"Why should we respect you?" What claims are put forward by the youth of Russia to the Russian Orthodox Church

Petersburg theologian and psychologist, Vitaly Pitanov published interesting observations about the attitude of Russian youth towards the Russian Orthodox Church:

“A priest I know shared with an Orthodox skeptic the results of his conversation with a group of young people. I will briefly summarize their claims to the Church.

Let's start with what we don't like. I will try to convey the text close to the original.

1. Church and state are one? So it was in the past, and so it is now. Yes, you are banal opportunists. Where is the voice of the Church, why does her highest hierarchs always agree with the dominant power?
2. If the Church and the state are one, then you, like the state, are responsible for everything that happens in the country.
3. We love our homeland, but why do the Orthodox always combine love for their homeland with reverence for power? Can you be a patriot and be critical of the authorities?
4. Why don't you protect each other? Your bishops surrender their own priests to the state, even when it does not seem to ask for it, you are traitors, do you want us to become the same?
5. Why don't your acting priests publicly criticize the episcopate, are they afraid?
6. The language of the Church is not relevant and not understandable, you are still afraid to pray in Russian, ay ... wake up, this is our native language, you don’t like it, well, sit in your museum, as a kind of subculture, you are not interesting to us.
7. Why are you so sad? Protestants and Catholics are fun. And it drives you cheekbones from boredom. Do not want to try to smile more often and curse the least of all.
8. Where are your interesting bloggers? One of the officialdom, your sites are boring. Your speakers are interesting to grandmothers, well, just sit with them, why climb to us.
9. If you are so spiritual, why are you so poor? Have you ever looked at yourself from the outside? In gray, gloomy, angry.
10. Your Church is a feudal "state", priests are slaves. Do you also assign us the role of slaves? No, thanks.
11. We do not need to impose ourselves on our fathers and engage in moralizing. Better show how love flourishes within your community. And then, while it seems that you are a wolf pack and are easily ready to eat your own brother if you do not like him.
12. What makes you think that we should respect you for your status, the status of a priest, a bishop? Show yourself as a person, earn respect. Otherwise, do not meddle with us with your reverence.
13. If your bishops are monks, then why do they rule and engage in money-grubbing?
14. You refer to the holy fathers a lot, but for some reason you don’t want to live like they do, and what then can you teach us? How to be a hypocrite? Well, we can read the Holy Fathers even without you, if we want.

What do young people want from the Church?

First, examples of successful, professional and creative Orthodox Christians.

Secondly, to hear how Orthodoxy changes people for the better and allows itself to be realized in this earthly life, how it helps to practically change earthly life for the better. Not at the level of declarations, but at the level of practical deeds. Do not offer divine services!

Thirdly, it is necessary to explain in understandable language: what is spiritual life, what are its laws and how it affects the quality of life.

Fourth, is it possible to be an Orthodox Christian and still be happy?