Lex Anteinternet: They were (or are) Orthodox.

They were (or are) Orthodox.

We recently created this page:

They were (or are) Catholic

And we're going to further note this came about due to our recent thread on the United States being a Protestant nation.

A Protestant Country. It's history, and what it means.

Because US Catholics, particularly post 1960s, are often heavily Protestantized, the extent to which Churches of the Reformation formed the character of the country is often barely noticed by members of the largest Apostolic Faith. This is undoubtedly not the case, however, with the Orthodox, who are very well aware that Apostolic Christianity is not the same thing as Protestantism. Indeed, in recent years that awareness has drawn in defecting Protestants, and sometimes Catholics, although cross-overs between the two branches of the Apostolic churches isn't a wholly new phenomenon by any means.

James "Jim" Belushi

The famous Belushi brothers were raised as Albanian Orthodox Christians and Jim Belushi has become devoutly so in his later years.

John Belushi

John Belushi, like his brother, was Albanian Orthodox.

Raymond (Rod) Oliver Dreher Jr.

Dreher is a well known and controversial right wing author who has become strongly associated with National Conservatism.

Dreher was Dreher raised a Methodist, but converted to Catholicism in 1993. In 2006, he converted to Eastern Orthodoxy based on the scandals that had hit about that time. Interestingly, his writing remains heavily Catholic, and occasionally he received some criticism from intellectual Catholics for refusing to acknowledge that his Orthodoxy was a protest. In interviews, he remains highly sympathetic to Catholicism.

In recent years, he's relocated to Hungary.

Tom Hanks

Actor Tom Hanks converted the Greek Orthodox Church upon marrying Rita Wilson, who is a cradle member of the same.

Georgy Malenkov

Georgy Malenkov

Georgy Malenkov graduated school in 1917, just before the Russian Revolution, and he served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. He became a commissar in 1920. He rose steadily in the Communist party, surviving Stalin's purges, and was the head of its nuclear missile program when that era arrived. He became a member of the Central Committee, the real ruling body in the USSR. He suffered a downfall, however, when he tried to stage a coup against Khrushchev, and was accordingly expelled from his positions.

Khrushchev was decidedly an opponent of the Church. Malenkov had never been adherent in his adult life. But upon his release from position, he converted to Russian Orthodoxy and became a lector, which in the Russian Orthodox Church is a minor order of clergy.

I'm not saying, of course, that anyone needs to follow this path, or even that its a clear example. Malenkov was not in a position to rectify any of the wrongs he brought about in any fashion. But this is a remarkable example of somebody confronting and acting upon a moral duty when it finally became clear to him. He didn't need to become a lector and indeed, becoming one, and even simply joining the Church, was counter to his daily good.

Sometimes, losing gives people a chance to think things over, if they'll avail themselves of that opportunity.

Terry L. Mattingly

Terry Mattingly is a journalist whose interest in religion ultimately caused him to found a website and podcast entitled On Religion. Mattingly was born into the Southern Baptist faith, but converted to the Episcopal Church, and then on to Antiochian Orthodox Church, a more common faith journey than might be supposed.

Mary Peltola