Thus, "I do not teach to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, as if they were unclean,"[278] but for the sake of condescension to the weaknesses of others... In fact, there is "nothing to argue about"[279].

Here is a summary of these apostolic thoughts of St. Ephraim the Syrian: "And we know about the sacrifices of idols, since we all have knowledge. And although this knowledge puffs up those who go there (to the pagan temples) for food, yet love, which spares its neighbors, does not allow them to go there. But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet known, as it should be for him to know. But he who loves to help (his neighbors) has learned. As for the eating of idolatrous sacrifices, we know that nothing is an idol in the world. For although there are things to which worship is given, either in heaven or on earth, since in heaven the sun and moon are called gods, and other things also on earth, yet for us God the Father is one. But not everyone has knowledge of the subject I have mentioned. There are some prostitutes among believers who go to the house of the idol to eat; Since the faithful see that priests and teachers go there, and because of the ignorance of their minds I consider themselves unclean, as soon as they think that what we eat here is like an idolatrous sacrifice. Take heed, he says, and take heed lest this power which you have, either by eating everything or by not restraining yourself from entering those places, in any way serve as a stumbling block for the weak. But if any of the brethren is unsteadfast in his mind, and sees thee, having knowledge, reclining there, then he, having a false view of the sacrifice, being carried away by the desire to eat things sacrificed to idols, behold, the innocent one has perished, for whose sake Christ died. Therefore, do not lead your brethren into sin and do not offend them, that is, do not make them waver for the sake of their weak conscience. Do not consider this as something easy, since you sin against Christ if you do not protect your brethren. Truly, if my brother is offended because of the food that is thrown into the latrines, then not only will I abstain from meat, which is eaten in the house of the idol in a few days, but I will not eat meat at all forever, lest I offend my brother... We do not say that an idol is anything; for I know that what the Gentiles sacrifice, they offer to demons. For this reason I exhort you to avoid them, since our communion with demons removes you from communion with our Lord: for you cannot drink the cup of the Lord, nor the cup of demons; and to sit at the table of the Lord, and at the table of devils. Or do you want to make Him jealous by this? And although everything is possible for the sake of freedom, not everything that is possible is useful to our neighbors. We should seek not only our own benefit, but also our neighbors. Whatever is sold at the market, eat, only do not approach the altar of demons. For the sake of conscience, do not ask about what you find in the market – I do not mean the conscience of those who are questioned, but of those who inquire. If any of the unbelievers calls you to dinner, and you wish to go, then eat everything that is offered to you because of hunger, without asking anything for the sake of conscience, so as not to weaken it. But if anyone says, "This is a sacred sacrifice," then do not eat for the sake of the one who declared. For the earth is the Lord's with its fullness. And although here He will not give you food, yet in another place He does not forbid you. For the sake of conscience, whether he will be weak or firm. As for my conscience, I am not talking about my conscience, but about another's. Why should my freedom be subjected to the judgment of another's conscience? That is, if they are offended, will I also become like them?" [280].

How many times do you hear the call here - "do not ask", but there are still those who like to order barcode examinations...

It is not an idol that harms a person, but a person harms himself if he attaches any importance to food sacrificed to idols. After all, if an idol is nothing even in the world, then why ascribe to it any significance in the Church, in the life of a church person?

Here it is time just to calmly explain to people how to treat pro-pag symbols. One should not kiss pagan faces and signs and expect help from them, one should not treat them religiously, one should not attach to them the importance that the pagans see in them, but one should not be afraid of them – "idols, i.e., trees, stones, demons, can neither harm nor benefit"[281]. But if to pay the tax you need to take a coin with the image of the man-worshiping Caesar in your hands, you do not need to be more religious than the pagan publicans themselves. If for them this coin is not an idol or a religious shrine, but simply a banknote, then all the more should a Christian not see something more in this coin.

And yet, what cannot but be a sad sign of our own missionary and pastoral inadequacy is that even 2000 years after the Apostle Paul, these "weak" and "imperfect" (Blessed Jerome calls them "Judaizers"[282]) constitute a frightened and frightening majority even in the Church... It is impossible to confine oneself all the time only to condescend to the weaknesses of the weak. After all, it is necessary to preach the truth to them! Bl. Theodoret said of such "infirm" that "it is not eating them that defiles them, but their conscience is defiled, not accepting perfect knowledge, but being still possessed by idolatrous delusion"[283]. So how long will this "more" last?!

