Sour Looks On Bishops' Faces?

[PolkaDotPelican]

I was looking at some photos of the men who constitute the hierarchy of the XYZ Eastern Orthodox Church. Of the 20 or so photos I looked at maybe two of the men were smiling.

The rest did not have neutral looks on their faces either. They had what appeared to be rather bitter and sour looks on their faces.

I would find it antagonizing if I was a member of that particularly church. Is the sour look part of the East? A cultural thing? Seems more like bad manners to me or maybe the attempt to play the modern-day martyr?

 

[Mickey]

I was looking at some photos of the men who constitute the hierarchy of the XYZ Eastern Orthodox Church. Of the 20 or so photos I looked at maybe two of the men were smiling.

If it is happy faces you are looking for, perhaps you could visit a non-denominational church with a rock band where everyone is dancing and swaying and smiling.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

I was looking at some photos of the men who constitute the hierarchy of the XYZ Eastern Orthodox Church. Of the 20 or so photos I looked at maybe two of the men were smiling.

The rest did not have neutral looks on their faces either. They had what appeared to be rather bitter and sour looks on their faces.

I would find it antagonizing if I was a member of that particularly church. Is the sour look part of the East? A cultural thing? Seems more like bad manners to me or maybe the attempt to play the modern-day martyr?

Please provide a link(s) to the pictures!

 

[tomarin]

I was looking at some photos of the men who constitute the hierarchy of the XYZ Eastern Orthodox Church. Of the 20 or so photos I looked at maybe two of the men were smiling.

not having seen the photos, it’s difficult to judge, but is it possible you’re mistaking “solemn” for “sour”?

 

[PolkaDotPelican]

If it is happy faces you are looking for, perhaps you could visit a non-denominational church with a rock band where everyone is dancing and swaying and smiling.

I’m not at all sure why you would respond with such an obnoxious ad hominem attack. That’s on you.

The reason for my posting is that 18 of 20 (or so) bishops had genuinely bitter/sour looks on their faces – not a small handful which could be attributed to individual personalities.

In my particular Easter Catholic parish my pastor smiles a great deal, and my bishop quite often. Their official picture show both of them smiling as well.

I was just curious about the difference.

 

[PolkaDotPelican]

not having seen the photos, it’s difficult to judge, but is it possible you’re mistaking “solemn” for “sour”?

An excellent question, and no I don’t think so. In some cases the bishops almost appear to be downright angry as if they were upset about having their photos taken.

 

[PolkaDotPelican]

Please provide a link(s) to the pictures!

I would have to borrow the book I was looking at and then scan the 20 photos…

 

[Melchior]

I was looking at some photos of the men who constitute the hierarchy of the XYZ Eastern Orthodox Church. Of the 20 or so photos I looked at maybe two of the men were smiling.

The rest did not have neutral looks on their faces either. They had what appeared to be rather bitter and sour looks on their faces.

I would find it antagonizing if I was a member of that particularly church. Is the sour look part of the East? A cultural thing? Seems more like bad manners to me or maybe the attempt to play the modern-day martyr?

This is typical for Orthodox Clergy from all the pictures I have seen. I think alot of it harkens back to how people posed for pictures in general in Eastern European and Orthodox countries such as Greece. My Greek in-laws have many old picture from the 1920 through the 1940’s and everyone posed with these grim looks on their faces. I think “cheese” was a later thing.

 

[LilyM]

I’m not at all sure why you would respond with such an obnoxious ad hominem attack. That’s on you.

Maybe because to originally post something like ‘these bishops look bitter/sour’ is an obnoxious comment in itself - what was your point in saying this about them?

And to say any of it is due to personality - do you know all of these people personally (heck, do you know any of 'em personally?) to make that kind of judgement?

 

[grandfather]

. I think “cheese” was a later thing.

When people look at photos of our day generations from now they will wonder why everyone has a phoney put on smile. Maybe the bishops had troubled looks, because their people were being persecuted. Maybe they should have been wearing polka dots.

 

[PolkaDotPelican]

This is typical for Orthodox Clergy from all the pictures I have seen. I think alot of it harkens back to how people posed for pictures in general in Eastern European and Orthodox countries such as Greece. My Greek in-laws have many old picture from the 1920 through the 1940’s and everyone posed with these grim looks on their faces. I think “cheese” was a later thing.

Ahhhhhhh, so it might be a cultural thing that just sorta gets passed down? Thanks for shedding a bit of light on the matter.

