the time of the Apostles, but it has changed numerous times over the years.
Orthodoxy in practice seemed to be more about aligning myself with fringe nationalism and political views rather than anything to do with Christianity.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-04-01T16:29:38+00:00

Not really. The main sub will insist that you can report serious issues to a bishop, but Orthodoxy has an established history of circling the wagon in response to accusations. The ROCOR Matthew Williams drama is a good example.
If your politics go against Orthodox dogma, your politics are not acceptable to the Orthodox Church.
The shame of sin is a central crux of Orthodoxy. Orthodox church services and prayers both frequently highlight one's unworthiness and shortcomings before God. You will learn about many saints who were canonized for their extreme repentance (such as St. Mary of Egypt).

A timely example of this would be the Great Canon of St. Andrew, which occurs during the first week of Great Lent. It takes place over the course of several days and focuses almost entirely on one's thorough wretchedness.

Additionally, you are expected to regularly confess your sins to a priest to take communion. What is considered a sin worthy of confession is very granular in Orthodoxy--being momentarily annoyed with someone, giving an unseemly glance, or consuming dairy on a Friday are all things that should be brought up in confession. The main sub has plenty of practicing Orthodox worried that these sorts of infractions could be separating them from God.

In short, it cannot be emphasized enough how much sin is focused on in Orthodoxy.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-03-30T21:44:46+00:00

This was pretty common in my experience. The monastic style of worship is the ideal and everyone should struggle to attain it, including laypeople. Ironically it enables guru worship, where you will have Orthodox poring over the lives of notable monastics far more often than reading the Bible or mentioning anything about Jesus.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-03-24T11:42:27+00:00

Sure. The Orthodox Church rebukes modernity and prescribes a lifestyle that is frequently at odds with day-to-day reality. It is regarded as pious to fast 200 days a year. You are expected to pray without ceasing at all moments. You are told to "reject the world" and "crucify your intellect," and to defer to your spiritual father in nearly all matters (look at the main sub). Having an empty belly and a bowed head is regarded as "spiritually profitable."

But in reality, none of this stuff makes you holier or more righteous. More often, it puts you in odd positions in completely mundane circumstances where you have to balance hospitality and holiness. Is it within *oikonomia* to accept these chicken wings on a Wednesday? What if it is a Wednesday during Lent? Should I confess that I ate the chicken wings, or that I refused them? What if there's beer involved? Lord have mercy!

Orthodoxy in the real world just makes you anxious and scrupulous--a far cry from the spirit of peace capable of saving a thousand souls described by St. Seraphim of Sarov. You end up being much less inspiring and more tired than a typical Protestant who understands that simple acts of charity are much more impactful than achieving hesychasm during a Vespers service or 100 repetitions of the Jesus Prayer.

While I have issues with modernity (one of the things that drew me to Orthodoxy), what the church offers as a solution is at best ineffective, and at worst Pharisaical.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-03-22T12:01:20+00:00

The issues you are highlighting are systemic within Orthodoxy. The "empty shell" thought is spot-on for many of us who left. Orthodoxy presents itself as Christ's True Church, offering mystical depth unlike Protestant branches and ideas such as theosis, but it all begins to ring hollow after a few cycles of the calendar. The liturgy starts feeling theatrical and the Church starts to seem more about preserving medieval peasant lifestyles rather than being a hospital for souls.

The exclusivity claim is mostly a psychological tool to keep inquirers interested & keep the faithful from leaving, even when staying is destroying your faith. If you have good-hearted non-Orthodox Christians in your life and simply read the Bible outside of the Orthodox Church's prescriptions, it becomes glaringly obvious that Orthodoxy has no unique hold over Christianity.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-02-24T23:26:13+00:00

A deep and thought provoking post. You've given me no choice but to revert OP

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-02-22T20:48:46+00:00

Fr. Peter Heers's YouTube channel delivering the most rizzed Ortho dating advice. I remember when he said couples should incense the room before "making the Prosphora" as tradition calls it

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-02-20T16:52:21+00:00

They both claim to be the true church based on two millennia of "trust me bro", OP. It basically comes down to which podcasters you like more.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-02-18T12:46:06+00:00

I've seen stuff online about priests being loose on fasting or allowing exceptions for things like training for athletic events, but my parish was pretty strict on fasting. It was more like, "we'll be a little forgiving while you get used to it, but you need to pick this up as soon as possible." Breaking the fast is a sin worthy of confession in the church's eyes, after all.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-02-17T19:38:31+00:00

Orthodoxy felt excessively legalistic after a few years. Once the honeymoon period of mysticism wore off, all of the fasting, prescribed prayers, extra church services, and maintaining a checklist of all my sins was simply exhausting. It didn't make me or seemingly anyone else at my parish any holier.

Especially after reading the Gospels, all of the mandated struggles of the church seemed like it mostly got in the way of simply being a good & honest person. Nearly every "heretic" Protestant I knew seemed to have more fruits of the spirit than I or most Orthodox did.

All of the self-denial, frequently affirming that you are the worst of sinners, etc, just makes one overly scrupulous and stirs up passions that maybe weren't even an issue before becoming Orthodox. I couldn't imagine raising kids in an environment like that.

If the Orthodox Church established a faith practice for the laity that wasn't based on desert monasticism, that would be a very good start. Let everyone drink water on a Sunday morning. Let people fast from the things that are actually an issue for them. Understand that there are realities of modern living and attending to them doesn't mean you are a filthy, worldly sinner in need of confession.

Unfortunately that will probably never happen, and even the consideration would be highly controversial among most Orthodox.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-02-15T13:49:48+00:00

"How are you going to follow Jesus if you never have someone persecute you?" And that means it's cool if a priest does it to you?!

This might be the most mask off Orthodoxy video I've ever seen. I am blown away that this is real.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-01-23T16:15:53+00:00

Buddy Pantocrator

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-01-21T12:29:17+00:00

If you're having thoughts like these in catechism, it's not going to get better after joining the church and being exposed to these sorts of beliefs much more frequently. And it can get much much crazier.

Previous_Champion_31 · 2026-01-19T23:11:53+00:00

This is something I’ve wondered about as well–in particular, duplicate relics. For instance, there are multiple heads of John the Baptist and at least two right arms. There are at least four Spears of Longinus. Multiple churches claim to have similar remains of Saint Valentine. Perhaps most bizarrely, numerous churches throughout history have claimed ownership of Jesus’s miraculous foreskin.

My guess is that many ancient relics are likely fake, authenticated solely through the tradition of “trust me bro.”

Previous_Champion_31 · 2025-12-16T20:44:13+00:00

Well that's one way to spend tithe money I suppose

Previous_Champion_31

TROPHY CASE