However, it is worth saying right away what is the difference between the situation that the Apostle described and the one that has developed with today's "barcodes". In the time of the Apostle, not all meat sold in the market was "sacrificed to idols." And Christians had no inevitable need to visit notorious pagans or buy branded meat. Christians arbitrarily went to places where impurity could be found, but in principle they could not go there. Accordingly, the Apostle warns: if temptation for other people is born from your freedom, then it is better to use your freedom more wisely, so as not to seduce others. Don't you need to go to the temples? "Well, don't go!" Therefore, the Apostle's word is addressed primarily to these "strong" and "free" Christians, and not to those who are embarrassed by such behavior of their fellow believers.

But with "barcodes" everything is different. They are everywhere and everywhere. It does not depend on the will of a person whether he stumbles upon them or not. These "stigmas" invaded the lives of the two Christians without asking. One of them reacts from a "strong" position: "an idol is nothing in the world." The second is embarrassed and avoids these "codes". He is ready to run away from the city... In this situation, what should the "one who is strong in the faith" do? To run after the owner of the "idolatrous conscience", to imitate his fears, and to imitate them, without actually sharing them at all? Or should he make a preaching effort for his brother's sake and explain to him the Christian attitude towards pagan rattles?

Sometimes people who believe that barcodes (or rather, the sixes believed in them) defile everything to which they cling, say that the number 666 is the maximum of impurity, and therefore cannot be sanctified (just as, for example, urine cannot receive grace). Faithfully. But the possible alternatives are not limited to a dilemma: either sanctify or discard. There is still an opportunity to win back. This is the path of exorcism, "chastisement". It is the return to God of a part of His creation that was stolen by Satan. Return through the prayer of Christians.

Once I asked (separately) the abbess of the monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, located in the Garden of Gethsemane near the walls of Jerusalem, and the spiritual father of this monastery: "You live in Israel, in a country where Judaism is the state religion. Almost all goods here undergo the so-called "kosher". The process of making and recognizing kosher products is associated with the blessing of the rabbis. Tell me, do you take this into account when buying food for the monastery, or do you take food only from the Arabs?" And both times I got the same answer: "We don't pay attention to this. It doesn't matter where the product is purchased. It is important that we cook it and eat it with prayer, and before the power of the sign of the cross all the opposing force is exhausted."

No one is going to "bless" barcodes. It is about something else: the cleansing of a product (books, a carton of milk, a document) marked with a barcode from the alleged filth.

Those church people who are seriously afraid of the "negative energy" of idols cite an episode from patristic literature to substantiate their fears. St. Cyprian of Carthage tells in his book "On the Fallen": "But listen to what happened in my presence, of which I myself was a witness. Some parents, running away, in anxiety and turmoil, left their little daughter in the care of a wet nurse. She took her to the rulers; and they, since the little one could not eat meat because of her minority, gave her bread to eat before the idol, where the people flocked, mingled with the wine left over from the offerings sacrificed to idols. Subsequently, the daughter was handed over to her mother. But the girl could neither discover nor express the crime that had been committed, just as she could not have understood it or resisted it before. And so, through ignorance, it happened that my mother brought her with her when we were performing the Divine service. The little one, finding herself among the saints and unable to endure our prayers and supplications, began to sob and rush about in all directions as if in a frenzied state: the young soul at such a tender age, as if under the torture of an executioner, showed by all possible signs the consciousness of its crime. When, at the end of the Divine service, the deacon began to offer the chalice to those present, and after receiving it by the others, it was her turn, the little one, ... she turned away her face, pursed her lips, closed her mouth, refused the cup. However, the deacon insisted and, despite her resistance, poured a little sacrament into her mouth. Hiccups and vomiting followed: the Eucharist could not remain in the body and mouth of the injured entrails. Such is the power, such is the majesty of the Lord! The darkest mysteries are revealed before His light, and the hidden crimes did not deceive the priest of God. The story relates to a child who, because of his minority, could not declare an evil deed against him" [284].

In this case, we are talking about an infant who could not consciously resist Communion. And that is why it is so easy to conclude – you see, even an unconscious touch of demonic darkness makes a person (even an infant) an enemy of God... But such a conclusion will be logical only on one condition: if three words are omitted when paraphrasing or quoting. Here they are: "The baby, by inspiration from above, turned away her face." It turns out that it was not the demon who acted through the little girl, but the Lord put such an action into her in order to reveal to others the impossibility of combining the worship of idols and the service of Christ through her resistance. So the girl herself was not harmed by the unconscious eating of things sacrificed to idols.

The publishers of the almanac Orthodoxy or Death!, illustrating their thesis that even an unconscious touch of defilement soils a Christian, cite the story of the miracle of St. Theodore of Tyron. When the pagan emperor Julian the Apostate wanted to mock the Christians, he ordered to secretly sprinkle food sacrificed to idols in all the markets of the city. And then St. Theodore appeared to the bishop of Constantinople with a warning of his plan...