ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Orthodox representations of threat at the level of the gift circulation on the horizontal axis between coreligionists or between religious institutions (various ethnic Orthodox parishes or dioceses). Generally speaking, the main threat the Orthodox perceive about the horizontal circulation of the gift refers to its autonomization from the vertical axis (in various forms and to varying degrees), because of social, ecclesiastical and political entanglements. To put it differently, the data point to the fact that inter-Orthodox, intra-parish and interpersonal relationships appear to deviate from the theologically formulated ideal-type, rooted in the vertical axis (i.e. transcendent authority), and are conducted so as to meet with pressure and challenges that partake to the horizontal (i.e. immanent) dimension of human existence. The chapter analyzes concrete examples of the above outlined threat and subsequent responses to it, at the macro (institutional), mezzo (parish) and micro (individual) levels of the Orthodox “diaspora”.
