Be the first person to like this.
Yeah, this post is a \"tome,\" whether you will or won\'t. No one will probably read this, but I think it\'s interesting and thought-provoking. And I\'ve tried to include some humor for your entertainment.
There\'s no \"Orthodox\" party or candidate. There\'s no way we\'re going to change the system by ourselves either. We\'re too insignificant, and we\'re too divided--and that\'s O.K. It\'s always been that way, really.
I think the area of politics should be left to the individual Orthodox Christian\'s conscience. We need to respect each other\'s spiritual freedom, just as spiritual fathers and clergy are bound to do as well. Unfortunately, this is not always done and some people with particularly strong gifts for argument or \"persuasion,\" or just loud mouths try to \"strong-arm\" their neighbors to think and vote like them or they just pontificate, whether or not anyone is listening or interested (mea culpa!).
I do agree with SpyridonOCA (surprise!) that there is a notion amongst many Orthodox that Republican/Conservative=good and Democrat/Liberal=bad. This is unfortunate, and a sign that people perhaps are not thinking things through or just prefer to generalize and use labels. That\'s O.K. It\'s human. God knows we have enough to worry about and can\'t possibly break down everything mentally. And some things, like politics are frankly repulsive to many. And to say that everyone should care is just more strong-arming. Politics, morality, and public policy is a horrible morass.
That being the case, it\'s good to recognize that there\'s more to a candidate or a party than one quality or issue.
I\'m gonna go out on a limb here and bring up abortion. Go ahead, call for my blood.
Sure, abortion is evil. More accurately, it is called infanticide. How it came to be regarded as somehow a constitutional right speaks to the great moral confusion present in the nation and society. But the issue of its continued allowance or its banning is nuanced.
Now, I believe that infanticide is immoral. But there are many things in this country which are immoral and legal. I have my own ideas about what \"should\" be done in this country. Would my ideas go over well with the masses, even the masses of so-called conservatives? No. Are my ideas even consistent with the standards of law in Orthodox monarchies and empires of yore? No. Brothels and spiritism were hallmarks of Byzantine and Imperial Russian society, respectively. So, it appears I am very much \"out of touch\" with everything. But I don\'t care. I think it makes me a bit freer to choose in elections.
The lesser of two evils (or weavils or weasels) or \"the known evil is often better than the unknown good\" are both cute phrases, but incredibly oxymoronical. And I don\'t like being an oxymoron. No candidate, party will ever meet my standards or receive my assent entirely.
It would be nice to have on the ballot what used to exist in Yeltsin-era Russia, the \"none of the above\" option, and if \"none of the above\" got enough votes, then new candidates would have to be found. Realistically, it would take an awfully long time to find a good candidate for me, but I like the idea of at least being able to vote what I feel.
I\'ve abstained from voting before. I didnt\' really feel like I was \"sticking it to the system,\" though. It was only slightly more satisfying than voting for one candidate because of one issue, and then being horribly and completely disappointed when 1) nothing was done on that issue and 2) a host of worse issues came up because of that candidate\'s policies.
So, for all those reasons, I do not ascribe any moral or \"Orthodox\" significance to voting in general, or any platform, party, or candidate in specific. I\'ll vote according to my conscience (you can vote according to yours, of course) and maybe we\'ll get together afterward, sometime in the middle of the term, to cry in one another\'s beer about how bad everything is and how insignificant we and our ideas still are. It\'ll be fun. A kind of post-election mid-term party in celebration (surprise!) of that fact that our kingdom is not on this earth, though our Heavenly King has given us the government we deserve for our sins. Thank God that even in a dictatorship, there\'s turnover. Parties, people, and ideas all die sometime. Of course we can celebrate this, but realize that, until Christ\'s return, new ones worse, just as bad, or maybe a little more tolerable will take their place. Perfection is only with the Lord in His Kingdom. (Nice cute phrase, isn\' it? But, oh, how true!)
living abroad, my fellow expats are always dumbfounded that I don\'t vote... they\'re even more shocked that I have no idea what\'s happening politically right now either...
the \"lilies of the field\" approach to politics suits me just fine... before ascribing to this approach, I was heading for nervous breakdown from always being in political arguments - all for what?
southpark rendered it best \"it\'s always between a d***** and a turd - they\'re the only people who [kiss] up enough to make it that far in politics\"
SpyridonOCA wrote:
It is rather hypocritical to oppose one political party that supports legal abortion while supporting another that wages unprovoked war that kills thousands of innocent people. Again, vote based upon the content of a candidate's character, not on party affiliation. It's not like Republicans have done much about abortion. As long as Roe is the law of the land, they can use it to win elections.
So if one party is willing to abort humanity with one hand and try to recreate it through cloning with the other... then we have a responsibility to choose sides.
I am very much a conservative, but I certainly do not identify with the so-called \"religious right\", because if the \"religious right\" was doing its job in the pulpits of America, they would not have to resort to political means to achieve their ends. For example, if they were really doing their job, abortion in the US would quickly come to and end, because the way to actually end it is to change the minds of regular people, not politicians. Then the people would demand its end by voting for those people who are against it, petitioning their elected officials and judges, etc. Heaven forbid I should agree with Jesse Jackson, but I heard him speak a few years ago and asked him what the church\'s role should be in setting America straight, and I mentioned what I said above. He said that he was tired of what he called \"cheap grace\"--the preacher caring about what you put in the collection plate but not caring about what you do in your personal life. And I agree with him.
SpyridonOCA wrote:
Am I anti-American for *blah blah blah* etc ?
Well, excuse me then for being an Orthodox Christian and not a patriotic, flag-waving American.