Oddly Enough: US marine allegedly mistakes Orthodox priest for terrorist

A new category of blog post at Articles of Faith is birthed today. Oddly Enough shamelessly plagiarises the title of Reuters Oddly Enough news items which are my favourite reading on my Blackberry on the District Line home each night. However stressful the day has been, these weird and wonderful stories lighten it. Luckily there's no copyright in titles, and I expect some of the stories here will come from Reuters in any case. Not today's, though. We've the New York Times to thank for this gem, which AP ran first.

A Marine reservist has been charged with attacking a Greek Orthodox priest he said he thought was a terrorist.

The reservist is accused of hitting Father Alexios Marakis over the head with a tire iron and chasing him for three blocks on Monday evening before Tampa police officers intervened.

Father Marakis, a Greek Orthodox priest visiting from Crete, told police he had stopped to ask for help after getting lost. Mr Bruce told the police he heard Father Marakis yell, “Allahu akbar!” This is Arabic for God is great.

Father Marakis does not speak Arabic, just Greek. The reservist's lawyer said his client was the one attacked.

Reuters' Faithworld blog, incidentally, is running a poll on whether the Goldman Sachs is indeed 'doing God's work' as claimed by chief executive Lloyd Blankfein in The Sunday Times this week. Perhaps not surprisingly, 86 per cent disagree.

Among the comments is this, from 'John': 'Of course GS is doing god’s work; separating fools from their money. God does not want fools to have money.'

Comments

[Andrew, Venezuela]

Richard (16/11/09 - 05:10 p.m.). My pleasure Richard !. Spanish (or the Venezuelan version of that !) is the "lingua franca" down here, although many people can 'communicate' in an interesting combination of "schoolboy English" plus "sign language". May-June is the collest (and wettest) time of the year. Should you want to "discuss a visit" more privately, Ruth has my personal e-mail address. It would be a pleasure to welcome you here, and you could combine some sight-seeing etc. with acquiring some interesting information for your Parish Magazine.

Dare I conclude by saying ¡ Hasta la vista ! ?.

Every best wish personally,

Andrew, Venezuela

[Richard Aluise]

Andrew

Thanks again. Very informative. I'll let you know if I have the opportunity to travel to Venezuela. I don't speak Russian, and my Greek is only of the biblical variety, so it will have to be English or Spanish, I'm afraid.

Thanks again!

Richard

[Andrew, Venezuela]

U. Moustafa (16/11/09 - 06:15:49). Thank you for having explained the Arabic meaning of "ojalá" as being "in shaa Allah". Unfortunately, I don't read or speak Arabic, so your explanation was most welcome.

Indeed, it would be nicer if everybody could get on with each other in harmony, notwithstanding their individual beliefs or disbeliefs. Many of us are constantly striving to achieve that goal.

Best wishes.

Andrew, Venezuela

[u moustafa]

To Mr Andrew,
The story of your trip to London is a good reminder that all of us, whatever our beliefs, are part of the same family and that we have a duty to help each other.

N B the Arabic for 'ojala' is 'in shaa Allah'...and means, like you said, 'God willing'

[Andrew, Venezuela]

Richard (15/11/09 - 16:57:09). Here comes the promised reply to your question, which is taken from "memory" as I couldn't find the book I was looking for.

The first "official" Anglican presence in Venezuela dates from the Wars of Independence, when volunteers from the British Legion who fought alongside their Venezuelan counterparts were allowed to establish a cemetary and a chapel for the dead and for those who settled in the country. The family needs were attended to by an Anglican priest who responded to the Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies. Soon after Independence, President Páez issued a Decree establishing Freedom of Religion to all so, in spite of some vociferous opposition from certain quarters, Anglicans were able to worship as they wished. Venezuela finally became an independent Diocese within the "West Indies", and its first Diocesan bishiop was duly consecrated. "Growth" continued largely due to the incorporation of English-speaking Anglicans of West Indian origin into commerce, trade and industry during the 19th. Century. When "the oil industry" was developed, many Anglicans of Canadian, UK and US origin were encouraged to settle and establish themselves, which led to a much more obvious Anglican presence and increased "head count". Three bishops later, a closer relationship was established with ECUSA, thereby enabling English- and Spanish-speaking Episcopalian priests to serve the needs of the faithful. The foregoing explains why there are so many Anglican congregations in the country, not only in the big cities, but also in smaller towns and "rural communities". Many Venezuelan nationals, single or married, have been ordained deacons, priets (and even bishop !), which means that their services are available as much in English as in Spanish.

As a result of the initial connection with "West Indies", and subsequent thereto, the level of worship is very much in the Anglican "High Church" tradition (lights, vestments, choral rendering - and incense as and when necessary: the Anglicans out here have everything they're supposed to have, but nothing which they're not supposed to have as far as ceremonial, doctrines and practices are concerned). All of the Venezuelan Anglicans with whom I have spoken are conscious that they can be "Catholic" without the Roman epithet, when faced with the numerous "Pentecostal etc. alternatives" which are available.

I do hope the above has been helpful to you. The Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches are also doing very well, and have a "visible presence" in Caracas and elswhere. Let me know if you want to temporarily abandon the ski slopes of Colorado to pay a visit to the sun-kissed Caribbean beaches of Central Venezuela. I would be more than happy to introduce you to some of my Orthodox friends, with whom you could "talk turkey" in English, Greek, Russian or Spanish to find out for yourself.

Every best wish personally, and my very kindest regards to you.

Andrew, Venezuela

[Andrew, Venezuela]

Richard (15/11/09 - 16:57:09). I'm glad you enjoyed my perfectly true anecdote. The funny thing is that neither of my two Venezuelan colleagues had ever travelled previously by rail, and we were looking forward to a 5-hour journey !. They thought, initially, that the "blessings" had been intended to prepare them for their experience on that form of public transportation. Everything went well, and they were most impressed by the safety, catering, cleanliness, comfort and timing of "Inter-City Expresses" in Britain.....I am, of course, referring to the situation as that prevailed in the mid-80's !!!.

