tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post5056486045668991134..comments2024-03-11T13:16:19.098-04:00Comments on Ad Orientem: Drawing the lineUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-55233958053907722352007-03-10T16:25:00.000-05:002007-03-10T16:25:00.000-05:00I'm not using "norm" in the historical sense but i...I'm not using "norm" in the historical sense but in the "normative" sense. I think democracy is governance of the idiots for the idiots and by the idiots, including this particular idiot known as me.<BR/><BR/>Our current situation is hell. It doesn't serve to make Christianity, or Orthodox Christianity, stand out more but rather makes it only that much more obscure and bizarre. Another somewhat exotic shop in the religious mall right next to the hookahs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-36194317228776669772007-03-09T19:17:00.000-05:002007-03-09T19:17:00.000-05:00No, I do not think that we will ever have a state ...No, I do not think that we will ever have a state religion except for secularism. The religious scene, even the Christian scene in (North) America is too diverse for even a unified Christian front.<BR/><BR/>I lean towards libertarianism as well. Maybe it is because I am Canadian. My attitude is as long as the state accepts the Church's right to self-determination, then people can do what they want. Of course, I don't want to see people ruining their lives, but I figure the church trying to legislate morality will only embitter people more against the church and God, so I say let people do what they want to do. And let the church be there to help pick people back up, and hopefully they will come to their senses after their dreams fail and they will find Christ. Of course, the danger here of giving the state a free reign is that they will turn and backstab the church, but in the grand scheme of things persecution is nothing new and so far North America has been very lucky in escaping major persecution. For what its worth, these are my two cents. Cheers.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02828550304195194165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-21333614093132611052007-03-09T17:47:00.000-05:002007-03-09T17:47:00.000-05:00I wonder if one can say that monarchy is the norm ...I wonder if one can say that monarchy is the norm in Orthodox Christianity. First, Orthodoxy has been under actively antagonistic governments for much of its history, now, perhaps even a majority of its history. This is especially true when one remembers the numbers of Christians under Persian rule prior to the Muslim invasions. Second, was a monarchical form of government really a part of Orthodoxy or 'accidental' parts of the cultures that Orthodoxy became the dominant religion in, with Orthodoxy simply baptizing these cultural forms?<BR/><BR/>Given the first example I would suggest that living in the modern West is perfectly in line with traditional Orthodoxy: living in a non-Orthodox society and culture with non-Orthodox leaders.<BR/><BR/>From the Life of St. Nicholas Planas: "Another time some people where discussing politics at a certain house. 'So, what do you say, Father?' they asked him. Once he recovered from the depth of his thought, he wanted to say something. 'Who is governing now?'"123https://www.blogger.com/profile/14514075641944568806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-31423788563696784302007-03-09T15:36:00.000-05:002007-03-09T15:36:00.000-05:00Orthodox Christianity as established religion with...Orthodox Christianity as established religion with smallish (non imperial) monarchy is the norm. Not a snowball's chance in late modernity. It would be just awful. We are blessed to be out of power. Let the moderns try to govern themselves and bring about the brotherhood of man and the neighborhood of Boston. Best we can do is try to reduce abortion and stablize marriages and families. Let Oprah end global poverty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-53939033342728802342007-03-09T09:40:00.000-05:002007-03-09T09:40:00.000-05:00I confess to being politically a very conflicted m...<I>I confess to being politically a very conflicted moderate libertarian.</I><BR/><BR/>I love that phrase, and resemble it being an Orthodox Christian and Republican former artist in Manhattan.<BR/><BR/>A Father once said something to the effect that "there is no virtue where there is no choice." That has been my credo in approaching my own arguments "for legal tolerance of at least at least some things I find morally noxious." We cannot force virtue without making it unvirtuous.<BR/><BR/>Legislating religion does nothing but admit that God isn't strong or compelling enough to draw people to himself on his own. This is true in Islamic Republics, and would be true (again) in an Orthodox monarchy. I am perfectly content in living as an Orthodox Christian in an antagonistic world - I think a lot of the reason I became Orthodox were the stories of the thousands of New Martyrs in Russia. No Pascha without the cross.<BR/><BR/>I say, no religious morality in laws just materialist protections of rights and property. "Do anything you want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else". Then let our faith and lives win converts to virtue freely chosen.<BR/><BR/>Beyond that, I have no real power, influence or say - apart from voting for those who have been put or stepped forward already for my yeah or nay.123https://www.blogger.com/profile/14514075641944568806noreply@blogger.com