This is an updating of a commentary I submitted to TAR, Int., on 5/18/94.   I will begin 
by giving a brief description of what I submitted then, eight years ago, and how things 
stand today.


I first got involved with the church unity movement during 1984, ten years before I 
submitted my 1994 commentary.   To date, no progress has been made toward reuniting 
our Armenian Apostolic Churches and communities in North America.


During 1994, I described how man had walked on the moon and how we were still talking 
about our ancient greatness, the 1915 Genocide, Mt. Ararat, shish kebab, and Armenia 
being the first nation to accept Christianity.


Today, man has placed a multi-billion dollar telescope in space and has also jointly built a 
space station in space, thereby further expanding mankind’s knowledge of God’s 
creation.  As for our Armenians, we are still tooting our horns about the same old things 
we were tooting them for in 1994.


Eight years ago, I described how the East and West had been involved in a Cold War and 
while all this was going on, how our Armenians were still haggling over the validity of a 
tricolored flag.  


In 1991, Armenia declared independence and immediately thereafter, adopted the 
tricolors as their national standard.  Today, Armenians are no longer haggling over the 
tricolors.


In 1994, I described how satellite communications have helped to bring down the Iron 
Curtain by burning holes in it yet our religious leaders at that time were still having a 
difficult time communicating with each other.


Today, the Iron Curtain has completely crumbled but the old animosities between our 
divided religious leaders, though subdued, has not dissipated.


In 1994, I described how other ethnics were writing about their cultural and technical 
accomplishments while our divided politicals were still writing about each others 
shortcomings.


Today, most of these ethnic cultural and technical accomplishments are duly recognized 
throughout the world while our subterfuges of old have taken on new form thereby 
keeping the old game of ping-pong going.


In 1994, I described how other nationalities were commemorating progress, while our 
Taliban types were still fomenting discord and division.


Today, other nationalities who also had divisive differences are slowly maturing and 
coming to terms with their past while our people, whether out of ignorance or because 
they just don’t give a damn anymore, haven’t stopped to find out who the real culprits 
behind the division of our North American churches and communities are.


In 1994, I described how we were building more divided churches when we should have 
been building more schools, auditoriums, and community centers.


Today, we’re still building more religious one but administratively divided churches.  
Heck!  Whoever heard of going to Heaven because of schools, auditoriums, and 
community centers.


In 1994, I described how we’ve overlooked our youth and how our divisionists had a hard 
time understanding why our Armenian youth were leaving the fold and searching for 
greener pastures.


Today, they’re still having a hard time understanding where they went wrong and in this 
regard, I place this type of shortsighted negligence squarely on the shoulders of our 
politically influenced and socially influenced religious leaders who don’t speak up 
because they don’t want to rock the boat lest they find themselves being shunned and 
outside of their circles of pseudo-religious influence.


And so the relentless beat goes on leaving the sixty-nine years of division of our North 
American communities and churches in place.   About the only thing that has changed 
from the past has been our public display of hostility leaving in its wake, a mummified 
layer of polite disrespect between our holy Sees, thereby leaving North America with no 
reunification in sight.


If we were to search for the real reasons why we find ourselves in such a divided state, we 
would find the underlying causes not to be as much because of the truly religious among 
us but because of the nonreligious among us.  And sad to say, to whom we have also 
unwittingly surrendered our apostolic souls.  And this also goes for those who may be 
wearing a collar.


However, be that as it may, I will continue praying that we finally find the wisdom to 
keep these vultures at bay and to also find the strength to reunite our churches and 
communities in North America.  Meantime, I will continue flying solo knowing full well 
that what I am saying is more in line with our Armenian Christian faith than what our 
divided clerics have been spewing from our Apostolic altars.  I sometimes wonder: Is this 
the same Christian Apostolic faith that our people have been dying for over the centuries?


Joseph Vosbikian