 

[PolkaDotPelican]

Maybe because to originally post something like ‘these bishops look bitter/sour’ is an obnoxious comment in itself - what was your point in saying this about them?

And to say any of it is due to personality - do you know all of these people personally (heck, do you know any of 'em personally?) to make that kind of judgement?

Another ad hominem attack… Again, that’s on you.

No, my original posting was not obnoxious and as I have said if it triggered something negative in you, that really is on you. (If you don’t know what that means, you should find out – it’s not a put-down.)

When 18 of 20 men have bitter/sour looks on their faces, something systematic is going on – it’s not a matter of 90% of the men havings a tough day and 10% having a good day.

Thankfully someone just gave some thoughtful insight as to the reason for the bitter/sour looks. It appears to be at least partially cultural, and perhaps the continuation of a past practice.

I appreciated seeing that (name removed by moderator)ut. The ad hominem attacks on the other hand are never a good thing.

 

[PolkaDotPelican]

When people look at photos of our day generations from now they will wonder why everyone has a phoney put on smile. Maybe the bishops had troubled looks, because their people were being persecuted. Maybe they should have been wearing polka dots.

I wonder why you would suggest that “everyone” has a “phoney” (sic) smile on their faces in today’s photographs? That’s certainly not accurate.

Just about everyone’s people have been persecuted at some point in time. That reason holds no water, it’s simply a baseless excuse.

 

[Edmac]

If I were a bishop I’d think I’d look pretty grim myself, most of
time.

Edmac

 

[LilyM]

Another ad hominem attack… Again, that’s on you.

No, my original posting was not obnoxious and as I have said if it triggered something negative in you, that really is on you. (If you don’t know what that means, you should find out – it’s not a put-down.)

When 18 of 20 men have bitter/sour looks on their faces, something systematic is going on – it’s not a matter of 90% of the men havings a tough day and 10% having a good day.

Thankfully someone just gave some thoughtful insight as to the reason for the bitter/sour looks. It appears to be at least partially cultural, and perhaps the continuation of a past practice.

I appreciated seeing that (name removed by moderator)ut. The ad hominem attacks on the other hand are never a good thing.

But your original comments were practically ad hominem attacks (attacks on persons) in themselves, do you not see that? ‘These guys looks bitter therefore they must BE bitter/something else must be wrong/they must (or the majority of them) have problematic personalities’ - that certainly was an attack on them - did you not expect anyone to respond?

Admittedly you weren’t directly responding to some argument they had made, which is why I don’t say they WERE ad hominems, but they were just as wrong and just as unappreciated and unhelpful.

 

[water]

Seems more like bad manners to me or maybe the attempt to play the modern-day martyr?

It appears to be at least partially cultural, and perhaps the continuation of a past practice.

I appreciated seeing that (name removed by moderator)ut. The ad hominem attacks on the other hand are never a good thing.

Polka,

I am glad you know the reason, but if you had re-written the first quote above differently, Lily might have responded a bit differently as well.

Obviously, you have some thought about them being bad manner, but then you have just learned that it is not.

Lily had her point made as well.

 

[grandfather]

I wonder why you would suggest that “everyone” has a “phoney” (sic) smile on their faces in today’s photographs? That’s certainly not accurate.

Posed smiles are fake. Most portraits which are posed people are either made to laugh with a funny comment or joke or they have a forced smile.

 

[Melchior]

Maybe because to originally post something like ‘these bishops look bitter/sour’ is an obnoxious comment in itself - what was your point in saying this about them?

And to say any of it is due to personality - do you know all of these people personally (heck, do you know any of 'em personally?) to make that kind of judgement?

Lily,

I really don’t think it was meant as an insult. If you have regular contact with Orthodoxy and have seen clergy pictures on a regular basis it is an Orthodox thing for priests and bishops to have these looks. Perhpas stern or severe is more appropriate, but trust me, he was not exaggerating. And I am certainly not insulting anyone, my Orthodox in-laws have made the same observation many times.

I recall a picture when my in-laws priests was smiling in a picture with other clergy and it was downright funny and we all got a kick out of it because it was so unusual.

 

[jimmy]

Another ad hominem attack… Again, that’s on you.

Those are not ad hominem attacks. An ad hominem attack is an attack against the person. Neither of them attacked you. But your posts seem to be ad hominem attacks against eastern bishops. Your other posts are simply dismissive of any one who criticizes your criticism.

 

[SiempreFiel]

In my opinion, Patriarch Alexius II looks (and talks) pretty ‘tough’.



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