4 2 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 2 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 1 6 Notes [1] Not to be confused with Orthodox (or “Big O”) Christian. Those Christians who are orthodox (“small O”) include, but are not limited to, the former, and subscribe to such traditional doctrines as the Holy Trinity and the literal, bodily Resurrection of Christ. [2] On a similar note, St. Seraphim (Moore, An Extraordinary Peace: St. Seraphim, Flame of Sarov, 112) taught that askesis is only a means “of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. But… only the good deed done for Christ’s sake brings us the fruits of the Holy Spirit”. [3] This directory is provided by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America at http://www.assemblyofbishops.org/directories/parishes/. [4] World Values Survey. Accessed February 19, 2014. http:// www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp. [5] To access this test, please write to the author. [6] The exact wording of this these questions was borrowed from James P. Clifton, “The Role of Intergroup Threat in Attitudes towards Same-Sex Marriage and its Beneficiaries” (MA Thesis: Humboldt State University, 2001). Accessed March 10, 2014, http://scholarworks. calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/2148/710/James%20thesis%20-%20FINAL.pdf?sequence=1. [7] Spiritual labors, solitude, and “withdrawal from the world” are, perhaps, less practical for non-Monastics. [8] Regarding the frequency of keeping vigil, for instance, respondents are asked to choose from among five options, which are arranged in order of increasing frequency of participation in this activity. On this 1–5 scale, one’s score is the quotient of the number corresponding to the respondent’s choice and 5 (i.e., the highest number one may select, corresponding to nightly vigils). Therefore, one who keeps vigil nightly receives a score of 100% (5 divided by 5), whereas another who keeps vigil a few times a month receives a score of 40% (2 divided by 5). [9] However, 60% of Round 1 respondents favored anti-poverty spending. [10] The largest ideological group in the Round 2 sample were communitarians, followed closely by conservatives. The reverse was true in Round 1: conservatives comprised 32% of the sample, while communitarians formed 26%. [11] It should be noted that only two respondents were classified as libertarians based on their responses to the OSPIT. Therefore, their average score should not be assumed to be representative of all Orthodox libertarians. [12] See f. 5. [13] Whereas the mean ideological score among Americans in the latest round of the World Values Survey was 5.76, the comparable figure in my sample was 6.32. [14] Interestingly, female and older respondents were found to have less friendly attitudes. [15] Converts and women were less likely to express a willingness to befriend a sociopolitical rival. [16] To give but one example, Seybold and Hill conclude from their review of the psychological and medical literature that religion and spirituality have a “largely beneficial” impact on physical and mental health. See Kevin S. Seybold, and Peter C. Hill, “The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Mental and Physical Health,” Current Directions in Psychological Science 1 (2001): 21–24. Acknowledgments I would like to thank students, Dejan Cavic, Jenny Hathorne, Purna Kammar, Amber Pinkerman, Gabriel Saldana, and Micah Seibel for their invaluable research assistance. I am also indebted to Jeff Dewitt, Susan Quinn, Erik Wilk, and Eric Hurst for their methodological input, as well as to Fr. (Dr.) Panayiotis Papageorgiou for his theological guidance.
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