I will do my best to give you a "thumb-nail sketch" of Anglicanism in Venezuela, as you requested, and will do so in a second post here (since I need to check some data).

All my very best wishes to you.

Andrew, Venezuela

[Richard Aluise]

Andrew

Thanks for the wonderful story! It is always good to see more friendship than enmity between denominational boundaries.

I have meant to ask in the past, but what is the state of Anglicanism in Venezuela? Is it more like the Episcopal branch in the US, or is it different? Forgive my ignorance, but I have not had much opportunity to examine the state of various denominations in South America, even my own. I think many of us make the assumption that SA is very much RC, and therefore not many other denominations have much of a presence.

I hope you can enlighten me. Thanks again, Andrew.

Richard

[Andrew, Venezuela]

Richard (14/11/09 - 19:04:43). What a lovely response to my explanation as to how "ojalá" became part of modern Spanish usage. I was somewhat surprised myself to hear my highly educated Colombian colleagues use the interjection "ala" (without any accent on the final "a") in conversation, and it seems to have been a local contraction of the original and universal "ojalá" !. In point of fact, the nearest thing to a direct offshoot of the Latin as spoken in Spain during and following the times of the Roman Empire is that spoken in Galicia (i.e. "Galician"), which was not affected by the Moorish Conquest of the Peninsula. "Galician" is more closely related, linguistically, to Portuguese as far as their respective Latin origins are concerned.

A personal anecdote might put your mind at rest re the very friendly relations which can exist between priests of different denominations. On an official trip to London in the company of two Venezuelan colleagues (both nominal RCs), I slipped away to attend a 1662 Rite "Solemn Evensong" in the nearby Anglican Parish Church. The Vicar and Assistant Priest, and the congregation, made me feel quite at home during the ensuing "coffee and biscuits hour"", and were obviously interested to hear that I lived in Venezuela. The next day, we had to leave London for an engagement in the South-West, and I was left "standing guard" over the luggage as this was being dumped on the pavement on a piece-by-piece basis. The Assistant Parish Priest, in appropriate "street dress", happened to pass by and we started chatting. Just then, a Greek Orthodox priest, also in "appropriate street dress", came on the scene and I was introduced to him. My colleagues finally appeared with the remaining luggage, and the mutual "introductions process" and "chat" continued until the taxi arrived. The two priests helped us load our luggage, and then they both blessed us and wished us a happy journey. My colleagues were a bit "taken aback" by the turn of events, and asked me "what was all that about and how did you fix it ?". I explained that I hadn't "fixed it", but that it had just occurred spontaneously, as these things should happen. They accepted the answer, which does show that where there is good will, there is a way !!!.

My very kindest personal regards to you.

Andrew, Venezuela

[Richard Aluise]

Andrew

Thanks for the explanation of "ojala." I have often wondered how it ended up in the Spanish language! Other words are much easier to trace to their Latin (and Greek) heritage, such as "preguntar", which seems to have derived from the Latin "praegustare", literally meaning to sample or to foretaste.

This story only underscores what Geoffrey has been telling everyone on this blog for a long time now. We Orthodox Christians are a pestilential threat not only to Christianity, but to the safety of the world at large. If you encounter one of our priests, you would be wise to stay clear, since your physical safety - not to mention your eternal salvation, as Geoffrey has repeatedly warned - will be in serious danger!

I hope the marine is ok. No telling what damage that ferocious, schismatic, heretical, physically abusive priest did to him!

[Geoffrey Smith]

"Among the comments is this, from 'John': 'Of course GS is doing god’s work; separating fools from their money. God does not want fools to have money.'"
(Ruth Gledhill, quoting from a comments page in the Sunday Times )

I think God must have made an exception in Tony Blair's case.

[Chris Gillibrand]

PS
Defence case- Cretan attacks Cretin!

[Edward I]

"Father Marakis does not speak Arabic, just Greek. The reservist's lawyer said his client was the one attacked."

Sounds reasonable....a Greek religious leader goes up to an American reservist and attacks him....

Does this lawyer think we are fools?

[Andrew, Venezuela]

Just for general information purposes in relation to this article, the term "¡ ojalá !" is quite commonly used in the modern Spanish language as spoken in Spain and Latin America. Its meaning is approximately that of "God willing", or "let it be so". Initially, the term was incorporated into the Spanish language during and after the Muslim occupation of Spain, many centuries ago, and is just one of many such expressions of Arabic origin which form part of modern Spanish. Other such common examples include "almohada" (= pillow), "almendra" (= almond) and "alfombra" (= carpet), none of which have any religious significance. To judge by the action of the Marine reservist mentioned in the article, bearded Spanish-speakers in the USA may now have to watch out for themselves if they ever say "¡ ojalá !" as part of their normal everyday speech,
lest they be mistaken for "terrorists" !.

Andrew, Venezuela

[Chris Gillibrand]

Now if he had been shouting, Ο Θεός είναι μεγάλοςm then the marine should have got worried.

[Michael Stevens]

Ah, Americans.

[James Warren]

It deserves to be better known that the phrase "allahu akbar" is a common Arabic expression used in a wide variety of circumstances and is not to be taken as an indication that the speaker is about to engage in an act of terrorism. Among other things, the "takbir" as it is known, is emblazoned across the current Iraqi flag.

[john]

Par for the course for the Yanks. 'Friendly fire', anyone?

[Chris Gillibrand]

Cretin attacks Cretan, as one internet newsgroup has it.

(ha ha I've just tweeted that! rg)