George Australia wrote: Thornton is not only a white supremacist, racist, bigot; he, like Arius, is an heretical 'priest' teaching the heresy of phyletism condemned by the Orthodox Church.
George, you're letting your leftism show. Nationalism used in a positive way is not a sin. I'm tracking down the source on the following article, but regardless of its author, it does more to shed light on the discussion than your personal attacks on Fr. James.
THE SOCIAL CONCEPT OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
The universal nature of the Church ... does not mean that Christians should have no right to national identity and national self-expressions. On the contrary, the Church unites in herself the universal with the national. Thus, the Orthodox Church, though universal, consists of many Autocephalous National Churches. Orthodox Christians, aware of being citizens of the heavenly homeland, should not forget about their earthly homeland. ... The cultural distinctions of particular nations are expressed in the liturgical and other church art, especially in the peculiarities of Christian order of life. All this creates national Christian cultures.
Among saints venerated by the Orthodox Church, many became famous for the love of their earthly homeland and faithfulness to it. Russian hagiographic sources praise the holy Prince Michael of Tver who "gave his life for his fatherland", comparing his feat to the martyrdom of the holy protomartyr Dimitrius of Thessaloniki: "The good lover of his fatherland said about his native city of Thessaloniki, 'O Lord, if you ruin this city, I will perish together with it, but if you save it, I will also be saved'".
In all times the Church has called upon her children to love their homeland on earth and not to spare their lives to protect it if it was threatened. The Russian Church on many occasions gave her blessing to the people for them to take part in liberation wars. Thus, in 1380, the venerable Sergius the abbot and miracle-maker of Radonezh blessed the Russian troops headed by the holy Prince Dimitry Donskoy before their battle with the Tartar-Mongol invaders. In 1612, St. Hermogen, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, gave blessing upon the irregulars in their struggle with the Polish invaders. In 1813, during the war with the French aggressors, St. Philaret of Moscow said to his flock: "If you avoid dying for the honour and freedom of the Fatherland, you will die a criminal or a slave; die for the faith and the Fatherland and you will be granted life and a crown in heaven".
The holy righteous John of Kronstadt wrote this about love of one's earthly homeland: "Love the earthly homeland… it has raised, distinguished, honoured and equipped you with everything. ...
Christian patriotism may be expressed at the same time with regard to a nation as an ethnic community and as a community of its citizens. The Orthodox Christian is called to love his fatherland, which has a territorial dimension, and his brothers by blood who live everywhere in the world. This love is one of the ways of fulfilling God's commandment of love to one's neighbour which includes love to one's family, fellow-tribesmen and fellow-citizens.
