"We have concluded that when the principle of racial division (i.e. phyletism) is juxtaposed with the teaching of the Gospel and the constant practice of the Church, it is not only foreign to it, but also completely opposed, to it. We decree the following in the Holy Spirit: 1. We reject and condemn racial division, that is, racial differences, national quarrels and disagreements in the Church of Christ, as being contrary to the teaching of the Gospel and the holy canons of our blessed fathers, on which the holy Church is established and which adorn human society and lead it to Divine piety. 2. In accordance with the holy canons, we proclaim that those who accept such division according to races and who dare to base on it hitherto unheard-of racial assemblies are foreign to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and are real schismatics."
Constantinople...1872
I suppose what 'makes sense' depends entirely on what you accept as the proper attitude toward the situation.
As Dean wrote, if you accept the proper playbook and rules are those of 'Don Corlioni'-- more or less 'if you win then I lose' thinking, then those choices 'make sense'.
But, the Gospel emphsizes the universal brotherhood of man and encourages our choices that elevate the good.
That's why Orthodox unity in America is the EP's best chance at a future. Being the chief justice of the supreme court overseeing a thriving self governing national church in the USA has got to be a path to a better tomorrow than trying to use clever rules to demand the ethnic fealty of a dwindling ethnic subgroup.
